Natural England, which is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), surveyed 1,150 adults and 502 children between the ages of seven and 11 about outdoor play.
Almost two-thirds of children said that they played indoors more than any other place, in contrast to the adults, of whom 42 per cent said they had played outdoors in local streets when they were children.
The survey also found that 81 per cent of children wanted more freedom to play outdoors. Of the adults - who were divided into a 'grandparents generation', aged 51 or above, and a parents generation, who were aged 50 or under - 94 per cent of the grandparents generation felt that they had more freedom to play outdoors when they were young, compared with 84 per cent of younger adults.
While 85 per cent of adults said that they would like their children to be able to play in natural spaces unsupervised, 74 per cent said they were too concerned about their child meeting strangers and 59 per cent said they were worried about road safety, reinforcing concerns that children today are being raised as 'cotton wool kids'.
Natural England published the results of the survey to coincide with the launch today (2 April) of its One Million Children Outdoors programme, a three-year campaign to encourage more children to visit places such as nature reserves and environmentally friendly farms.
In the first year the programme will launch an interactive website for children and families designed around a wildlife gardening accreditation scheme. It will also fund projects aimed at connecting deprived city children with the natural world.
Poul Christensen, acting chair for Natural England, said, 'Children are being denied the fundamental sense of independence and freedom in nature that their parents enjoyed. Society must question its priorities in providing safe open spaces for play - the money spent on parks and trees in this country is a fraction of that spent on the roads that cause parents safety concerns.'
