Do You Send Your Kids Outside?

You bet I did! Especially with my son. Only way to save my sanity. We had about 3/4 of an acre fenced in and a dog. My guy was about 4ish when I was a little more comfortable leaving him alone but with windows and the door open so I could hear him talking to the dog and protecting us. When he was younger, I would sit outside with him and read a book. He would protect the yard from aliens! =)

I really think that is a problem nowadays with kids. No one goes outside and play. You don't see kids riding bikes or hanging out in yards. So sad.

My kids are 9 and 6 and they play outside with all the neighbor kids everyday. THey go in the front yard and all over the place. We are at the end of the cold e sak (sp?) and have big windows in the front so I can still see them from inside the house.

My kids rarely go out front alone, but they play out back all the time alone. We don't send them out front because even though we live just houses away from a cul-de-sac, the teens that live that way FLY. I don't want my kids run over. So we keep an eye on them out front.

Out back though we have a 6ft. privacy fence...so they play out there all the time. The youngest was 3 when it was put in.

I free range. I let my kids be outside with an older sibling at, um, ready? 15 months. It's only for a minute, while I go pee or something, but my oldest is only 6 :-) my second is 4. When my second was 21 months, I started letting him and his 3.5 year old sister play outside for longer periods of time with me watching from the window. I fenced in my yard, and I can see things from the kitchen or dinning room window. But, I have a giant playground in the backyard, with a giant tube slide. My son went down it with no problem at 19 months -he is very physically capable. By 21, I felt comfortable letting him do it without me close. When I know the 15 month old is no where near the playground, I go inside to pee, move laundry, etc. The oldest knows to spot her if she decides to go towards the little slide. I try to not let that happen, but a few times I have found the little one on the ladder with her sister behind her.

My oldest broke her arm the other day. She was with her dad. My toddler fell down the stairs, I was right there and I couldn't catch her. I hate that!

If something bad is going to happen, it's going to happen.

I'd feel very comfortable leaving a two year old with a five year old in a fenced in yard. My kids know to watch out for each other and to get me if someone is doing something they shouldn't be doing. I'd have no problem at all with a 3 year old being alone. My oldest played outside all the time by herself at 3. She loves being outside, and I had a baby. So baby and I stayed in, and she played out. When my little one is 18-19 months, and if capable, I will have no problem preparing dinner with her outside with her siblings, with me watching on.

I have no idea why kids playing outside would be negligence.

yes! i was a very free-range kid, and with reasonable modifications i raised mine the same way. kids are not well-served by having mama breathing down their necks and micromanaging every move. kids have GOT to have some unfettered time to be wild things without eagle eyes upon them. and nearly all sensible parents can set it up so that this is both do-able and safe, despite the modern fad of believing that our kids are in crisis danger every second and that they need to be in constant lock-down.
there's a pretty wide reasonable margin between negligent parenting and fear-based parenting.
khairete
S.

I see the outside as an extension of the inside, so as long as it's safe and age appropriate I let them go.
My kids were out on our patio alone as toddlers, but of course it was fully fenced and safe and we could easily see them from the living room.
Once we moved into a house it was pretty much the same, it was all fenced and we could see the yard from the house so yeah, they were outside without me a LOT.
That's what the yard is for, right?

Yes, I do! I don't think it's negligent to allow your kiddos some freedom and time outside. Like the other moms, I think a lot depends on your situation and your kids' maturity level. Set some boundaries, but I'd say let them play. :)

One of the best investments we made was having a good, tall fence built around the backyard. My son practically lived outside from 3-5 or so (when he discovered legos). On milder rainy days we'd put his rain pants and coat on and he'd just play for a couple hours on his own, calling to me once in a while. I could see him from the back window, he was very safe. So, even at three I figured he was fine in a secured and relatively childproofed yard. Sometimes I had to make modifications (like building a 'cage' of bird block around the blueberries so he wouldn't just pick them for the sake of picking until they were ripe), otherwise, everything is very safe and meant for kids.

