Playing Outside

Being an 80s child I loved the freedom to go outside. I would explore, ride my bike, climb trees, knock for my friends and end up having a gang of kids who lived near by playing all together.

It was a good childhood.

There was, of course, strict rules from my mum.

You couldn’t be rude to adults or other children. If you were in trouble you should stay with your friends, call home, go straight home or call the police.

You had a set time to be in and you couldn’t be late or there would be trouble that you would deeply want to avoid. You couldn’t be destructive or damage anything that wasn’t yours. And, finally, if you thought that you might get in trouble then say no and walk away.

You couldn’t break these rules. You wouldn’t dare.
You had the mix of freedom and responsibility and anything that would jeopardize that would lead to a lack of those qualities.

It was fun.


There was a local unity between neighbourhood kids. You all played together and you all watched each others back.

I might be getting old and I may be looking back and seeing it in a nostalgic way but it was brilliant.

What exactly happened to that?

Danger, crime, faster cars and the generation of electronics happened.

However, most parents my age would probably agree that it is better for them to be out having fun than being sat in front of a screen.

I’ve never been a screen time parent. Up until Hannah and the kids moved in the only technology Will and James had was the TV and the Laptop for Home Ed.

Combing families meant adjusting that. We had one family having it daily for a small amount of time and the other with a limited option. We ended up settling for 1 hour 2 times a week; something that has worked well.

With that in mind I wouldn’t say that I would rather have my children doing anything other than being sat in front of a screen all the time.

We have, in my opinion, great alternatives. Our kids read, craft, play with their toys and play board games; the latter being a keen favourite in those house.

But, would I still wish they had more freedom to play outside like I had as a child?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Just before the Summer holidays James found out that a child, and their siblings, lived on the same close as us. It was a simple request of wanting to go out and play with them. I couldn’t really say no, it seemed like a great idea.

Then A, being the same age, wanted to go and join them. So we let him.

In doing so A found a family on the close that goes to his school.

Suddenly, just as it was when I was a child, we had a group of children unknown previously to each other playing happily outside.

Games of tag, football, riding their scooters or bikes and generally just having fun.

Having a group of children playing nicely outside the front has been great. So much so that children from the close behind us (With the back of their houses facing our close) have come out to join the others.

Now there is a group.

It has been brilliant. We now get children knocking throughout the week and asking if one if them can come out to play.

There is a unity between them.

A couple of weeks ago a cat was sadly hit by a car and, although they came and got us first, the neighbourhood children were all together helping in whatever way they could. They were one group wanting to help.

Just like before, we’ve had to set some ground rules that should always be kept. Just like before, when they’re broken, they lose out on the time they could have had. Subsequently, the last 5 months have really been a pleasure to see.

There has even been times when the children have opted to not have their tech time and instead go out and play!

I know the world has changed and I know there is a lot more nowadays that could be a risk but yet, when they’re playing, they’re just outside our window, in our view and eye line and, importantly, they’re together if something went wrong.

All I hear and see is people moaning how kids are stuck indoors, on their tech and not out “living like kids used to" and yet in our little corner of the world we have a small glimpse of children doing exactly that.

Winter is here and the weather isn’t exactly helping but I hope, even with them wrapped up and protected, that they can continue being together and playing happily.