It’s the question on many people’s lips: Why don’t we see kids playing outside anymore? When you think back to your childhood, you’ll likely picture outdoor adventures with friends scrambling over climbing frames or playing imaginative games in playhouses.
But if you’ve ever tried coaxing a happily gaming child into their wellies, you’ve probably already noticed the growing gap between playgrounds and pixels in this new generation.
To dig deeper, we’ve surveyed parents across the UK to discover how often their 5 to 12‑year‑olds play outside, how long they spend on screens, and what gets in the way of more muddy‑kneed fun.
Main findings
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One in three (30%) UK children don’t play outside daily, while more than a quarter (26%) spend three hours or more on screens every day.
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Access to public space matters: Three in 10 (30%) parents say a lack of nearby parks or playgrounds limits outdoor play.
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Time pressure is also a significant barrier for 29% of families, rising to 37% in Northern England and 36% in Scotland.
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Southampton is the UK’s screen‑time capital. Over one in five (22%) kids there spend 5+ hours on devices daily.
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Almost one in six (14%) parents who said their kids have to be encouraged to go outside also noticed a lack of imagination in their play.
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Children of younger parents are most likely to play outside daily. An average of 19% of parents aged 44 and younger said their kids went out at least once a day, compared to 14% aged 45 and up.
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Parents are trying to get their children outside, with over 1.4k monthly searches for “garden games for kids” and “outdoor games for kids” in the UK.
The state of outdoor play in the UK
Outdoor play isn’t just about fun; it’s crucial to a child’s healthy development.
It can help fuel imagination, confidence, and resilience while fresh air breaks up long stretches of sitting and screen exposure. This is vital when today’s devices can easily swallow whole afternoons.
With hundreds of searches for phrases like “benefits of outdoor play” and “outdoor play ideas” in the UK each month, it’s clear that parents want to see their kids get out and about. But let’s see how long children are playing outside at the moment.
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On average, how often do child/children aged between 5 and 12 play outdoors per week? Pick the option that best matches your experience. |
|
|
Every day (5+ hours) |
8% |
|
Every day (3-4 hours) |
18% |
|
Every day (1-2 hours) |
33% |
|
Every day (under 1 hour) |
11% |
|
3-4 times per week |
14% |
|
1-2 times per week |
10% |
|
Only on weekends (over 4 hours total) |
2% |
|
Only on weekends (under 4 hours total) |
2% |
|
Rarely |
1% |
|
Never |
1% |
According to three in 10 (33%) parents, most children get one to two hours of fresh air a day. A further one in five (18%) said their little ones are out for up to four hours each day.
At the other end of the scale, 2% of parents admit their child rarely, or never, plays outside, while one in 25 (4%) say outdoor time is saved just for the weekends.
The UK areas where kids aren’t playing outside
With almost a quarter (24%) of children only going outside a few times a week across the UK, which parts of the country are getting kids outdoors more, and where are they most likely to stay inside?
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On average, how often does your child/children aged between 5 and 12 play outdoors per week? Pick the option that best matches your experience. |
|||||||
|
Central England |
Northern England |
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
South East England |
South West England |
Wales |
|
|
Every day (5+ hours) |
11% |
6% |
0% |
7% |
8% |
9% |
0% |
|
Every day (3-4 hours) |
14% |
21% |
18% |
19% |
20% |
15% |
11% |
|
Every day (1-2 hours) |
34% |
32% |
36% |
40% |
33% |
29% |
22% |
|
Every day (under 1 hour) |
9% |
17% |
18% |
7% |
10% |
3% |
17% |
|
3-4 times per week |
11% |
15% |
9% |
7% |
13% |
21% |
28% |
|
1-2 times per week |
11% |
6% |
9% |
17% |
10% |
15% |
11% |
|
Only on weekends (over 4 hours total) |
2% |
1% |
9% |
2% |
3% |
6% |
0% |
|
Only on weekends (under 4 hours total) |
3% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
2% |
0% |
11% |
|
Rarely |
3% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
3% |
0% |
|
Never |
0% |
3% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
Children in Wales are getting the least outdoor play. Over one in six (17%) Welsh parents say their child spends just one hour or less outdoors on the days they go out, and more than one in 10 (11%) report that outdoor time only happens on weekends, totalling under four hours.
Over one in 10 kids in Wales spends under 208 hours playing outside a year - that's less than nine days!
Elsewhere, there are bright spots. Scottish families report higher day‑to‑day outdoor time, with two in five (40%) saying their children play outside 1–2 hours daily and another 19% at 3–4 hours.
At a city level, almost three in 10 (29%) children in Manchester spend less than an hour a day outdoors, the highest in our study. By contrast, some cities show weekend‑heavy patterns. For example, 13% of Bristol parents say their children only get out on weekends.
