What age were your kids allowed out unsupervised?

[Moominfan]

Outside our home are a few ponds and a small field. Kids seem to congregate round them, all varying in age. I have a toddler who loves a scoot round on his bike trying to follow after them all. Wondering what age people allow unsupervised playing? Saw a few comments where people were aghast at a 7 year old playing out, which doesn't seem strange at all to me. The area I live in now I'd be happy for him to play out at 7, our previous home was a terrace on a busy street, in not a very nice area and I'd rather they never played out at all.

You'll get a mixed response OP. Because all kids are different. My son was a very sensible 7 year old, and I could have let him out happily, whereas my daughter at 7 didn't know her arse from her elbow.

Funny I was thinking about this earlier today. I was visiting my parents and there were kids playing out in the street there, probably the same age as my DC. I thought it was funny because I don't let mine play out on their own just now. They're 6 and 4.

But where I live is a terraced street with lots of cars parked either side and people driving along like idiots. It's not as nice an area as my parents. We have a decent back garden and personally I'd sooner that they just went out to play in the garden. Or DH or I took them to the park nearby.

When I was younger, I used to play out with my brother when I was about 6. But that was over 30 years ago. It was a cul-de-sac with no through traffic. And my mum was the kind of parent who would do a lot of things I wouldn't dream of doing, so I do find it hard to judge some of my upbringing.

9 or 10

10

9 or 10 here too. Although there are increasing levels of ‘unsupervised’, the first of which involves no crossing of roads and much lurking around corners!

Every area is so different it’s so hard to put a blanket age on it.

We used to live on a really quiet new build estate with loads of speed bumps. We had a car park for our row of terraces just for our houses and it was largely empty so my kids were out there at 4/5 with older neighbourhood kids with me up and down at the window constantly.

Now we live on a street of houses with cars constantly reversing in and out of driveways and idiots flying up and down if at 30 miles an hour so even though they’re a good bit older now there’s no way I could allow them to go out.

The ponds are what would worry me. How big/ deep are they? Don’t forget toddlers can drown in a few cms of water!

Well, not a toddler of course. But 7yo should be fine

By 6 or 7 here, with limits, for a sensible child. Probably younger if with a group Inc older siblings. But it totally depends on the child and the area - we're lucky to have lots of green space easily accessible, lots of children in neighbourhood and a good community generally looking out for each other.

I'd be surprised if a 10 or 11 yo could not be allowed out though - as expecting children usually take themselves to/from secondary school.

My 7 year old can go out with siblings or friends, but not on his own. Safety in numbers and all that. I like them to have a couple years going out with others before they go out alone. We've a large green open area just over the road from our house and that part is pretty quiet when it comes to cars.

My kids don't go to the larger park down the road with a pond on their own without an adult until they're 12 or so - large busy roads and I'd rather they were old enough to not panic and tall enough to stand up in the pond if they fell in (I've seen this happen a few times, things happen so fast, and other than a few sections, it's pretty deep).

Seems a bit silly since I was walking the woods on my own from 6 or so which had far more hazards, but I'd like to think I'm slightly more thoughtful than the 'chuck them out til the street lights come on' that I was raised with.

It all depends where you live. We live in a close where all the houses front onto a small green. Kids ages 3-4 up to about 8-9 play out, but parents leave their front doors open and there's no cars so it's pretty safe.

My DS(6) and DD(4) are allowed to play out.
Thats in an enclosed green square which is bordered by the block I live in.
I can see them from my kitchen window or the deck access walkway and they arent allowed to leave the square.
I would be nervous of a pond tbh

Agree, it all depends on where you live.
Quiet cul de sac is one thing, busy main road another.

And NOWHERE NEAR water. Cannot stress that enough. We had an absolute tragedy when I was at school with a teenage boy never mind a primary school aged child.

Currently have ducks with ducklings so all the kids are fascinated, poor things are terrified of them.

10

Culturally it is interesting if you watch (only just over a minute) and notice how it is aimed at children. If they drown, they were show offs, fools, or unwary.

Personally I think children do need close adult supervision until 10 or so. Close adult supervision doesn’t mean breathing down their necks but around, in the house while children are in the garden for instance.

As others have said the ponds change the title in your question completely op.

Around here it's about 5 - village playground every part of which is visible, probably 5 cars an hour along the street which rarely has obstructed line of sight as few people park on the road, no pond, culture of looking out for one another's children...

However with unfenced ponds, especially fascinating ones, it's really dangerous. Line of sight from your window and watching all the time at first, regular safety briefings and child is a good swimmer, maybe 7 or 8 for a trustworthy child, 9 or 10 before you can stop checking every couple of minutes.

The ponds are a curse if you want to let your children play out.

My 9 year old doesn't play out on his own. None of the children that age do round here.

My 8 year old has just started going out on his own with a friend. There are strict rules about where he is allowed to be and what time he needs to be home. He has a GPS watch that we can also call him on.

Anywhere near water would be a complete NO, even though he is a competent swimmer.

I would've let her out sooner but the other kids were still having playdates arranged by their mums.

I let mine play out from 6/7 (Year 2 age) unsupervised - but we are in a quiet area and they can play away from the road.

I wouldn't let my 8 year old play unsupervised by a pond to be honest.

On my estate that we moved to.when ds1 was 8, kids regularly play out.from around five ,it's ,it's difficult to explain but there are no cars on the actual estate as it's linked by walkway,s so fairly safe my house also backs on to a large adventure playground, .

My DS has been playing out since we moved to this house when he was nearly 6. It totally depends on the set up though - if we had stayed in our old house on a long road where we didn’t know anyone, and there was lots of traffic - probably I would t have let him out until he was 10.

We are in a short row of 12 houses, the only cars are home owners, taxis and delivery trucks, there are a group of kids who play together - the kids all have a circuit around the houses, with very clear boundaries - and if they go out side the area they aren’t allowed out the next day. We are at one end of the row so by sticking my head out of an upstairs window I can always see them.

It’s wonderful, the freedom they have is incredible, last summer, five kids spent about 8 hours a day playing dens inside a beech hedge - the parents just nipped out every now again with food! They raid garages (with permission) and built an amazing cardboard fort complex. They have invented their own versions of hide and seek and capture the flag, and they are working out rules of play, and tolerance and all sorts of awesome stuff that you only get from undirected play.

However, I also have a just 4 year old and only let her play where I can see and hear her from the house - we are at the end so that’s quite a wide area, but I always need to keep focused on her even if I’m inside doing chores.

And, if there was water / ponds anywhere, I don’t think I would let even my now 7 year old out alone unsupervised near open water...