Running carefree and playing games in a garden or park is Britain’s favourite memory of childhood, according to a new poll.
But despite ever-more complex forms of entertainment aimed at children, the childhood pastimes that adults have cherished for decades remain the most simple and easily obtained.
A survey of 3,000 parents across the UK found that:
- playing in the park was the favourite memory for 25 per cent
- building a den second (21 per cent)
- seeing wildlife in its natural habitat third (20 per cent)
Yet despite these findings, 79 per cent of today’s children say they want to get outside more as they spend too much of their time indoors, watching TV or playing computer games, activities which few adults (four per cent) cherished as being highlights of their childhood.
Last year, we found that children spent so little time outdoors that common British wildlife was alien to them, with one in three unable to identify a magpie and half confused between bees and wasps.
To combat that, we have launched a campaign to get 100,000 families to go wild this summer with more than 1,000 specific ‘wild child’ events designed specifically to encourage children’s interest in local wildlife.
A Trust Summer Roadshow will visit cities across England to raise awareness of the campaign, while the Trust has also published a list of ‘10 Things To Do Before You’re 10’ as a challenge to families to recreate some of their wilder childhood memories with their children.
Elsewhere, staff at one of the charity’s top properties have developed a special woodland assault course including a special section where children can create their own dens, tunnels and mud pies.
But there is more to playing outside than increasing children’s knowledge of wildlife.
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Child psychologist, Professor Tanya Byron, said:
'Everyone knows about the health benefits of exercise, and the problems of obesity that we as a nation are facing. What’s perhaps more important, however, is the fact that the less children play outdoors, the less they learn to cope with the risks and challenges that they will go on to face as adults in everyday life.
'These days we try to simulate the movement and balance children learn from outdoor play in virtual environments but children are still missing out on so much.
'The truth is that, in terms of development, nothing can replace what children gain from the freedom and independence of thought they have when trying new things out in the open.'
As well as asking for people’s favourite memory, the survey also found:
- 38 per cent of children now spend less than an hour a day outdoors
- Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of youngsters spend more than 14hrs a week sat in front of a TV or computer screen
- 87 per cent of parents wish their children spent more time outside -Yet one in four won’t allow them to do the things they did as children because they are worried about safety
- While only one in four children has played tennis in the past year, twice as many have played the sport on computers such as Nintendo Wiis or Xboxes
- Fewer than one in 20 (4 per cent) said that playing computer games was their favourite childhood memory
- Building a den was Wales' favourite memory; Northern Ireland's favourite memory was playing games in a park or garden, while in Scotland it was riding a bike
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