Do your kids get out and about as much as they should? We have some exciting activities for you and your family to enjoy.
Children are spending more time indoors but dedicated groups let them run wild and ease parents’ fears about safety, reports
QUARTER of children now spend less than 30 minutes a week playing outside,
according to a report, heightening health concerns among many parents.
Broadcaster Ben Fogle, a father of two, has been among those to advocate getting children outdoors more often following the results of the Mothercare study, which surveyed 1,000 parents.
The poll revealed 90% of parents had never made a treehouse with their children, and 37% had never taken them looking for wildlife. Most said their children did not play outside as often as they had, with the weather, computer games and safety concerns cited as reasons youngsters stayed in more.
The results are worrying given the increasing number of reports about children being overweight.
But spring and summerare good times to encourage children to play outdoors. Dedicated green spaces allow them freedom to roam while easing parents’ safety concerns. However, while most authorities in Scotland would appear to support giving children more opportunities to be outdoors, there is a suspicion that only lip service is being paid to the benefits of outdoor play in some areas.
Emily Cutts, from Glasgow, runs The Children’s Wood, a registered outdoor play group every Wednesday between 10am and noon on North Kelvin Meadow in Glasgow’s west end. The group runs whatever the weather and all are welcome, even if you don’t live in the area. Emily is campaigning against losing the meadow, the last wild space in the city’s west end.
“The Children’s Wood and the meadow are under threat as the council want to sell it for high-end housing, despite all the current concern about children being unfit and overweight,” explains Emily.
“It’s been two years since the application to build on North Kelvin Meadow and The Children’s Wood was submitted and that could easily have been thrown out by now.
“Wewonder why the application hasn’t been dismissed and suspect that, despite the explicit submission of all the votes by local people to rezone the meadow and wood as a green space, the council wants to hold on to the land for building.”
Emily and her husband Quentin have two children, Lauchlan, five, and three-year-old Jessica, who benefit greatly from the play group.
“It’s lovely to see the kids make mud pies and climb trees,” Emily says. “Every child deserves the chance to run wild outside. We have links to a dozen nurseries and schools and are training 32 teachers in outdoor projects.
“It’s vitally important, especially as some children who’ve been to The Children’s Wood through local schools said it was the first time they had been outside to play in months, or ever.
“Being outside in a wild environment is a great antidote to the materialistic and indoor childhood that many young people now experience.
“We’re also situated near some of the most unequal areas in Scotland – the land is invaluable for building a better future for young people and families in the area and we’ve had teachers telling us that getting outdoors can reveal a whole different side to a child.
“It’s heartbreaking to think that all that experience, confidence and learning could be snatched away from them without thinking about the long-term consequences.”
The Children’s Wood’s summer programme includes an event for parents and teachers in Maryhill on June 7 with Dr Carol Craig.
The theme is creating equality and promoting well-being, which must surely be the outcome of protecting and retaining outdoor spaces for the use of children. n