When are kids old enough to play outside alone?

RonanP77

Our kid is three and a half, we live in the ass hole of nowhere with a big garden, a big gate and a hedge the whole way around the outside. I was thinking of letting them play outside alone this summer, just keeping watch out the window a pop out every now and again.

Do the good people of AH think three and a half is a little young or should it be OK?

There are probably forums for questions about kids but they'll be packed with so called experts that want us to wrap kids in cotton wool until they're 21.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

A secure garden and at three and half they haven't been playing alone outside yet! You're a year late!

2011

It depends very much on the child in question.

howamidifferent

Twould depend on the neighbours I'd have thought?

RonanP77

2011 wrote:

It depends very much on the child in question.

Tall for their age, fairly hardy and loves being outdoors.

howamidifferent wrote:

Twould depend on the neighbours I'd have thought?

There aren't many neighbours out here, the few we have are quiet. There aren't many other kids about. A 1 year old one side of us, a 13 year old the other side of us and we never really see the neighbours anyway.

shedweller

When you can't hear them you have to investigate quickly. They can be like ninjas when they want!

whiskeyman

When they're old enough to carry a blade.

pmasterson95

39 and 3/4 years old

PLL

At first I thought you meant in an estate with other children. It always makes me uneasy to see young children (2/3) playing in the road even if they are with their older siblings.

With regards to the back garden I'd say fire away. My daughter is 3 and a half and adores being outside so when some nice weather came around on Paddy's day we cleaned out the garden, gave her toys from summer a hose and off she went. I was studying from the kitchen table looking out the patio doors, she was delighted!

mikom

RonanP77 wrote: »

Our kid is three and a half, we live in the ass hole of nowhere with a big garden, a big gate and a hedge the whole way around the outside. I was thinking of letting them play outside alone this summer, just keeping watch out the window a pop out every now and again.

Do the good people of AH think three and a half is a little young or should it be OK?

There are probably forums for questions about kids but they'll be packed with so called experts that want us to wrap kids in cotton wool until they're 21.

Shur let them off.
And if the poison doesn't get them... God will.

Buford T. Justice XIX

27. At least 27...

Miall108

When their over 40. Taken straight from the Josef Fritzl School of Parenting

One eyed Jack

As soon as they're able to walk!

It's even better for them though if they have plenty of friends to play with outside. Children are great to entertain themselves, but they're even better at finding ways to entertain themselves in a group.

The_Valeyard

Put a tracker on him, be grand.

Macavity.

2 years old, or a little younger if they are a bright child.

ressem

Give him a sand pile in easy view of the house, a bucket and spade, a few toy vehicles and a sunhat. Keep the shed with tools / chemicals bolted.

Probably less things to fall off in the garden than in the house, and it's suggested that simply spending a couple of hours outside each day decreases the likelihood of short-sightedness in children.

bb1234567

That seems really young. I'd let them out alone if they could walk/run well and could speak perfectly/shout loudly if in trouble. And I trusted them not to do something (too) stupid.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bb1234567 wrote: »

That seems really young. I'd let them out alone if they could walk/run well and could speak perfectly/shout loudly if in trouble. And I trusted them not to do something (too) stupid.

They're three and a half! They could be at school in 6 months. I'd worry if a child couldn't walk, run, speak properly or shout for help at that age.

RonanP77

ressem wrote:

Give him a sand pile in easy view of the house, a bucket and spade, a few toy vehicles and a sunhat. Keep the shed with tools / chemicals bolted.

Yeah I intend buying a tonne bag of builders sand and putting a 9" high wooden frame around it over beside the swings and lawn furniture.

mikom

RonanP77 wrote: »

Yeah I intend buying a tonne bag of builders sand and putting a 9" high wooden frame around it over beside the swings and lawn furniture.

Don't forget a cover for the sand.

anncoates

Ours were out playing on our (quiet enough ) road and the green area beside it from around 4 to 5. Seems the norm with the other kids too.

Maybe it's just ours but kids that age don't tend to wander off too far on their own bat.

Hannibal Smith

mikom wrote: »

Don't forget a cover for the sand.

+ a million!
Hi ronan....3 and a half is a grand age to let him out. Just lock the gate.

Jaxxy

As long as the property is secure and you've child-proofed the garden (garden tools, any chemicals, etc. locked away) then I don't see the problem! Make sure he/she can't get out though (I know many a mini-Houdini), and alternatively, if your neighbours have dogs, make sure they can't get in, either.

Three and a half is the perfect age for garden adventures. My brother and I would play for hours on end in our garden with our little toy animal and dinosaur figures.

