To think this is too far to walk?

[TrinidadQueen]

To school for a child?

15 minutes there and then 15 minutes back. Child is 7. It's to collect another child so would have to do the walk back immediately.

It was a 15 minute walk to my DS school and I didnt drive when he was little so had to walk it, its all uphill to get there too - many kids, parents, pregnant women, toddler and elderly grandparent walked from further down the bank than us.

That’s probably only a mile each way that’s nothing!

It’s absolutely fine

My GC (6) does that now, to collect her younger sibling from Nursery. They have tea then go to dance, swimming and some other sort of energetic play, park etc, most nights. We don't have cars and my DD has a dog which my GC walk with her. Sometimes they take scooters, which are good for when they are tired. It's shocking how little some people walk.

We don't have a car, never have so have walked further than this daily. I usually take my children to my parents house which is an hours walk or if we are feeling lazy we take the bus half way and walk about 25 mins. They manage fine and have done since younger than seven.
if you're worried could you go for a few walks before school starts back up? I find a half hour walk seems faster when I'm walking a familiar route

Crazy yabu, toddlers can do that.

Well over a century ago, my granny lived two miles from her school and had to walk there and back every day with her older siblings, from the age of 5. Fortunately there were hardly any cars on the roads.

Beat that!

It sounds fine in principle. That was s not too far for a 7 year old at all.

What would the circumstances be?
Every day, twice a day for school? Other?
Are both the children well behaved walking along the road?

Sounds like a short walk to me! I walked about 30 mins to school, without an adult, from the age of six onwards.

But that was back in the Dark Ages when we were proper tough!

@Ponoka7

My GC (6) does that now, to collect her younger sibling from Nursery. They have tea then go to dance, swimming and some other sort of energetic play, park etc, most nights. We don't have cars and my DD has a dog which my GC walk with her. Sometimes they take scooters, which are good for when they are tired. It's shocking how little some people walk.

I think some people just don't walk. My DSC never walk anywhere with their mother. She drives even short distances. When DSD was 5 (even) she'd refuse to walk even short distances and demand to be carried. My idiot husband would carry her because neither him nor his ex had even considered that she's perfectly capable of walking. He claims that he couldn't be expected to know any different 🙄.

She still never walks anywhere with her mum, but does with her dad. There's no reason she can't walk.

def not, though my 7 yo would moan. I'd prob let him take the scooter.

Your grandchild should be getting at least 3 hours of exercise every single day, a half hour walk is just a small part of that. However if they are not used to walking it may take a bit of getting used to and there may be complaints at first. I took a friend's child for a walk with my DD last weekend, completely forgot some children aren't as used to walking as about half way through she just sat down on the ground and said she couldn't walk any further! It was only a 4km walk, albeit up a very steep hill.

With a responsible adult it's fine. At that age my school had us doing hour-long cross-country runs through forests and fields.

Wow my 3 year old can walk much further than half hour! And has been able to for a while.

This weekend just gone, he just walked 40 minutes to a place then 40 mins straight back and that was a very warm day too.

I agree with everyone else. Fifteen minutes isn't far at all. What are your concerns exactly? Do you dislike walking? Maybe it would do you good.

@TrinidadQueen - Is it possible that it is you that doesn't want to do the walk?

If you don't want to walk to pick up someone else's kids, then tell them. But don't suggest that it's because one of the kids is too young to manage it as that will make you look a bit daft.

Agree that 15 minutes is less than a mile...for an average 7 year old it’s really no distance at all. Twice a day, no issue.

No to the scooter. You’ll end up carrying it. Trust.

YABVU

This should be a very easy walk for a 5 year old, never mind a 7 year old.

Looking for a reason to criticise the parents?

OP I see you have disappeared, but the general consensus is that the walking distance you propose is fine. If you still aren’t sure then why not try it out with the child? I think you will be pleasantly surprised, though if this is a child for whom walking is a novel activity you might need to be prepared for some moans.

Oh, come off it.

3 days a week my DS has activities (2x tennis lessons and 1 x swim lesson) for an hour straight after school and will regularly have a family swim on one of the other 2 days too. Can't imagine why a 15 or 30 min walk would be an issue at all.

I live in an area with split infants and junior schools that are about 20 minutes walk apart. If you live the wrong side of the infants school that means your child does a round trip of 40-50 minutes twice a day. It's so normal that no one blinks and eyelid. If you genuinely think 15 minutes 3 times a week will be too much, can I suggest your child seriously needs to up their activity levels?

I wouldn't think twice about it. In the unlikely event that it is too far for your grandchild they will soon build up the stamina needed to do it. At the end of the day what is the worst that could happen? They would be tired?

We walked 25 mins each way to school. An average 7 yr old should easily be able to manage.