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maryjk
Guest
Medium size city in the South.
Yes, kids play outside.
But not this time of year. Too hot.
Yes, kids play outside.
But not this time of year. Too hot.
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Honour
Guest
We are also in Utah, and the kids run around like crazy out here. Probably has a lot to do with your particular neighborhood, location. We live on a dead end street in a small neighborhood with lots of LDS families (lots of kids) and no through traffic (so very little perceived danger). Most of the houses around us do not have fences and the kids just go back and forth between yards, they also ride their bikes all over the street and sidewalks. Even the little ones!I am curious because it is a problem where we live. Our seven year old daughter has no playmates in our neighborhood. Most of the girls from her school have arranged play dates.
It seems our daughter expects to go places, such as a museum, instead of playing outside.
Please add your city/state when posting your comment. I am curious to see how things are in other parts of the country. We live in Utah.
Thanks!
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Kelfa28
Guest
Southeastern Mass.
It’s all older kids, probably over the age of 13 or so, that ride their bikes and scooters all over the neighborhood.
My husband and I recently discovered we are the youngest anything (couple or single) who own a house in this area…by almost 15 years or more.
It’s a little disheartening. Where I grew up…there were kids everywhere and we were all outside all day long during the summer months.
I have a 15 month old. She goes outside as much as we can let her (weather and bug dependent) since we have a massive backyard.
I try to cushion the lack of kiddos her age by enrolling her in swim lessons and, possibly, a gymnastics class soon. Just so she can be around more kids her age to play. She adores her swim lessons. The activity and the exposure to other kids her age is good.
It’s all older kids, probably over the age of 13 or so, that ride their bikes and scooters all over the neighborhood.
My husband and I recently discovered we are the youngest anything (couple or single) who own a house in this area…by almost 15 years or more.
It’s a little disheartening. Where I grew up…there were kids everywhere and we were all outside all day long during the summer months.
I have a 15 month old. She goes outside as much as we can let her (weather and bug dependent) since we have a massive backyard.
I try to cushion the lack of kiddos her age by enrolling her in swim lessons and, possibly, a gymnastics class soon. Just so she can be around more kids her age to play. She adores her swim lessons. The activity and the exposure to other kids her age is good.
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Jon_S_1
Guest
I am in Southern California. In my old neighborhood no one ever did. When we moved to our new neighborhood, I just started going out front and playing with the kids, doing, bikes whatever and we now have a grouo if about 5 families that hang out front a lot of afternoons.
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lax16
Guest
Cricket - how interesting! Yes, I agree playing outside is a lot better than sitting inside playing computer games - or what my kids like to do - watch t.v.
Thanks for the response!
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lax16
Guest
I assumed that in the midwest there would be tons of kids playing outside. I always think of the midwest as a place with friendly people having neighborhood get-togethers and kids running free. A little old fashioned you might say.
But I am sure kids everywhere are interested in being inside where it is cool and comfortable!
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lax16
Guest
Do kids still hang out on the corner? When I was a teen visiting my cousins in Massapequa, we would hang out with the neighbor kids. Coming from So. Cal. I thought that was so fun! (We didn’t “hang out” where I was from).
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BioNerd
Guest
I live in my beautiful Sugar Land, Texas! When I was in Elementary (college right now) there were tons of kids always playing outside but now there are literally no kids outside whatsoever! A lot of the same families still live in my same neighborhood which are now retired or older parents of my generation. All those kids are now just off in college or driving around outside rather than playing. 
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Usige
Guest
We live in the exburbs south of Denver and kids playing outside tends to be neighborhood dependent. We generally have to drag our youngest kids in for dinner. There are about 20 kids on our cul-de-sac and I’d say 95% play outside. The only kid that really doesn’t is from the couple that only has one kid and they scowl at the rest of us because of how dangerous it is for kids to play out front.
In our old neighborhood 25 miles north, the families were smaller (one or two kids) and kids tended to stay inside. There were two or three houses on the block that I never realized had kids. It seemed the parents in that neighborhood saw threats around every corner and under every bush so playing inside was safer. Because the kids rarely interacted outside of structured environments (school, organized sports, etc) I don’t know if they would even have known how to play outside without someone providing structure for them.