Where are kids least likely to hit the NHS-recommended time of physical activity?
UK health guidelines suggest children aged five and up get at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Outdoor free play is one of the simplest and most affordable ways to hit that target.
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NHS recommends 60 minutes of physical activity per day for children aged 5+ |
|||||||
|
Central England |
Northern England |
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
South East England |
South West England |
Wales |
|
|
Children 5-12 meeting the recommendation |
59% |
59% |
55% |
67% |
61% |
53% |
33% |
|
Children 5-12 falling short of the recommendation |
41% |
41% |
45% |
33% |
39% |
47% |
67% |
Overall, just under two-thirds (59%) of youngsters manage a full hour of active outdoor play each day. Wales faces the biggest challenge, with only a third hitting that mark (just a third reach it), while Scotland, the land of lochs and mountains, leads the way at 67 %.
In terms of cities, Edinburgh is the star pupil with over four-fifths (81%) of kids smashing the target. Meanwhile, only two-fifths (43%) of children in Cardiff and Sheffield meet the recommended minimum.
Do kids need a nudge?
Some kids will beg their parents to let them play outside, while others may be happy to stick to indoor activities. So, where do children need the most encouragement to spend time outdoors?
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Does your child/children aged between 5 and 12 play outdoors unprompted, or do they need parent/carer encouragement? Please pick the option that occurs the most. |
|||||||
|
Central England |
Northern England |
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
South East England |
South West England |
Wales |
|
|
My child/children make their own decisions to play outside |
73% |
69% |
82% |
74% |
65% |
68% |
67% |
|
My child/children need encouragement to play outside |
27% |
31% |
18% |
26% |
35% |
32% |
33% |
Across the UK, nearly seven in 10 (68%) children decide to get fresh air for themselves. But, in the South East, more than a third (35 %) need a parental prod, compared with just 18% in Northern Ireland.
Liverpool tops the chart for outdoor reluctance, with 44 % of kids needing a bit of encouragement. Meanwhile, in Southampton, it’s a different story, with 89% of children choosing to get outside all on their own.
Kids’ tips for parents
If you have trouble convincing your children to play outside, here are some ready-made tips from kids themselves. We asked a group of primary-schoolers aged five to 11 what pulls them from the sofa to the playground.
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“I like playing hide-and-seek with my friends because I have good hiding spots.”
Encourage this love of hide-and-seek by creating even more places for them to discover and hide. Drape an old bedsheet over a washing line, prop up a cardboard box, or use garden furniture to make little hidey-holes you can easily change.
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“I love watering my plants and playing on my swing.”
Are your kids green-fingered? Put them in charge of watering, but make it fun. Give them a ‘rain cloud’ duty to lightly spray flowers. You can even encourage this gardening hobby by getting them their very own potting table!
Also, if you have the space, a simple swing set can become the hub of all imaginative play, from astronauts to pirates, you name it.
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“I like to play football and sports.”
Search on local Facebook pages or forums for low-cost sports clubs in your area. There are plenty of benefits to getting your kids enrolled in these: they spend time outdoors, they make friends, and they get to do something they enjoy.
If your garden is big enough, you could also get some sporty equipment, like football goals, target sheets, or basketball hoops, for them to practise at home.
The scale of screen reliance
Screens play a big role in learning, entertainment, and staying connected, but it’s all about balance. Screen time is a hot topic for parents, sparking questions like ‘how much is too much?’ and even stirring feelings of guilt or shame about their children’s habits.
To learn more about this subject, we’ve looked at how much time children across the UK are actually spending on their devices.
|
Roughly, how much time does your child/children aged between 5 and 12 spend on devices (e.g. phone, Xbox, TV, PlayStation, laptop etc.) each week? |
|
|
Every day (5+ hours) |
7% |
|
Every day (3-4 hours) |
19% |
|
Every day (1-2 hours) |
34% |
|
Every day (under 1 hour) |
14% |
|
3-4 times per week |
8% |
|
1-2 times per week |
5% |
|
Only on weekends (over 4 hours total) |
3% |
|
Only on weekends (under 4 hours total) |
5% |
|
Rarely |
2% |
|
Never |
2% |
When we asked about daily device use, more than a quarter (26%) of parents shared that their children spend at least three hours on screens every day, including 7% racking up more than five hours. It’s not something that kids always enjoy either, with one boy, aged 11, saying “when I die on games inside I can get quite angry,” and a girl aged nine explaining she prefers to be outside as that “doesn’t hurt my head.”
Three hours of daily screen time turns into 65,700 minutes a year – the same time it takes to read The Gruffalo over 2,000 times.