RonanP77

RonanP77 wrote: »

Yeah I intend buying a tonne bag of builders sand and putting a 9" high wooden frame around it over beside the swings and lawn furniture.

Don't use builders sand, you can buy washed play sand that will be safer for him, but make sure you keep it covered or it'll be the neighbourhood cat toilet.

darkpagandeath

Eh, When did it become OK to leave children unsupervised at any age ? especially below 6.

Jaxxy

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Eh, When did it become OK to leave children unsupervised at any age ? especially below 6.

OP said nothing about letting his child out unsupervised. And where did this arbitrary age of 6 come from?

recylingbin

If it were my kids...
Boy: when he gets to an annoying age.
Girl: when she's married.

dogcat

Depends on maturity...

anncoates

Jaxxy wrote: »

And where did this arbitrary age of 6 come from?

A secret message smuggled to the surface from the Internet outrage mines. Many toilers died to make sure it arrived in one piece.

boobar

Just keep regular checks on the kid and you'll be fine.

Fresh air will be great for them.

biko

Just make the garden cage quite big and they should be ok.
Oh and don't forget water.

darkpagandeath

anncoates wrote: »

A secret message smuggled to the surface from the Internet outrage mines. Many toilers died to make sure it arrived in one piece.

Nah your mistaking me with the wrong kind of outrage, I'm sick of 2 yearolds running around on the roads, Around housing estates as if they own the place. And the smug parents saying it's their right to do so as roads are playgrounds.

Jaxxy

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Nah your mistaking me with the wrong kind of outrage, I'm sick of 2 yearolds running around on the roads, Around housing estates as if they own the place. And the smug parents saying it's their right to do so as roads are playgrounds.

OP doesn't live on an estate.

suicide_circus

Do you have many unidentified men in white vans driving around the area?

RonanP77

suicide_circus wrote:

Do you have many unidentified men in white vans driving around the area?

It's not a road that's really used by people unless they live on it. The back lawn can't be seen from the road anyway, it's too sheltered. Do all dodgy types drive white vans?

hoodwinked

as said if it's a secured back garden, just let them off but keep an eye on them, you could even hover and watch from the house at first (to a: get a feel for what your child will do, and b: to help yourself let go), then if you are confident in their behaviour when you aren't around start checking on them frequently....

Turtyturd

Make sure they have credit in their phone and they will be fine.

colossus-x

When they start getting on your nerves.

c_man

I visited a cousin at the weekend. He's around the same age as me, though now has a missus, kids and house in the country (literally a minute down the road from his parents, and a minute further from my Granny's). He was saying how much better it is for kids in the countryside compared with the citylife (referring to me growing up in Galway :pac: ).

I couldn't disagree more, seeing the kids essentially cooped up in the bounds of the fence around the house and garden. Small road with cars regularly bombing down it just outside the gates. I grew up in an estate and was regularly 'out' unsupervised during the day with all the neighbourhood kids from a young age. We had a big enough green area in front of our street, lots of estates and other kids around and playgrounds within cycling distance (Christ we cycled everywhere!).

I hate to hear of these kids being driven from/to everywhere, never out of sight, playing endlessly on a console or just indoors. Let your kids out for gods sake!

anncoates

c_man wrote: »

I visited a cousin at the weekend. He's around the same age as me, though now has a missus, kids and house in the country (literally a minute down the road from his parents, and a minute further from my Granny's). He was saying how much better it is for kids in the countryside compared with the citylife (referring to me growing up in Galway :pac: ). !

Wouldn't knock it exactly as what's the perfect childhood? My wife, however, grew up in quite an isolated country area and always complains that it was like a childhood of chauffeured play dates. Our kids are the same now as my childhood: on a small suburban estate with plenty of green space and all spring and summer, it's basically a little mob of about 20 odd kids, in and out of each other's houses and hanging out together. I think I prefer that.

Mint Aero

c_man wrote: »

I visited a cousin at the weekend. He's around the same age as me, though now has a missus, kids and house in the country (literally a minute down the road from his parents, and a minute further from my Granny's). He was saying how much better it is for kids in the countryside compared with the citylife (referring to me growing up in Galway :pac: ).

I couldn't disagree more, seeing the kids essentially cooped up in the bounds of the fence around the house and garden. Small road with cars regularly bombing down it just outside the gates. I grew up in an estate and was regularly 'out' unsupervised during the day with all the neighbourhood kids from a young age. We had a big enough green area in front of our street, lots of estates and other kids around and playgrounds within cycling distance (Christ we cycled everywhere!).

