Children spend half as much time outside as the previous generation

[KateMumsnet]

Hello all

Interesting story in the news today - new research has found that today's children spend less than half the time playing outdoors than their parents did.

Children spend just under five hours a week playing outside – less than half the 11 hours a week of their parents' generation - meaning that outdoor activities like splashing in puddles, building sandcastles, and making mud pies or daisy chains are becoming less and less common.

What do you think? How much time do your DC spend outside - and did you have a different experience as a child? What are your children doing instead?

Has anyone done a parallel bit of research looking at the proportion of families with no garden/small yard/actual garden over the same time?

There's no way I could afford a house with a garden the size of the one my parents had when I was small, so my DC are definitely outside less than I was. But I've put in far more hours taking to the park or other outside destinations than they ever did.

I'm only surprised it's not even less than that.

5 hours a week! Mine would spend at least five hours a day outside of the weather was fine and we were there to keep him company/he had something to do to help us with. You have to get outside with them when they are younger, take them out, play out with them, not mind if they chalk all over the yard, have them help hang the laundry.

How is this news? Its common knowledge surely? ...doesn't make it any less sad x

I always find it easier to be out with the kids than in over the holidays and weekends so we re out a lot.
We are very lucky where we live as we have woods and 2 parks in walking distance.
We have country parks, forests and other green areas a short drive away.
Not everyone can access nice outside areas with ease.

This doesn't surprise me sadly, I see it in my own children but a lot of it is directly related to how little children are tolerated where I live.

I have 3 children and while the toddler is fine to potter about the tiny garden we have, the older children find themselves in trouble for tearing around and pelting balls at the fence because the neighbours complain:

They go out into the street and everything they find a tiny strip of land to pass a ball around where there isn't a car or a "no playing on the grass" sign, it's only a matter of minutes before someone comes out and complains and a sign gets put up days later.

We don't have a park nearby so anytime they want to play out, we have to get on a train or in the car and drive, it's just ridiculous, people are concerned about child obesity but at the same time people are so intolerant and selfish these days that they can't bare to have their lives impacted by the noise of children playing.

More cars on roads
More built up areas
Some areas have had playing fields and parks reduced or closed
More children going to structured after school activities
More families were both parents work

Hardly surprising really.

Mine manage 5hrs a day on a nice day.

We have a small back garden and they are now old enough to play out the front with friends. Sometimes all the parents even give their kids a plate of bits for tea and they eat it out the front in between bike riding and football, the last thing we want is the dc's stuck under our feet in a tiny house! They also play at the park for an hour or so after school.

And I'm one of those parents who lets them tear around in the garden early on a sunday morning .

Not believing any report about how the good old days were such a lot better unless I see better data and reporting.

Is this all children from 0-18?
Nurseries and EYFS have designated amounts of time that children should be outside and engaged in child-initiated activities.
I've noticed an increasing lack of tolerance for children getting very muddy or dirty over the decades, or the idea of scruffy play clothes. Likewise an inability to tolerate rain or getting wet in other ways.
Combine that with a perceived need for adults to be present with their children, lack of gardens and clean green spaces in many areas, increase in TV, films, computer games and things that it's easier to control and I'm not surprised.
Yes, my own experience in the 60s and early 70s was very different.
That's why the Forest school movement in schools is a huge step forwards, along with cubs and scouts.

'Not believing any report about how the good old days were such a lot better unless I see better data and reporting.'

No, they weren't better, just different. One bath a week, wearing the same clothes for several days unless they were filthy, walking everywhere because there was only one car and dad was at work. 3 TV channels.

I was a child of the 70's and I remember in the school holidays even at about the age of 8 we would go off to the local park all day or play in the street. My mum, like most mum's off that era probably didn't give too much thought to what we were doing as long as we were out of her hair.

I just don't think that today's parents myself included feel comfortable just letting children roam all day on their own. It's a different world to our and our parents generation and people just need to accept that. I also agree with Edith, I feel that myself and my friend's do more with our kids taking them to parks, farms, soft-play etc than previous generations did where kids were left more to their own devices

I think the main difference is when I was young I was out without parents playing in my street. There weren't half as many cars so this was entirely possible.

