Is Playing Out Getting Outlawed?

Kids on a Nottinghamshire street have been banned from playing football in front of their own houses. Their parents were even threatened with a £100 fine if they were caught.
It all kicked off after neighbours in Ena Avenue, Sneinton moaned to police about noisy children playing football in the street. They said they were worried a ball would smash a window or damage a car.
Officers said there were enough complaints to warrant a letter to parents warning them against rowdy behaviour that might damage property and letting them know they could be fined if their kids stepped out of line.
It’s not the first time children have been given a metaphorical clip round the ear for having fun.
Last summer, housing officials in Worcester sent four families in Wensleydale Drive a letter warning kids about playing in the street on health and safety grounds.

Not everyone has a nearby park or rolling meadow to run around in.

Not all 'natural play' involves rural idyll: urban public space is a playable blank canvas. https://t.co/CRrDbil3Js

— Alice Ferguson (@aliceplayingout) April 20, 2015

 Gone are the days when kids used to turn up unannounced on a friend’s doorstep, asking if they could come out and play.

Whatever happened to jumpers for goalposts and using chalky stones to draw hopscotch on the pavement?


Our children already live comparatively sedentary lives. So do adults, for that matter. Dads are more likely to be screaming at the ref on the telly and checking out the football betting news online than they are to grab a pair of shorts before heading off for a sweaty game of five-a-side.
It’s just odd that we’re told our children need more fresh air and exercise and, in the same breath, told to keep them indoors.

Perhaps this is just nostalgia talking. These kids from the 1950s grew up in a different world.




There’s more traffic around for a start which makes playing out a lot more dangerous than it was in our parents’ day.
But there’s also a lot more going on inside the house to keep kids happily entertained without setting foot outside the front door.
Loads of television and music channels, video and computer games create a virtual world that’s so much more tantalising than the real one.
Even texting and social media mean kids don’t actually have to see their friends to have fun with them.
The very idea of riding your bike up and down the street or skipping happily to a song in your head is now so far removed from normal life that campaigners have launched a nationwide scheme to bring it back.
Playing Out was set up in Bristol in 2009 when a group of parents desperate to introduce independent outdoor play to their children closed off their road to traffic for three hours.
Now the scheme has been rolled out throughout the country with more than 30 local councils signing up to positive street play policies. And more than 100 streets are regularly closed off to allow kids to play happily and safely for a few hours.
The project is helping families reclaim their share of the streets. It’s their neighbourhood too.


**Written By Jenna Wilson, Jenna is a freelance writer and mum of two from Nottingham. When she’s not running around after the kids she enjoys gardening, reading and a glass of wine or two!

Making Plans

Ok, So the summer holidays are finally here! I have been waiting for them with such excitement for so long. I absolutely love all the school holidays and half terms. I genuinely enjoy spending every minute with Aalliyah. We have so much fun together you would think that we were best friends (minus the age gap) But even with all the excitement, I can't help feeling those pangs of dread. I'm anxious that I will not be able to organize many good things over the holidays. I worry that my limited budget will leave me with very few things to do and fear that the 6 weeks will fly by and we will have very few memories to show for it. So today I started mentally planning things we could do, even if it was one or two things a week, to ensure that Aalliyah would go back to school in September knowing she had an enjoyable summer. So far our plans include a day trip to Gullivers land and a few nights away in Blackpool, with lots of cinema, swimming and picnics days in between. 

What have you got planned for the summer? Anything nice? 

If you are stuck for inspiration or want to find out how you can have lots of summer fun on a budget then check out my Top ten of things to do this summer by clicking here

Instantgram Review

I am ever so slightly addicted to one app in particular on my iPhone.. Instagram! I use it daily and must confess that I am one of these people who capture snaps of various meals. I don't just randomly take pictures of my food for no reason, I do have a lot of followers who like me are losing weight with Weight Watchers and find such posts both inspirational and supportive. Foodie pics aside, I love sharing snapshots of my life through Instagram. Whether it's pictures from a day at the seaside or catching Aalliyah in the middle of some random funky chicken dance, there is always a magic memory to capture.

I was delighted when I had the opportunity to review the printing services offered by Instantgram. They can make high quality prints and magnets from your instagram photos. Most pictures we share with instagram, we give a bit of tweaking using the different filters available, so when you choose your prints for instantgram, they are already edited and looking great! There are two options to choose from, you can either order a set of 9 magnets each measuring 5cm x 5cm or you can choose to have a set of high quality square prints. These come in 2 different sizes. Either a set of 24 squares measuring 4 x 4 inches or a set of 48 mini squares each measuring 2.5 x 2.5 inches.

The price is fantastic as its a flat rate cost of $17.00 for either the magnets or the squares, which is very competitive when you look at local printing costs from similar items. They provide a free shipping service and although these come from outside the UK they arrive quite quickly. I received mine in a little under a week.

Its very simple to order and you can link to your instagram photos when ordering to make it really easy to choose which photos you want printing.

Here are just a few of the great magnets

...and here are some of the great printed squares. They are durable photo card and really good quality.

The prints and magnets are both great quality and I recommend them to anyone looking for a new way to keep treasured photos. They also make fantastic gifts.