Children are playing outside less and less. This is apparent from research by Kantar Public, commissioned by Jantje Beton, which presented the results today, on Outdoor Play Day. In Enkhuizen, 200 children gathered today for the record attempt for the longest hopscotch in the Netherlands. And some admit that: TikTok sometimes beats playing outside.
Kantar Public’s research shows that 40 percent of children play outside for less than one hour a day. This is worrying, according to Jantje Beton director Dave Ensberg-Kleijkers. “Playing outside for one hour a day is the minimum a child needs to be healthy. Playing outside makes children happy, healthy and social.”
17 percent of kids never play outside, according to the survey. In 2018 it was still 8 percent. The cause: online games and social media, and pressure to perform. Ensberg-Kleijkers: “Children experience more and more pressure to perform, have to do more and are allowed less and less.
Moreover, parents are sometimes too protective, thinks Ensberg-Kleijkers. “Let them get into mischief now and then, climb up a tree and fall out. That’s fine, you learn from that. We shouldn’t just look at the risks, but enjoy life, with the risks that come with it.” .”
Longest hopscotch
The Zuiderzee Museum hosted about 200 children today, as part of the annual Outdoor Play Day. The longest hopscotch in the Netherlands, at 928 metres, was being worked on through the open-air museum.
The children present say that they play more than enough outside and the parents don’t seem to worry much either. Yet most children admit: even indoor gaming or spending time on social media is sometimes tempting. “Playing outside is fun, but sometimes gaming is too.”