Just over three years ago our family took the brave decision to sell our house and move away from the area we had lived in for fifteen years. My husband and I both changed jobs, the kids changed schools and we swapped a town and being close to London for the countryside and being close to the beach. It was the best thing we have ever done!
At the time we moved the children were 6, 6 and 10 years and becoming increasingly accustomed to indoor play, multi-media activities and days out to theme parks, swimming and the like. Yes we took them to the play park and we would sometimes walk around a local lake but there was no-where near enough time spent outside just enjoying being kids, breathing in the fresh air and running free.
When you live on a main road and children are not allowed out to play it really does restrict their freedom and imaginative play. Here in Sussex we live in 220 acres of land and the kids have friends who live in the same community and they go and collect conkers, play make believe in the church yard, skate on the private roads or organise mini sports days on the west lawn. The world is their oyster and they have so much freedom to play here.
"For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality. Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear – to ignore." Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods.