Last weekend, we visited the magnificent ‘For Your Tomorrow’ exhibition at Stowe Landscape Gardens. And whilst my children were climbing a tree, it struck me: they hadn’t had the opportunity to do that in a long time.
Since moving back to the UK, I’ve really had to be mindful of outdoor time. What was once something we did easily is now an activity that I actively have to make time for. In rainy England, it’s easy to make excuses and not go outside but there’s more to it than that.
Now, as an elder millennial, I have no right to call myself young anymore but something I’ve noticed from a lot of people older than me is the criticism of kids for being an ‘ipad generation’ who lack adventure.
From my observations, this isn’t the fault of children but a situation of our own making. Here are my thoughts…
Car Culture
When we first moved back to England, I had idyllic visions of my children exploring the village, roaming the countryside and calling on their friends without a pre-arranged playdate. Just like I did.
Imagine my surprise to realise that my children were safer in inner city Vienna that they are in rural England. Cars travel way over the speed limit and park on pavements with no consideration whatsoever for children, parents with buggies or people who need to use wheelchairs. But it’s not just safety but the sheer volume of traffic, making it near impossible for adults to cross the road, let alone a child.
Growing up in the 1980s, I used to play ‘kerbie’ with other neighbourhood children on the road. Today, you don’t see any neighbourhood children doing the same thing.
Changing Landscape + lack of space to play
It’s become much harder to roam and explore. Partly because of the issue of cars and partly because areas have become so urbanised. It’s difficult to roam the countryside and often, even public footpaths have become overgrown and impossible to navigate.
And when it comes to climbing trees? Well, there aren’t many that would be considered a good ‘climbing tree. This morning, I went on an hour long walk in the countryside - the only climbing trees I saw were on private land.
In my small village, the only place children can safely play is the playground. The playground (below) lacks any sort of challenge and is emblazoned with many rules: ‘under 12s only!’ and ‘strictly no ballgames!’
The reality is, there is no other place to play ballgames or anywhere else for teenagers to hang out. No wonder so many kids end up doing clubs instead!
Busier Lifestyles
Children and adults have a much busier lifestyle. Even with the option to work from home, there’s pressure on everyone to be busy at all times. However, I do understand the need for clubs. After school clubs provide working parents with a childcare option that is affordable and convenient.
Most kids that my own children are friends with have an activity or club 4-5 times a week. This makes it very difficult to even arrange playdates and simply calling on friends seems to be a thing of the past.
As a former competitive swimmer, I have mixed feelings on extra-curricular activities. On the one hand, I know the many benefits of sport for building character but on the other hand, I know all too well the pressure to perform from a young age. You can read more about this topic here:
Helicopter Parenting
One of the biggest issues we face as parents is keeping our children safe. Our natural urge is to protect them and keep them away from danger. Sometimes, we can go too far with this and keep our children so safe that they don’t do anything remotely risky.
As a former helicopter parent myself, I know that finding the right balance between letting your child explore and keeping them safe can be hard.
Typically today, our children take fewer risks than we did as children. There are many reasons for this such as both parents working, the promotion of organised sports, suing culture and the societal attitudes towards parenting (the fear of being judged as a ‘bad’ parent).
Play for the sake of play has become an endangered species. It’s now restricted to assigned areas where children must be “so tall” to enter. Playground floors have been replaced with rubber surfaces—because God forbid a grass stain. And heaven help our children if they play at the wrong scheduled time.
Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child's Education
All of the above means that we now need to make opportunities for risky play via weekend adventures or Forest School memberships rather than it being part of daily life.
So what can you do to encourage more outdoor play?
The landscape may have changed and it is much harder to simply let our children roam freely, but there are still many ways we can allow our children to climb trees and become more adventurous with outdoor play.
I believe that it isn’t too late to make changes. Organisations such as Playing Out in the UK, show that communities want children to be able to play outside.
When I lived in Australia, many of the school grounds were not fenced. This meant that in the evening and on weekends, children and their families could still use all of the outdoor facilities. I wish more schools and communities would offer this as a solution to lack of play space.
Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to make outdoor play 100% free. One of the primary reasons we ended up joining the National Trust was because we wanted to get outside more. However, it isn’t super expensive either - at £14 per month for our family of 5, we explore incredible locations and the children get to have outdoor adventures.
Here are a few ideas for exposing children to more adventurous play:
Do fewer organised clubs in favour of more independent outdoor play.
Join the National Trust or similar organisation to have more exposure to the outdoors and ‘climbing’ trees.
Consider membership to the Scouts or Girl Guides - this is relatively low cost compared to other clubs and many of the activities focus on outdoor pursuits.
Check your own attitudes towards risker play - are you currently hindering your child’s adventures by calling out ‘be careful’ constantly?
Become a play advocate in your local community. Gather support from fellow parents and campaign for street play days or better play facilities.
If outdoor space if limited, consider enrolling in forest school or create an outdoor play ‘coop’ in your local area with like-minded parents.
Avoid booking up your entire weekend with clubs and commitments.
Invest in outdoor clothing such as boots and waterproof trousers - these can be bought relatively inexpensively from Amazon or resell sites such as Vinted. Alternatively, designate ‘play clothes’.