Only 2% of parents said their children rarely use screens, like phones, consoles, TVs, laptops and more, and the same percentage said their kids’ screen time is zero hours a week!
Health bodies and UK media regulators often point to a rough guide of keeping recreational screen time under two hours per day for 5–12s (context and content matter, of course).
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NHS and Ofcom suggest under 2 hours of screen time per day for 5 - 12s |
|
|
Children 5-12 exceeding the recommendation |
27% |
|
Children 5-12 meeting the recommendation |
73% |
Against that benchmark, almost three-quarters (73%) of children in our sample meet or stay within the recommendation, while 27% exceed it.
The most screen-heavy places in the UK
|
Roughly, how much time does your child/children aged between 5 and 12 spend on devices (e.g. phone, Xbox, TV, PlayStation, laptop etc.) each week? |
|||||||
|
Central England |
Northern England |
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
South East England |
South West England |
Wales |
|
|
Every day (5+ hours) |
10% |
7% |
0% |
5% |
7% |
12% |
0% |
|
Every day (3-4 hours) |
19% |
16% |
27% |
19% |
20% |
32% |
11% |
|
Every day (1-2 hours) |
44% |
38% |
45% |
26% |
30% |
24% |
50% |
|
Every day (under 1 hour) |
10% |
21% |
18% |
12% |
14% |
3% |
6% |
|
3-4 times per week |
3% |
9% |
0% |
10% |
9% |
9% |
11% |
|
1-2 times per week |
3% |
3% |
0% |
12% |
6% |
0% |
11% |
|
Only on weekends (over 4 hours total) |
1% |
1% |
0% |
7% |
5% |
0% |
6% |
|
Only on weekends (under 4 hours total) |
0% |
2% |
0% |
10% |
6% |
18% |
0% |
|
Rarely |
6% |
3% |
0% |
0% |
2% |
3% |
0% |
|
Never |
2% |
1% |
9% |
0% |
2% |
0% |
6% |
Just as outdoor play varies by postcode, so does screen time. Kids in South West England have the highest screen time, as one in eight (12%) spend five hours or more on their devices per day. However, this location is full of opposites. The region also had the highest rate (18%) of parents only allowing this on weekends, and for under four hours in total.
Southampton kids spend 76 days a year on screens - that's longer than their summer holidays.
Southampton is the UK’s screen‑time capital, with 22 % of children spending time on devices for at least five hours daily. Nottingham is next, with over one in six (16%) kids spending the same time looking at screens.
Could this high screen time have adverse effects on children, with them noticing it too? One boy, aged 11, said he prefers to play outside “because I get less angry than I do on my PlayStation.”
At the other end of the scale, nearly one in 10 (9%) Birmingham parents say their kids rarely spend time on phones, TVs, or gaming consoles.
The biggest barriers to outdoor play and how to beat them
The biggest barrier to outdoor playtime is a lack of public outdoor space, like parks or playgrounds. Close behind is time pressure around school and work routines (29%). Meantime, bad weather puts a chill on 23% of families, and 15% say not having private space, like a garden, gets in the way.
While it can be easier said than done, many of these barriers can be addressed with minor changes. Here are some potential fixes to some of the trickiest reasons parents find it challenging to get their children outside.
|
Barrier |
Percentage of parents affected |
Potential fix |
|
Lack of public outdoor space (e.g. no local parks or playgrounds) |
30% |
If you’re lucky enough to have a private outdoor space, create your own garden playground. You can even get fantastic outdoor toys for small gardens. You don’t need a lot of outdoor space to create fun activities for your kids. One five-year-old boy’s favourite thing to do is “play duck, duck, goose.” |
|
Lack of free time around school/work routine |
29% |
Some time is better than none. Create a 10-minute ‘dash outdoors’ routine where you encourage your kids to do a quick activity outside before their evening meal or bath. |
|
Poor weather conditions in the area |
23% |
Rain in the UK is no new trend. But there are ways to get around this and still give your kids some fun outdoors. Try out rain games like floating boats or puddle jumping. The secret is embracing the bad weather. Some activities are even perfect for post-rainy days, like mud kitchens. |
|
Lack of private outdoor space (e.g. no garden) |
15% |
Research where your local parks, playgrounds, and community spaces are and dedicate some time visiting them. Depending on how far away they are and how old your child is, you may also need to factor outdoor play into your own schedule. |
|
Poor behaviour if devices are taken away to encourage outdoor play |
11% |
You’re not alone. One in six (15%) parents who answered that their children’s screen time is at 3+ hours say bad behaviour when devices are taken off them is a barrier to their kids playing outside. Introduce timers and allocate times for their devices. For example, encourage them to play outside after school but block out 30 minutes for them to use their phone, laptop, or gaming console after dinner. This way, they’re still getting that time with these devices, but only after they’ve gotten some fresh air. |
|
Notice a lack of imagination in your children when it comes to outdoor play |
9% |
Create ‘play prompt’ cards with simple activity ideas that they can choose when it’s time to go outside to get their creativity underway. Think scavenger or insect hunts! |
Where parents are most under time pressure
Time, or the lack of it, is a major hurdle when it comes to outdoor play. We looked into where this time pressure is being felt the most across the UK, and how it’s affecting the amount of fresh air kids are getting.
