It is vital to me that my children grow up with a respect for their environment

I have chosen not to send my eldest child to school full time here in France because I want him to play outside more as his little brother does. We live near a river and a beautiful wild park where there is a playground. A boat takes you from one side of the river to the other where children run free yet can be seen for miles. On the way to school they stop to pick up acorns which they "cook" in their "kitchen" at home. My eldest is four and yet sticks are still his favourite toy. If they watch television (rarely) it is often David Attenborough. When it rains they go out to splash or fish in puddles in rain suits.

We have no play things in our garden, only a hand made sand pit where they make cakes and play with diggers. They have an interest in our flowers and a great appreciation of the weather as a result of having few "outdoor toys". I feel a pressure to have these things but I resist. When they want to play it is a perfect excuse to go to the park and see the goats, the allotments, the river, nature and LIFE.

It is vital to me that they grow up with a respect for their environment and when they are bored I find it healthy because it feeds their imagination. As a child we made rose perfume and sold it on the roadside. They cannot do that here but I am growing many sorts of flowers so they can pick some and make their own games with them. The other day they spent 20 minutes watching a snail!

– Anon

Living in the city doesn't mean that our children don't have lots of play opportunities

We have a five- and a seven-year-old. We encourage them both to play outside and as they get older we are gradually allowing them to be more independent. We want to keep our children safe but we are aware that it's easy to overprotect them if we let our fears take over.

Our five-year-old has recently started playing football on the pavement outside our house with his friends and we're delighted that he has stopped asking to watch TV when he gets in from school and is getting lots of exercise.

We live in inner-city Hackney and only have a small garden, but we have great parks nearby where we spend a lot of time and the council has recently announced a year-long trial of Playing Out events when residents can apply to have the road closed on a regular basis so that children can play out. It's got lots of support from local residents and is a great way to make full use of our streets and promote a sense of community.

We also go camping two or three times every summer so that our children get the chance to build dens, climb trees, get filthy and generally play with friends without constant adult supervision. Just because we live in the city doesn't mean that our children don't have lots of play opportunities!

– Vanessa

A lack of playmates doesn't help

It is so important for children to have freedom just to be. They are so used to instant results and being entertained that hey lose the ability to just splash in a puddle, dangle upside down or slide down a muddy bank.

Even though we live in a rural area surrounded by countryside, it is hard to get them to go out and play. For us it is the lack of playmates to go out with due to a very small population equating to not very many children. Most of the surrounding open space is farmland, not necessarily accessible for free play, with a lot of open water that is often in flood. The most successful outings are ones with friends in tow! Time constraints also limit play with long journeys to school or for any out-of-school recreation or essential activity.

– Kirsten

What's missing is the independence I enjoyed growing up

We're really lucky to live in a part of London with woods and heath very close by, and my wife, five-year-old son and I do spend hours in/on both, when the weather permits.

I think what's still missing - and I don't know if it can be put back - is the independence I enjoyed, growing up. We had less appealing playgrounds than my son has, but we were more free to go off and explore them on our own, learning valuable life lessons on the way. I simply wouldn't dream of letting him go off for hours on his own - not even when he's much older.

– Matt Baylis

They learn so much more from doing things outdoors

When my first son was a baby, I read some advice on bringing up boys that stuck in my head: like dogs, they need to be fed & watered often, and exercised outside every day!

I now have three sons, aged 4, 2 and 5 months, and I still make sure they get to walk (or run, or scoot, or dangle in the sling) outside every day. We are lucky - we live next to a huge park where they can climb trees, pick blackberries, eat picnics, build snowmen, make 'mud soup', collect leaves, launch rockets, hunt for squirrels, play chase and a million other games they invent. Often we jump in the car to explore new play parks, walk in the woods, or go pond dipping, dam building or kite flying.

As preschoolers, they learn so much more from doing things outdoors than they would ever absorb from a game or book.

It makes us all feel good, it's free, and from a tired parent point of view, it's much easier than keeping them entertained indoors. Not that they don't watch TV and DVDs - they watch quite a bit. But as long as they've had at least a couple of hours running off their energy outside each day, I don't stress about downtime on the sofa.

– Isabel Thomas

Outdoor areas are greatly underused in many schools

I believe outdoor play is essential for children (and adults) of all ages. I set up an informal outdoor playgroup in my area to find other families who want to meet up weekly and explore, have fun and discover wilder, natural outdoor places. My three-year-old loves these sessions and I think my three-month does too (or at least he usually sleeps really well during them).

The children gain so much from playing and exploring the woods, fields or wherever we happen to be with each other. As there are different ages and abilities, they often encourage and support each other to try more things and be more creative than they would if alone or just with parents.

My three-year-old's nursery also has a great attitude to outdoor play and encourages the children to be outside for large chunks of the day, even in poor weather. We are currently looking at schools and a key question of all the schools for me is, 'How much outdoor play and outdoor learning does the school do?'. The outdoor area is a greatly underused resource in many schools, which is a great shame.

– Philippa Mitchell