How old were your kids when they started "playing out?"

jordygal

I live in a biggish cul-de-sac and there are 3 other children my son has just made friends with ranging from 5 to 8 in age. He is 6. Now all the mums seem to stand at the door/window watching them almost all the time, but they will run inside any of 3 houses and its hard to keep track of were they are, although a quick "worried glance" out of the door and one will always shout that "they're here" I 'm just wondering if 6 is too young to not quite know where they are ALL the time? how old were yours when they started playing out on their own? as my son is desperate to go out and call for these other lads, who all seem really nice btw.

Kayalana99

If all the mums are keeping a heavy watch on them I think this seems reasonable its not like they are unsupervised playing out at his age.

Your going to get alot of good/bad answars on here but I think most of it depends on the type of area you live in/main roads around etc than age...although thier is a limit ofc!! :-)

Its also going to heavily depend on how you feel ofc...I wouldnt let him push you into anything your not comfortable with.

You could also make a system with your son if he is to enter into another house he could wave you down and make sure your ok? Assuming you to would be keeping a close watch and if he *did* go into anothers house without letting you know you could see fit to keep him inside longer for not being responable enough.

cutestkids

I would say that he will be safe enough now.

My kids have been playing out in a similar cul-de-sac type area since they were around 5.

At first they had limits as to where the could go so that they were always in sight of my house.

I find now that all the kids play out here and are in an out of each others houses and gardens all the time.

peachyprice

Mine were 8-9 when they were allowed out, but I don't live in a cul-de-sac, there is a road out the front and a car park behind my house so they could never play in direct sight, I had to keep track of them more by sound and they were told they were never allowed to go away from the direct area around the house, I think if I lived in a cul-de-sac with no passing traffic I would have let them out earlier maybe.

Could you not tell him that he mustn't go into anyone's house without telling you? I remember my mum doing this with me, I could play all around the block, but only in the street or gardens so she could always hear me and I could always hear her if she called.

balletshoes

Your little one is still only 5, so get the kids to tell you when they are all going to another house together. Once they get into the habit, they'll remember to do it and you'll know where he is.
At that age I didn't let my daughter go looking for her friends next door or at the end of our street (the only 2 houses she would be at) on her own, I took her if she wanted to call for them. Then if they were all playing out in one of our back gardens, and they all decided to go play in someone elses garden etc, they all went together, and they told me where they were going.

jackomdj

My youngest daughter was 5, the eldest was 6 1/2. Our old house was not in a safe road so the eldest only started playing out the front when we owned here.

We too live in a quiet cul-de-sac. I am looking out of the window all the time they are outside. But we have some rules....
If other people go in they come in, so no playing on their own.
They have to stay where I can see them, so no playing at the side of the house. If they want to go into someone's house they ask me.

The youngest is 6 now and she goes out more than she I'd last year, but you will often find me stood outside hugging a cup of coffee to keep my hands warm. Also I Must have the tidiest front garden imaginable as I am always doing stuff with it.

More often than not there is a group of them outside, they are all really good and look out for each other.

There are three other houses in addition to the ones with children and they are all really good with the children too.

balletshoes

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Its also going to heavily depend on how you feel ofc...I wouldnt let him push you into anything your not comfortable with.

wise words - and just as valid at age 11 as age 5 (as I discovered yesterday :cool:)

jordygal

The 2 houses he would go to are directly opposite my house and I'm happy for him to play there or in their gardens, its just when I cant see him eg. i go into the kitchen or loo etc and lose track of where he is, and I know realisticaly I can't keep watch like a hawk all the time he is out, that is the part that worries me.

valk_scot

Mine were 7 or so, I do live on a main road but the garden gate faces out onto a grassed area at the back and I can see straight down the street from every back window in the house. The kids were only allowed to go to visit the friends that lived in the two nearest houses without asking though, if they wanted to go to J's house at the far end of the cul de sac they had to nip back in and tell me. I had phone numbers for all their friends' houses too as did their mums, for things like recalling the kids for dinner or bedtime or if someone scraped their knee in your garden and you wanted their mum to come and get them. It depends on what the norm is for your area of course but as long as you've got a pretty good idea where your DS is likely to be and you know the other parents well enough, you could let him have a limited length of leash at that age.

eliviajen

We are having exactly the same dilemma at the moment - we have just moved onto a cul-de-sac filled with kids! and our daughter (7) is nagging to go out to play

So yesterday I let her... I was in the kitchen so I could clearly see her whilst I was washing the dishes, however she didnt dare go up to the grassy bit at the top where there was three other children playing as she didnt know them, and was skipping and playing hopscotch on our driveway

Until about 5 minutes or so later when she came running back in, apparently a cat with long teeth was looking at her funny! ... She hasnt nagged to go out today!

She's a pretty social creature really and makes new friends quickly, but I think she was being overly cautious about approaching the other children as she knew I was watching her every move

We might try again tommorow, We know everybody in the street as its a close knit community and we havent moved far its just some children go to the local school and some go the c of e school about 5 miles away so she wont know everyone.

Im interested as to everyone elses opinion on this... Children at the local school can leave school without an adult from year 3, so only a couple of months really for our daughter :eek:

pigpen

Mine were about 13. DS2 is 17 and never 'played out' ever.

At our school the children are not allowed to leave until they are in year 5 or 6 and that is only with written parental consent