My mom used to also throw us outside. When we moved to Idaho out on a piece of forested land, that was heaven for us! We always played outside more when the yards/property was bigger. I think it's good for kids to have time to explore and experiment, test themselves a bit and experience risks we might not allow if we were present. Knowing that they do this is important in deciding how much liberty to allow.

We have a lot of neighborhood kids. I let my kids out to play all the time...in fact I kick them out for some peace! I let them play in the backyard at age 3 or so...with the back door cracked a little so they can come get me if they want. I let them play out side with friends in the neighborhood age 5 on. Age 5/6 they need to be in the culdesac. Age 7/8 they can go a little farther...to friend's houses one block away. Age 9/10 they can go a little farther than that to go get friends to play...3 blocks or so. Don't you remember playing outside with your friends? I remember playing outside in the backyard when I was preschool aged. We had a little swing set. My young one is 4 and she loves to go outside (only in the backyard without me) with a buddy and play in the sandbox with water and they run around on the trampoline making up games. My son (age 10) loves to go get his friends...he will scooter over to their house or ride his bike. It's so nice as a kid to play outside with your friends...why would you feel negligent?

I think my daughter was about 3 when we started sending her out by herself to our (fenced in) backyard. She was 5 when we started letting her play in the driveway alone and she's 7 now and runs around the cul-de-sac with a neighbor boy who has a basketball goal they can both use.

The reason we chose our house in particular was the big, fenced back yard! We moved in, got a puppy, and I send my kids outside all the time. They're out there a few hours every day. They play with the dog, run around, climb trees, invent games to play, and get a little sunshine. That's what childhood is about!

I do. My youngest is 4 and this is her first year out alone without me (but her sibs are with her). I think they all started around 4 on their own. I would have started younger but we don't have a fence! It depends on safety of your particular set-up of course. Do you have an open yard on a busy street, or are you at the end of a country road..Our cousins all started playing outside alone at 2 in the country!! It's not negligent. Kids need time alone so their brains can relax and grow. I played outside alone most of the time as a kid and loved it. Sometimes my kids call me from the yard when I'm busy and I tell them I can't come out. Sometimes I can, but usually it's my first break all day and I need it!

I always did. The back yard was fine. The front yard was fine, too, after a certain age. Further afield than that - they needed to ask. I told them it was part of my job to know where they were and what they were doing all the time.

Yep. I have two boys, ages six and three. I send them out whenever the weather here permits.

We live in a temperate climate. I leave the doors open so I can hear them. I let my 6 and 3 out to play with little supervision (if door open) and have been doing that for well over a year. I even let my crawling baby putz around if he's in ear shot, but I keep that to a limited time (15 min or so) and get lots of visuals on him while I'm working in the house from the windows and open doors.

I feel the same way as you do. On some level it just seems wrong. We live on a cul de sac also, and the in laws are right across the street. I let my children outside. My youngest is 5. They play in the yard or driveway, but also know they aren't allowed to be in the street.

I do let my 5 yr old and 3 yr old out in our fenced-in backyard by themselves, but I don't let my 7 year old with ADHD out by himself, because it usually results in my younger boys getting hurt.

depends on the kid.. my daughter was out in our fenced backyard at 18 months.. I checked on her and could almost always see her.. she wasn't eating dirt at that age...

It does not depend on age.
It depends on how your child is, and their level of impulse control and sense of awareness and what you have in your yard etc.

When my kids were 4, I let them go in the yard by themselves. But our yard is totally fenced in. The neighbors are good not weird. But with our yard, one can go from the back to the front yard easily. And it is a big, huge area of varying terrain. And there are other types of walls within our yard, some of which is high with a big drop. So I, did sit outside too, when my kids were younger, and eyeballed them or spot checked them. But I did not hover over them. Our yard is not just flat nor level. And, I would give my kids a whistle. So that, IF they needed me all they had to do is blow on that whistle.

Then again, once we had some kid friends over. And one of the boys was about 6 years old. They were all playing outside. Well, all of a sudden there he was, on TOP of the roof of my friend's van, which was parked in our driveway. The boy had climbed up it. And he was telling the other kids to join him. And he was standing up, on the top of the van. Then my friend says "My son is a climber..." Duh! But she adds "I don't worry, he's like a billy-goat."
So you can never be too sure. Of what a kid will do. When they are out of eyesight of their Mom.

