Healthy fun in the great outdoors

But many of their own children have never experienced such innocent pleasures. New research to mark the launch of Playday, the national day for play, has found that 32 per cent of children have never climbed a tree, 29 per cent have never built a den, 42 per cent haven’t made a daisy chain, and a quarter have never rolled down a hill.

One in 10 children have never even ridden a bike.

In comparison, 47 per cent of adults built dens every week as a child, and 72 per cent of adults played outside rather than indoors, compared to 40 per cent of today’s kids.

The organisers of Playday believe modern children are losing out on the essential childhood experiences that outdoor play brings, and are hoping that Playday, on August 3, will encourage more parents to get their kids playing outdoors.

This year’s Playday has a theme of nature play, and more than 800 events are being held throughout the UK to celebrate the day and encourage more families to get outdoors.

The events range from den-building, barbecues, outdoor games, and woodland adventures. Details of local events are available on the Playday website (www.playday.org.uk).

The events are organised by a variety of groups ranging from local authorities to residents’ groups, and are expected to attract more than 750,000 children this year.

The Playday research found that seven out of 10 parents think taking their children to an outside space to play is a real treat, and children feel the same, with 59 per cent saying they wish they could play outside in natural places more.

Playday is co-ordinated by Play England, part of the National Children’s Bureau, working in partnership with Play Wales, PlayBoard Northern Ireland and Play Scotland.

Adrian Voce, director of Play England, stresses that outdoor play can help children learn to analyse risk and develop the ability to make decisions for themselves, and build their self-confidence and imagination.

He says: “Playing outside, getting muddy, climbing trees and making daisy chains are simple pleasures that many of today’s children are missing out on.

“Play – outside and indoors – is essential for children’s health, wellbeing and happiness now, and is also important for their future development.

“Kids love to play outside, let’s make sure they have a chance to play in the natural environment.”

But Mr Voce doesn’t lay the blame for the lack of outdoor play solely at the door of computers and the TV.

“There’s always been indoor entertainment for children, and I think just blaming TV and computers is a bit of a red herring.

“Children need an understanding of modern media, but if they’re spending hours and hours in front of screens or on mobile devices, then that’s not healthy – and it’s not what they want either.”

He says that given the choice, children would rather be outside because that’s where they can see their friends.

“They tell us that the most important thing in their lives after their family is to play with their friends.”

He says the major obstacle to outdoor play is that the outside world is increasingly seen as a hostile place for children.

Parents have an understandable fear of traffic, Mr Voce says, which needs to be tackled through measures including residential zones and more child-friendly public spaces.

There are also stranger danger concerns, children are frightened of bullying, and residents are often wary of groups of children and young people gathered on the streets.