|
Are there any barriers you feel you face when it comes to your child/children aged between 5 and 12 playing outside/access to playing outside? Select all that apply. |
|||||||
|
Central England |
Northern England |
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
South East England |
South West England |
Wales |
|
|
Lack of free time around school/work routine |
28% |
37% |
18% |
36% |
25% |
15% |
22% |
Parents in Northern England (37%) and Scotland (36%) report the highest struggles to carve out free time for outdoor play, edging above the national 29% average.
Manchester parents top the time‑crunch list, with nearly half (48%) saying they don’t have time to facilitate their children's play outside between school and work. Edinburgh (38%) and Newcastle (35%) parents also feel the pinch.
Natalie, nature play specialist at evergreenexploring.org explains why outdoor play is so important
“In a world where screens are the easy option, outdoor play gives families the chance to reconnect and build confidence through shared experiences. We know that almost three in 10 parents say lack of free time is a barrier – but even small moments outside can spark big changes. At Evergreen Exploring, we’ve seen how outdoor play supports everything from physical development and motor coordination to creativity, problem-solving, resilience and vocabulary growth. These are the foundations children need to thrive – and they’re often built through mud, movement, and moments of trial and error.
Reducing screen time is vital to this. Excessive screen use can limit real-world interaction, physical activity and imaginative play – all of which are crucial for healthy development. By stepping away from screens and into nature, children engage more fully with the world around them, build social skills, and learn to navigate challenges in ways that screens simply can’t replicate.”
“Five top tips to beat the 'I’m Bored!' blues (and get outside together)
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Turn the walk into a mini adventure
No garden? No problem. Use the walk to school or the shop to gather nature treasures, snap sky pics, or spot bugs and birds. Curiosity doesn’t need a postcode.
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Make homework out-work
Take reading, spellings or projects outside – a picnic blanket and a change of scenery can spark creativity and boost focus (and mood!).
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Put play in the diary
Busy week? Block out one regular outdoor moment – a monthly nature trip or a Sunday park play. If it’s planned, it’s more likely to happen.
-
Don’t wait for perfect weather
Wrap up, embrace the mess, and reward yourselves with a warm drink afterwards. Puddle jumping and muddy walks build resilience and memories.
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Grow something small
No green space? A window box or pot of herbs is all you need to watch nature in action - and it sparks daily chats, observations, and wonder.
Remember: Getting outside should be fun for both of you. There's no time limit, and there's no wrong way to do this. Keep it simple, have some fun and enjoy the moments together.”
Methodology
OutdoorToys is a leading retailer of playground equipment. With the number of online devices for children increasing, we decided to explore the difference between screen time and outdoor play time. For this study, we surveyed over 1,000 UK parents asking the following questions:
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How often do your children play outdoors?
- Under 1 hour per day
- 1-2 hours per day
- 3-4 hours per day
- 5 hours+ per day
- 1-2 times per week
- 3-4 times per week
- Only on weekends (under 4 hours)
- Only on weekends (over 4 hours)
- Rarely or never
-
How much time do your children spend on devices each day? (phone, Xbox, TV, PlayStation, laptop)
- They don’t use a device
- Under 1 hour per day
- 1-2 hours per day
- 3-4 hours per day
- 5 hours+ per day
- Only on weekends (under 4 hours)
- Only on weekends (over 4 hours)
-
Do your children play outdoors unprompted, or do they need parent/carer encouragement?
- Children make their own decisions to play outside
- Children need encouragement to come away from devices and play outside
- Parent/carer takes away their devices for periods of time to encourage outdoor play
-
Are there any barriers you feel you face when it comes to your children playing outside/access to playing outside? Select all that apply.
- Lack of outdoor space (no garden)
- Lack of public outdoor space (no local parks or playgrounds)
- Lack of free time around school/work routine
- Poor behaviour if devices are taken away to encourage outdoor play
- Notice a lack of imagination in your children when it comes to outdoor play
- Poor weather conditions in the area
- Any responses from parents of children under five or over 12 years old at the time of the survey were removed from the final data set.
All data was collected in July 2025 and is correct as of then.
Sources
https://www.readinglength.com/book/BzowSsC