Do your kids "play out"?

[catsandkid]

I saw an article in the Telegraph about an interim report by Raising the Nation Play Commission, which speaks of the restrictions upon UK children leading to less opportunities for kids to play. The interim report can be seen at: https://www.centreforyounglives.org.uk/news-centre/inquiry-report-calls-on-the-government-to-restore-school-playtime-amid-warning-that-play-is-being-squeezed-out-of-childrens-lives

It got me thinking.... obviously times have changed and society looks different from how it was in the late 90s/early 00s when I was growing up, but by around age 6/7 I was "playing out" in my street with the local neighbour kids most evenings and weekends. Everyone would knock for each other and hang out playing together. We'd all go in for tea as and when needed (Mum's would call us in from the doorstep!) and pop back out again until it got dark. We'd head to the local park, and ride around the village on our bikes, go walking in the woods and make dens, be in and out of each others' gardens playing etc.

Now I'm a parent myself and my 8yo DS doesn't play out at all! We live in a quiet cul-de-sac too, so the traffic issues are less relevant for us. There are a couple of children in the cul-de-sac of similar ages but none of them play out at all yet. I'd happily let DS go and play on the green out front (can see from the window with ease) but obviously he isn't keen as no one else is out there!

So, my questions....
At what age did your kids play out? Do your kids go to the local park and hang with friends? How did you get them used to having freedom to play out?

How can we get kids playing again? Or do you think this is just something that has permanently changed, as a result of changes in society (e.g., more working parents means more kids in afterschool club, more cars resulting in safety concerns, more scheduled clubs to attend...)?

No my kids don't play in the road. I didn't either. It is hugely area/street dependent.

I also don't have a yearning to let my primary aged children wander the streets unsupervised.

Mines past that age now but we live on a new build estate and I’ve never seen any kids playing out despite most of the houses having kids in them.

We live in a quiet estate and the kids are all out all the time it’s lovely. My 10 year old has been going out since she was about 8

No mine don't, SE London terrace, there is nowhere for them to play.

No not really but I really wish they could, for the benefits outlined in the article. I let them out a little but doesn’t work that well unless other families have similar attitudes, needs to be a community thing as well as appropriate space, low traffic levels etc

When my oldest was little we lived in a quiet little area with communal yards and a playground across the road so she played out with the neighbourhood kids. There was a little gang of them that were in and out of my house constantly, and playing out in the area.

Live somewhere else now and my youngest is of an age I'd be happy for him to play out (7) but there's no communal space to play here, there aren't even pavements. He does walk to his friend's house on the next road (and friend walks here) but they don't 'play out'. When he's a year or two older I'll allow him to cross the main road, then he can go play in the playground on the other side and likely find other children to play with, certainly one of his classmates often plays there because she lives right next to it.

I think this is it really... it needs other families to follow suit. Like I say, we're lucky as we're in a quiet cul-de-sac and there's a green in the middle the kids could play on (and likely did play on during 90s/00s!). Due to the layout, any cars coming and going would have to be driving slowly, so I'm not too concerned about road safety. But without the other kids out there, my DS understandably isn't keen!

From next year, his primary school allows him to walk to/from school alone which is across a main road (has a pedestrian crossing, thankfully). Once he's confident with that we will perhaps see about him playing with his friends a few streets away. I really do think playing out and gaining small bits of independence is important for kids, so I'm keen for him to have some experience of playing out before I blink and he's a sullen teenager glued to a screen!

I live in a quiet cul de sac. My 5 year old often goes out and chalks on the road in dry weather but never alone! Our neighbour has children very similar ages and they come out and join her. There's are only 6 houses. 100% would not let her out alone.

This sounds great! I have such fond memories of playing out all the time as a child, and I do think its really beneficial for growing our children's' independence and confidence.

My two have the played out from around age 6. Quite a large cul de sac but generally feels safe. Others kids do play out sometimes too. My complaint is I give them free choice to
go out and stay out but they constantly just come home! They’ll be allowed further from our road at high school age.

No, ours didn’t. There was no need. Friends came here or they went to them.

I was locked out of the house from 7.30 till 7 in the holidays as a kid and it was horrible. Probably why I never pushed it.

How to get them to play out:

If you have multiple children, send them out to get to play, neighbours may join if walking past

Otherwise get your kids to knock for another kid and ask them if they want to play together on the green

That is literally how ours get to play out. If we sat indoors waiting til other kids were playing out there it wouldn't happen

You are assuming everyone has a green which is rather ridiculous.