I hate to hear of these kids being driven from/to everywhere, never out of sight, playing endlessly on a console or just indoors. Let your kids out for gods sake!

Wow an ol' townie taking my culchie upbringing and turning it on its head. How big was that patch of green area? Cos mine was 14 miles. That's how far we'd cycle and the amount of stuff and places to explore within that radius of country life far surpasses any man made recreational facility of a town. Ya've the wrong idea of country life buddy.

crybaby

At that age I would probably sit out in the garden and keep an eye on him from there but then again I'm a panicking parent and my two year old will climb on anything

Robsweezie

They would have to be street wise, have their wits about them and know all about stranger danger etc. I would say 8 or 9. But then again a younger age might toughen them up.

(Sorry you mean a garden and not an estate, just keep an eager eye and ear on them)

RonanP77

Both my wife and I grew up in the country, we tried living in a housing estate when we got married but it drove me crazy. We moved back to the country 5 years ago. Our garden is a lot bigger than the green area in that eatate. We decided we didn't want any kids we had running around in traffic either.

Being confined within the boundaries of the garden isn't so bad when it's a full acre. Kids have a big area of concrete around the house for bikes or scooters, a big swing set and I've got over 70 trees planted that will be big enough for climbing and playing around in a few years.

As for bikes, we would've thought nothing of cycling 40k or more every day over the spring and summer. We had miles of fields to walk through, an orchard only 5 minutes walk from the house. I loved growing up in the country and would imagine our kid/kids will be the same.

I was thinking that at three and a half, it's probably time for a bike with stabilisers too, I can get a good one for €20 off a buddy.

Egginacup

RonanP77 wrote: »

Our kid is three and a half, we live in the ass hole of nowhere with a big garden, a big gate and a hedge the whole way around the outside. I was thinking of letting them play outside alone this summer, just keeping watch out the window a pop out every now and again.

Do the good people of AH think three and a half is a little young or should it be OK?

There are probably forums for questions about kids but they'll be packed with so called experts that want us to wrap kids in cotton wool until they're 21.

As long as there's no water like a stream or pond or a bog then I'd say let him loose. Worst things that will happen will be cuts, scratches and insect bites...which he's going to get all his life anyway.

BeerWolf

I was going out cycling to the park when I was 6, parents today are now so paranoid... even though there's a lot of a safety net out there with technology today than back then.

Egginacup

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Eh, When did it become OK to leave children unsupervised at any age ? especially below 6.

Oh boy!
I think you'll find that giving children the freedom to explore and develop independence, confidence and critical thinking skills will stand them in excellent stead throughout their lives. Unless of course you want to raise a litter of insecure, immature kids incapable of thinking for themselves and terrified of their own shadows.

RonanP77

Egginacup wrote:

As long as there's no water like a stream or pond or a bog then I'd say let him loose. Worst things that will happen will be cuts, scratches and insect bites...which he's going to get all his life anyway.

There's a bog down the bottom of the back garden and a drain/stream between us and it. The garden is separated from the lawns with a 4' beech hedge backed up by a chain link fence and a gate of the same height that's covered in angled trellace that little people can't climb over.

I don't mind the cuts and bruises, we all get those anyway. I don't have fond memories of stings and bites but they didn't really do me any serious harm.

Dravokivich

suicide_circus wrote: »

Do you have many unidentified men in white vans driving around the area?

huh? You stop every van or something?

Egginacup

Robsweezie wrote: »

They would have to be street wise, have their wits about them and know all about stranger danger etc. I would say 8 or 9. But then again a younger age might toughen them up.

(Sorry you mean a garden and not an estate, just keep an eager eye and ear on them)

And how does a kid become street-wise exactly? It's not something you can read in a book. They learn by doing.

Egginacup

RonanP77 wrote: »

There's a bog down the bottom of the back garden and a drain/stream between us and it. The garden is separated from the lawns with a 4' beech hedge backed up by a chain link fence and a gate of the same height that's covered in angled trellace that little people can't climb over.

I don't mind the cuts and bruises, we all get those anyway. I don't have fond memories of stings and bites but they didn't really do me any serious harm.

Stings, bites, and all the other germs and bacteria out there will ensure that your kid grows up with a hardy immune system and no bullshit allergies like all these saps nowadays who can't put a thing in their mouths without breaking out in some kind of rash or seizure because they've been scrubbed and disinfected by mammy everyday since they were hatched.

As for the bog.....take him down there and let him get stuck and then rescue him from the mire, thus demonstrating "bogs are dodgy, steer clear!"