Abstract
ABSTRACT Children are spending significantly less time outdoors in free play than previous generations, which has implications for children’s development. This study explores parental knowledge, attitudes and the time children spend in outdoor free play. Parents or caregivers of children aged between five and nine years old (N = 82) completed an online mixed methods survey. Data collected included knowledge of the benefits of outdoor play, attitudes towards outdoor play and time children spend outdoors. Participant’s knowledge varied between 1 and 19 benefits of outdoor free play (mean = 7.54). Participants had a positive attitude towards outdoor recreation, demonstrating a statistically significant positive correlation with time their child spends in outdoor free play on a non-school and school day. Findings contribute to research within the Australian context regarding the influence that parental attitude has on children’s engagement with nature, allowing for potential programmes around parental attitudes, to support greater time outdoors.
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