Playing outside alone

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Allegra

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Granted that there are differences between the safety of certain neighborhoods, but I’m curious what age, or other maturity milestone, the forum feels is appropriate for kids to play alone outside. Right now, I’m watching my 9yo niece during the day and I was suprised when she told me that she wasn’t allowed to play alone outside, despite having a fenced yard in an area with very low crime and few wild animals. Living more or less in the same neighborhood, I let my 4 and 6yo play alone in the fenced-in back yard regularly and the 6yo I let play in the front yard or driveway. I keep the window open so I can hear them. Other children their age are also allowed to play freely in our subdivision, and in fact, we’ve had to remind them not to play in our back yard when we aren’t there. My niece is an only child, so I suspect that might be part of it. My sister said she’s fine with her playing in our yard with the other kids. I’m not sure what she expects my 4yo to do in case of a coyote or stranger danger, but I guess he makes her feel more comfortable. For reference, my sister and I were literally shoved out the front door when we my niece’s age and told not to come back until lunch. By the time we were ten or eleven, we walked or rode our bikes to the state park, hiked alone in the woods, and swam across the river, and snuck into the quarry. So, to me, not being allowed to play in one’s own backyard, even with the parents home, seems a bit on the extreme side. On the other hand, I think back on what we were allowed to do and wonder what the heck our parents were thinking! So, just to get an idea on what other responsible parents think, when is it okay to play outside alone? When is it okay to leave the yard, the subdivision, etc?
 
I live in South Australia so I don’t know what it is like in America
 
I imagine there’s good reason in South Australia to not let kid play outside alone. They could get snake bit, mauled by a wild dog, or drug off by a croc! Here, the most dangerous critters around are my neighbor’s psycho dogs.
 
So, what age about do kids starting playing outside alone in Australian suburbs?
 
It is pretty safe you can dance in the middle of the street if you want.😁😁
 
That might be a bit young for me. I will occasionally step inside for a minute to get something or use the restroom with the 1yo out there if her siblings are there to keep an eye on her, but she has a baby fence to keep her contained.
 
Well, you’re only three years older than my niece that isn’t allowed to play outside alone.
 
Not overall, I think. Her dad is a bit more worried about safety issues than average, but they still let her do normal stuff for age.
 
She plays outside, but only with supervision. They only have one kid, so they can do that.
 
I’d hate having my parents just watching me it would be awkward. I’d be like mum dad can you leave me alone!
 
I don’t think a person of any age should be outside alone in Australia. Pretty nearly everything there is some kind of deadly poisonous. Snakes, spiders, emus, platypuses, wallabies, octopuses, jellyfish…

😁
 
I live in suburban Adelaide. The only thing venomous that I come across is a red back spider.
 
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This is very dependent on the neighborhood, obviously. I lived in a tiny suburb in Casper Wyoming where there were more dogs than people. Our streets…there were four…had almost no traffic. My kids were playing outside alone by six. I had a window open and my kids knew how far from the house they could wander…increasing as they got older.

Had I lived in a city, even a small city, I would probably have restricted them to the yard for longer. It also depends on the child so I don’t think you can give any hard and fast rules. Often moms are a bit more restrictive than dads…sometimes it’s the opposite.

By nine I think any child, barring developmental issues, should be able to play in a fenced in yard unless you live in a crime riddled neighborhood.
 
She’s close with them now, but I predict some push back in the near future.
 
I agree. Eventually she’ll go mum dad I want to make my own choices.
 
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