A hands-off approach to playtime

The Sawchuk kids play outdoors. They run around, climb trees and look for bugs, all without being under the watchful eye of a parent. 

It sounds like the typical childhood, but it's becoming less and less common according to a report released Tuesday by Participaction. Its new policy statement on active outdoor play recommends increasing children's opportunities for self-directed play outdoors at home, at school, in child care, the community and nature.

Only nine per cent of children between five and 17 years old get the 60 minutes of heart-pumping activity they need each day. Participaction gave a grade of D minus for the third year in a row to the physical activity levels of Canadian children and young people. 

Cristin Sawchuk takes a hands-off approach when it comes to her kids' play time. 

"You have to trust your kids and sometimes it can be tough because they do things that can appear risky to you but in reality they are just learning," said the mother of three. 

Sawchuk explained some of her best memories growing up are thanks to free time, spent alone and she did not want her own children to miss out on the freedom she had.

"Just not getting in their way to much, just allowing them the time to play," she said.

The researchers said that studies have found that when kids are unsupervised by a parent they are more likely to be physically active outside.  

For Ella Sawchuk, 8, she knows life would be different if she didn't spend time outside exploring. 

"I'd probably wouldn't know as many plant names and I probably wouldn't like basil," she said. "And I'd have a lot less vitamin D."