Today’s children have far less freedom to play outside independently than their parents and grandparents did.
Children playing outside independently is increasingly uncommon. This is the finding from the new British Children’s Play Survey, released this August.
For many adults, childhood memories include being sent outside after school, calling for friends, exploring nearby streets and returning home in time for dinner. Play was informal, social and was something most children did most days. The survey suggests that this experience is increasingly unfamiliar for children growing up today.
The benefits of play
Researchers surveyed 1,974 parents and caregivers in the UK who look after children aged between five and 11.
They found that children spend less than 25 minutes per week playing in streets near to where they live. Not only this, but the average age that children are allowed to play out independently is 10.8 years old, compared with 9.7 for their parents.
Play is so important for children’s development. It is how they learn to form friendships, negotiate risks, make decisions, solve problems and develop confidence. When children have the freedom to make up their own games and spend time with peers outside without constant adult direction, they gain experiences that organised activities don’t offer.
Modern play opportunities are tightly controlled
Parents may want their children to have independent play time outside but can feel that the environments around them aren’t safe enough. A lack of safe green spaces to play, busy roads and the disappearance of other children playing nearby can make allowing young children to have freedom feel difficult.
Over time, parental attitudes to children’s independent play have also changed. Many are not comfortable allowing children out to play on their own, instead allowing them to attend organised supervised activities only.
Evidence for policymakers
A new Outdoor Play Research Centre has just been launched at the University of Exeter to help drive the change to restore opportunities for children to play independently and provide high-quality independent evidence for policymakers and communities.
Alongside this, Play England has a 10-year strategy called It All Starts with Play! which aims to restore the opportunity for a play-based childhood for all children in England by 2035.
These initiatives and others will call for a mix of initiatives such as for developers to design public spaces with children’s play in mind and to create neighbourhoods where families feel confident that children can be outdoors. The Government is already investing £18 million to support improvements in around 200 playgrounds in need of refurbishment.
It’s good to know that the work has begun, but there is still a long way to go to ensure that there are safe spaces available for children to have the chance to develop skills independently through playing outside.