Well I understand where your coming from.Although that is not my experience. I reside on a cul- de- sac. I have three kids that having playing outside since my oldest was 4 yrs. I would stay outside and watch them play until my youngest was about 3 1/2 yrs. By that time my oldest was 9 1/2yrs. We have a great group of neighbor kids for my kids to play with.
I think it totally depends where you reside.

My kids were allowed in the backyard when they were probably 4-5 but the sliding door was always left open. They are allowed to go in the front yard but I do like the doors open so I can listen for them. They usually play in groups where I can hear them all if I listen. They are 9 and 7 the 7 year old isn't allowed out without my 9 year old just because she is the only girl and a lot of the boys range from 6-12. I was always outside with my neighbor, rain or snow I was out there playing.

I send my 4yo dd outside a lot, but not alone. I usually sit on the back steps and read, do homework, browse the internet, things like that while she does her thing.

I would totally send her out alone if we had a fence... But as it is our yard backs up against a creek, and we have a pool... So no unsupervised time for her yet!

Growing up, we were outside alone for most of the day.

I love reading these answers because we just recently moved from a house in the country with a huge fenced in back yard to a house in town with a much smaller backyard, not fenced, but it does butt up to three other kids yards!

My kids are 4.5 and 6.5 and while I let them go out back by themselves, I check on them often. If they are in our yard, I'm not as worried. It's when they want to go to the neighbors. I make sure I can see or hear them or yell to them every so often.

They do ride bikes in the cul-de-sac in the front and I'm usually sitting on the front porch or working the garage while they do that. They are both very mature and always stop and pull to the side of the street if/when someone drives by (which is rare). If I do go inside, it's for a minute here and there (switch the laundry, get water, etc).

I also wanted to add that my biggest fear of leaving them out back or front for any length of time is them being kidnapped. Probably would never happen, but it's my biggest fear!!! That is why I think parents often feel negligent...they worry about the what ifs (at least I know I do!)

My almost 4yo goes out with my almost 8 yo. We do have a fenced in backyard that's about 1 acre in size. I keep an eye on them through the window and usually leave the window open so I can hear what's going on. Mostly they go out and jump on the trampoline or swing.

Depends on their ages, maturity level and the neighborhood. I started sending my oldest outside at about age 4-5, but I was looking out the window frequently, we live on a quiet cul-de-sac and we have a fenced in backyard. He used to like to draw with sidewalk chalk on the driveway, which I felt was fairly safe given our situation. We had an in-home daycare next door so he was never outside by himself during pick up and drop off times. We also had a sandbox in the fenced in yard that I felt was a safe option.

It just naturally occurred.

I totally relate. My mother probably could not have told where I was at any moment as a child. Neighborhood children took adventures on their bikes and we never planned where we would end up. We went out in the morning and returned for dinner. I am not that relaxed as a parent though. With my own 6 year old, I am always with him outside. Although our backyard has a 6 foot fence, I don't trust him with the pool quite yet despite several swimming lessons.

we have a fenced back yard. my DS has been playing independently in the back yard since he was about 5. he'll be 13 this summer....it's going SO FAST!!!!!!!

have fun!! S.

At 5 we let our older daughter play outside on her own. My youngest just turned 4 and she is an untrustworthy daredevil so we don't let her out on her own. Sadly, our oldest, who is almost 7, has not been showing responsibility and good decision making skills so she has had her outside alone privilege taken away. *Sigh* It is going to be a long summer.

When we are outside we all go in separate directions so it isn't like they can't explore on their own. Yesterday my husband was using the weed whacker while I was trimming trees and the girls were alternating between climbing a tree and jumping on the trampoline.

If we had a fenced in yard I would shove the kids and dogs out all the time.

My back yard is fully fenced. My daughter is now 7, at around 5 I would let her go out alone, but I would be sure to have the windows open in the kitchen which look out to the backyard.