In our old neighborhood 25 miles north, the families were smaller (one or two kids) and kids tended to stay inside. There were two or three houses on the block that I never realized had kids. It seemed the parents in that neighborhood saw threats around every corner and under every bush so playing inside was safer. Because the kids rarely interacted outside of structured environments (school, organized sports, etc) I don’t know if they would even have known how to play outside without someone providing structure for them.
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SusanneT
Guest
Yes we live in a village in England our kids play outside all the time and our oldest (8) is cricket & rugby mad !
I guess people are more protective than when we were children but the main change is just that there are more cars.
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kristacecilia
Guest
Small town Ontario.
Yes, they play outside. Mine are out all day long. As soon as the school kids get home from school or daycare the streets are full of kids until the lights come on. Maybe not as many as thirty years ago, but still plenty.
Yes, they play outside. Mine are out all day long. As soon as the school kids get home from school or daycare the streets are full of kids until the lights come on. Maybe not as many as thirty years ago, but still plenty.
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Kal2012
Guest
Growing up, my neighborhood was a lot more enclosed and in the country, so I didn’t have to worry about “city” traffic. We’d cross one major road if we wanted to go to the little corner store in the neighborhood, but that was is.
These days, I live in a major city and near the major shopping districts of our area. Traffic is just nuts at rush hour. I’m looking forward to moving to a quieter neighborhood (in town) next year, so I’m not so afraid to let my kid outside alone!
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MJJean
Guest
I didn’t invent it, so everyone can use it
We kind of got lucky. The local school district had to close a couple of schools due to budget and building safety issues. They moved all the playground equipment to the remaining schools. So, we ended up with a double the play area within a very large field area. The kids play on the playscapes and they will also use the field area for everything from football to practicing archery (a neighbor has a bow and arrow set along with a bale of hay to use for the target) to good old games of tag and Red Rover.
I’m old school. I kick em out of the house unless it’s over 100 or under 40 degrees. If it’s hot I tell them to come in and get drinks of water regularly or let them take out water bottles I get from the dollar store so it’s no big loss if it gets lost or broken. If it’s cold I bundle em up and let em come in periodically to check fingers and toes.
During summer vacation it’s not uncommon to see 8-12 of the kids outside after dark running around chasing fireflys (lightning bugs) or playing hide and seek with flashlights. A few parents will be outside on their porches chatting in the cooler night air so there is adult supervision. Last night my son was out playing with the neighbor kids until around 10:30 pm and I only dragged him in because we had to go to bed. My husband had an early start and I get up with him to make his breakfast and lunch. If it wasn’t for the early start I would have let my boy play until he dropped!
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Brendan_64
Guest
Under 40? That’s not cold yet , water hasn’t even frozen at 40?
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maryjk
Guest
Kids will play outside after dark. Mainly because the temp drops down to reasonable levels.
Send your kids outside to play in the middle of day, in the middle of summer, around here? They will be the only kids outside. Maybe it is different up North. But down here in the South? No way.
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KendraDZ1902
Guest
In the south we have to deal with a lot of humidity in the summer, which makes it feel hotter than it really is. Also, try to breath outside with it is 100 degrees with high humidity. 40 degrees here is dead of winter. I think I am freezing to death walking to my car. I think temperature and whether or not it is a good idea to play outside should be a regional thing.
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MJJean
Guest
It is a bit different. Part of it is that our snows get deep and winter is long. After 3 months of the kids in the house everyone is batty. So, we kick the kids out the door to play once it’s not freezing. At 40 degrees I make em go out, below that it’s optional. Course, this is coming from someone who also thinks 55 and above is shorts weather, lol. At 100 degrees I make em come in after an hour or so just to check for sunburns and hydration. If they want to go back out, more power to em!
Its been humid as all heck here. I have lung problems, so I have a hard time breathing outside right now. The kids are fine, though.
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ATeutonicKnight
Guest
I live in Kansas, and kids don’t play outside at all here. Back in February, we had an insane blizzard that left so much snow everyone was stuck in their driveways for one or two days. I’m sixteen, and I was out playing in the snow, as were my two best friends. However, from what I saw in my town, I was the only one. Everyone else stayed inside. I never see anyone walking outside except if school just got out. I still make sure to ride my back for an hour every day.
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