Yorkshire’s best play areas: The best places to take your children to play in North, South, East and West Yorkshire

With reports saying nationally however that parents are scared to let their children out to play due to safety concerns, it has never been more important to shout up for children's right to play, said Holly Corbett, centre manager at The Old Quarry playground aka The Addy in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.

She said: “Play is crucial in improving children’s physical, mental and social health and here at the Addy in Wakefield, we provide golden opportunities for families to come together to play creating a stronger community for all.”

The playground has had over 300 children attend each day during summer but now playworkers are urging parents and schools to encourage young people to play all year around as there are lots of safer places to play such as Pitsmoor Adventure Playground in Sheffield, South Yorkshire run by Patrick Meleady and Steve Poole where swearing is forbidden but free play encouraged.

Patrick said: “We encourage self directed play and the summer has been great at seeing so many children visit our free playground. But I urge people, parents and teachers to keep empowering children to play beyond the summer holidays.”

Disturbingly, pre-pandemic evidence suggested that three-quarters of children in the UK spend less time outdoors than prison inmates and only ten per cent of children have access to outdoor learning.

But post-pandemic children are reported to be playing out even less and are less active.

One play centre which creates an indoor all-weather play area but still with natural light is William’s Den near Hull.

The eco-friendly William’s Den in North Cave, East Yorkshire is the UK’s largest bespoke indoor timber play experience.

As well as an indoor play barn there’s an extensive outdoor play area with a 50-metre zip wire, a den-making area and a network of grassy mounds and tunnels for children to explore.

Another popular indoor play area with an outdoor facility too is Stockeld Park near Harrogate which is home to the Playhive as well as an outdoor adventure experience.

While these are luxury play areas for younger children although older people can participate, there are other places for older children to play such as Ninja Warrior in Sheffield, Jump Inc in Leeds, TagX in Batley and Inflatanation in Huddersfield.

But there are many more free places to play too such as playgrounds outside of shopping centres including Meadowhall in Sheffield, White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds and Junction 32 at Xscape. The Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield is also set to open one of the largest free indoor play areas inside a shopping centre in the UK later this year.

Parks are also an obvious place for children to play and are free too. Valley Gardens play area in Harrogate, Clifton Park in Rotherham near Grimm and Co which is a free magical experience and Millhouses Park in Sheffield are all great places to take the family.

Rother Valley Country Park in South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Water Park, Hemsworth Water Park, Anglers Country Park and Pugneys Country Park all in West Yorkshire.