Youngsters lose out on outdoor pleasures because of over-protective parents
SPLASHING in puddles, making daisy chains and playing with friends in the park were once everyday activities for most children.
Parents tend to keep their children indoors these days
But a generation of youngsters is growing up without having the pleasures of outdoor games because parents are increasingly over-protective, a study has found.
Playing computer games or watching television have replaced climbing trees and building dens because parents tend to keep them inside.
A typical child spends less than five hours a week playing outside – almost half the 11 hours their parents spent playing.
David Hardy, of the Eco Attractions Group, which commissioned the survey, said: “For many people, these activities made up a huge chunk of our childhood, and left us with the memories and experience of our natural world to go with it.
“Nowadays, children have much more to keep them amused – computers, a host of TV channels and smartphones – something older generations didn’t have. Youngsters are missing out on getting dirty in the mud and puddles or simply spending time in the fresh air.”
The poll of 2,000 parents revealed two-thirds of children have never made a daisy chain, fewer than half have built sandcastles and a third have not had the joy of splashing in puddles.
While most parents worry whether their children get enough traditional activities, eight in 10 admitted they needed to make more effort or time to play with their brood outdoors.
Childhood activities that are dying out:
1 Splashing in puddles
2 Building a snowman
3 Walking through squelchy mud
4 Playing in a forest/woodland
5 Snowball fights
6 Enjoying local parks or playing fields
7 Building a sandcastle
8 Having a picnic in countryside
9 Bike rides
10 Playing in the rain
11 Planting seeds
12 Climbing trees
13 Paddling in the sea/streams/rivers
14 Skimming stones across rivers/lakes
15 Plant/animal spotting
16 Searching for bugs and insects
17 Helping to grow fruit and vegetables
18 Kiteflying
19 Making daisy chains
20 Birdwatching
21 Conker searching
22 Blackberry picking
23 Conker fights
24 Camping
25 Pond dipping
26 ‘Pooh sticks’
27 Rock pool searches
28 Den building
29 Crabbing
30 Finding frogspawn