I lived in a cul de sac in a village growing up and was constantly outside, went back in when it got dark! But my sensible 9 year old has never played out, we live in a fairly quiet area but none of her friends live that close, otherwise I would let her out and I need to really as in a couple of years she will need to walk to secondary school but herself

My DC did, they’re teens now so not too long ago. Quiet close and lots of kids the same age. Friends with the parents so knew other people were keeping an eye on them too. I’d say they were supervised outside until about 6, then supervised from inside (lots of looking out the window). They were basically free range between each others’ houses too. They’d always be knocking for each other. I know we were so lucky.

I have one DC who likes his food. He went from slightly chubby to slim the first summer he played out. I used to watch them and think how much energy they were using running around playing - far more than in a half hour sports activity.

We’ve since moved to a bigger estate with a large green with play equipment. I find it odd that there are few children playing out. I suppose it’s not visible from enough houses. I never see the children round here knocking for each other, it’s really sad.

We live in a small village and yes, kids play out. My now 18 year old did from around 5 within a small area which gradually got bigger. Us mothers would leave them for a while then go out and have a chat together/check on them. The younger ones who are now pre teen/early teen got more supervision because of covid really which meant they were restricted at the time they would usually be developing the skills for playing out, problem solving, resolving disputes etc. My youngest will be gone for hours at the weekends! Sometimes roving groups of kids are in my house or garden, then they move on elsewhere or to the park. It's joyful.

I would say my kids play out far more than I did when I was young. I was allowed to play out the front on roller skates, our house was set back from the road, but I wasn't allowed to go anywhere else. We lived on the outskirts along a busy road. People I knew at brownies etc lived more in to the village on smaller roads and played out more and roamed a wide area and I was very envious of this.

I'm so grateful I made the choice and indeed had the freedom to make a choice to live where I do and give my kids so much freedom.

That's how a lot of people used to grow up OP.
From what I've seen this doesn't now happen anywhere but in the country due to cars and a large proportion of population being transient and untraceable.

Yes my daughter does. We live in a gated development with a shared communal area. All the kids play out, it's lovely.

My 7yo plays out and has done since age 5, with one of us sitting at front to keep an eye. All the kids play out here - newish build estate / cul de sac / big green in middle that we can see from our house. Realise we are lucky we have that option and that it’s the norm in this wee neighbourhood.

Mine doesn't yet hes only 6 but multiple children play out on our street from age 7/8-11.

I used to play out on our estate in the 80s, looking back we were quite lucky to have that space - playground equipment, grass and trees, and a huge sports pitch. We never played out on the road as it was obviously safer in the play area.

My eldest is 6 and doesn't play out, but she has plenty of time playing, at home, in the garden, in playgrounds and more formal venues like soft play or swimming. We take them to lots of parks and places of interest like museums and attractions, with free play opportunities. We are in London and playgrounds are well-funded here, there are lots of quite adventurous ones which are big enough to fill a whole day out. Our street is moderately busy, I wouldn't let her play in it unsupervised although she'll scoot up and down the pavement and run races. We don't know any children on our street, there are a few but they are older and go to different schools.

If she wanted to play without supervision when older, it would be safer to walk to a nearby 400 acre park (10 min walk) which is traffic-free and fairly safe. I don't get the appeal of playing on a street really, there are cars and pedestrians and the risk of balls going into the road.

I live on a council estate and there's a large group of kids in the highrise flats opposite who play out all the time. The parents have erected a trampoline and a football goal thingy on the communal grass. The all have shared BBQs sometimes too in the summer. It's lovely to see. I was a 60's child and used to play out all the time in all winds and weathers. My mum had to practically drag me in for tea. I also used to ride my bike to the next village 7 miles away to call for friends. Playing indoors wasn't really allowed and to be honest nobody would've wanted to.

To be honest, I work in safeguarding and no my ds wouldn't play out for that reason. He would play out in our garden, we always go on adventures on Saturday and Sunday to local beaches or forests etc and I arrange play dates for him with kids of similar ages so I don't feel like he's losing anything by not being out on the street.

As kids we played out a lot, but since then a number of our old neighbours have been found to be involved in all sorts.

My boys play out, from ages of 9ish, local secure woods and the park at 10 yrs, as it's off a main road.

However, a lot of parents will not let their children out at all! So there was a lot of side glances and judging going on.