If my kids want to go out, I'd have to be with them. We don't have a garden, we live on a main road, there isn't a park within safe distance. I just don't have the spare time to get them out as much as I'd like. It does worry me though. I worry about vit D deficiency.

Sand castles, mud pies and daisy chains are all a bit soft focus, idealistic, good old days nonsense.

We spent hours outside but usually playing chicken with the cars, roaming around bored, or getting into trouble.

We were certainly outside more than 5 hours a week (70s/80s children), but most of this time was not spent with our parents.

We were out pottering in the garden, or when older (7+) off with our friends round to theirs, or local parks, or just in the street.

The difference for my dcs is:

• We live in a flat in a built up urban area. We do have outside space, but it's pretty sterile - not even any daisies on the grass. The management company have lots of rules about what you can and cannot do there.
• Ds's friends don't live close enough by for him to walk there himself or for them to come round for him. We still have to arrange play dates at age 8.
• The park is across busy roads, so we go there after school and at weekends, but it's a special trip and an effort to get there.

I notice a big difference between that and my niece/nephews experience (similar ages to mine). They live in a suburban house. They're in the garden unsupervised all the time, they go out and play with their friends in their culdesac, there is a wooded area at the end of a track where all the local children go to play unsupervised and build dens etc. They are definitely racking up more than 5 hours pw.

I am trying to come up with ways for my dcs to get some of the experiences of my childhood. Hopefully when he's a bit older he can be more free range, unfortunately I think the days of 10 year olds going out on their bikes all day are probably over for many.

In 70s and 80s I spend most spring/summer evenings out. However as this was playing in a culdesac on an estate there was not a lot of sandcastle/mudpie/daisy chain making. I think these represent an idealised recollection of childhood and most children did not spend hours doing these things even in the 1970s. What we did do was play group skipping games - I never see these played any more!

5 hours a week! That seems very low.

We live in a flat which makes it even more important to get out before we all drive each other crazy. It's twice a day every day here and park after preschool.

I suppose it may be that they play indoors more eg we go to soft play very often, and swimming etc.

Im assuming this means outside of school.
Obviously including school time it will increase as at most infant school they will have lunch and two play times a day, juniors just lose one playtime. So that's already more than 5 hours a week

Mine are out in the garden all day if the weather is decent but I won't let them play out the front due to the traffic on our estate.

It really gets me down tbh.

I thought for under 5s it averaged less than 1/2 hour a day. It's how adults live.

Mine are indoors huge amount, I fail to coax them out.

I went everywhere alone from age 5-6 (in the big bad city with high murder rates) but you do that now someone will dob you into Social Services (even in sleepy little country towns like mine).

I spent hours and hours outside as a child. My two do get out a lot as we are rural but the scottish winter weather means sometimes it's just not pleasant to be outdoors. This winter we had to put nearly all their toys away for weeks at a time due to the high winds. Trampoline flying over roof, sideways rain. Yuck.

During the nicer weather tho it's hard to get them indoors, we have 3 acres of gardens and fields and I let them have as much freedom as I can.

Need to get better at winter fresh air tho. It's sometiens easier to say oh it's too wet and windy to go out today than get all dressed up for five mins play.

I think there are a lot of rose-tinted glasses about the past. I spent a lot of time in the summer outside, but hardly ever in the winter. I preferred playing Sindy.

Modern problems here are that a. My two (3 and 5) will only play in the garden if I'm there. FFS. I keep having to try and sneak in so they'll learn to play without me.

b. No other kids on our close, so it's basically us, the parents, fulfilling the role other kids would have done. Makes me sad that ds has no one to play tip with or just drop shit down grids.

c. Work, I suppose. That time spent playing out between school and tea is now spent with a CM. Mind you, they do play out there.

'Need to get better at winter fresh air tho. It's sometiens easier to say oh it's too wet and windy to go out today than get all dressed up for five mins play.'

Yes, waterproof trousers and a decent waterproof jacket are essentials. Helps that they are windproof, it's sometimes worse than being wet

I am lucky with my dd as we have a little green directly outside and she plays out a lot now, esp as she has a friend nearby. She doesn't like going out in bad weather though but its great in spring and summer. Another thing for the MNP to campaign for, more safe outdoor play areas for kids!