The tendency to ensure that children play safe has meant that youngsters wrapped in cotton wool are replacing the rough-and-tumble generation.

A recent survey by Natural England, the Government’s advisory body on the natural environment, found that woodlands and even parks have become ‘out of bounds’ to the cotton wool generation.

Children spend less time playing in rural places than they did in the past and are more likely to be found at home, playing on computer games or watching DVDs.

There is an argument that technology and computer games have given youngsters instant access to entertainment. Unlike their parents’ and grandparents’ generations, they don’t have to rely on their imagination to play.

According to the survey, 42 per cent of adults said they played outdoors in streets near their home when they were children. The older generation had slightly more freedom than the parents’ generation. Most said they felt children had less freedom today.

Parents of today’s young children were more likely to have played at organised venues, but still felt they had more freedom than their own children.

Eighty-five per cent of parents said that while they wanted their children to play unsupervised in natural spaces, their concerns about road safety and strangers prevented them from allowing them the freedom.

Natural England produced the survey to launch its One Million Children Outdoors programme, aimed at encouraging more children to visit nature reserves and environmentally-friendly farms.

Their aim is to introduce a million children to the natural world over the next three years by doubling the number of farm visits of school-age children through green farming schemes and of children participating in educational visits on National Nature Reserves.

They also hope to launch an interactive website for children and families around a wildlife gardening accreditation scheme; deliver an innovative, nationwide undersea landscape campaign promoting marine conservation, and support projects funded through the £23m Access To Nature grant connecting children from deprived urban communities with the natural world.

Poul Christensen, acting chairman of Natural England, says: “Children are being denied the fundamental sense of independence and freedom in nature that their parents enjoyed. Our research shows that contact with nature has halved in a generation and that the overwhelming majority of children now want more opportunities to play outdoors.

“Whether through pond-dipping or tree-climbing, nature-based activities can play an important role in the educational and social development of children. Society must question its priorities in providing safe open spaces for play – the money spent on parks and trees in this country is a fraction of that spent on the roads that cause parents safety concerns.”

Victoria Burrows, mum to seven-year-old Oliver and one-year-old Sophie, would love to see more children playing outdoors.

Victoria, who runs the Cafe In The Park in Bingley’s Myrtle Park, is collaborating with Marjorie Davy, an adviser with Natural England, on a weekend of Easter activities aimed at encouraging youngsters to use the park and benefit from being outdoors.

“Too many children are sitting inside playing on computer games. They have no imagination, they don’t know how to build dens any more,” says Victoria. “I like to see children who are filthy at the end of the day! You know they have been doing something. It’s nice to see children growing up the way we did, having freedom and roaming around.”

She suggested an Easter egg hunt to Marjorie, who had previously been involved with a treasure hunt organised through Myrtle Park Primary school. Marjorie was delighted as it reflects Natural England’s programme to encourage children to explore their outdoors.

“Bingley children are really lucky as there are great parks, paths and woods to enjoy in every direction with no need to get in a car, and the Million Children Outdoors programme is a way to spark people’s imagination to find ways to encourage us all to get out exploring,” says Marjorie.

The activities at Myrtle Park run from today to Easter Monday and include an Easter egg hunt. Youngsters are invited to collect a series of bird-related clues themed around Bingley – known historically as ‘Throstle’s Nest of Old England’ – which they can find in the park.

Victoria says they also hope to raise funds from the events to support the Gambian Schools Trust, a charity that Peter Shaw, the caretaker at Myrtle Park Primary School is involved with.

For more about Natural England visit naturalengland.org.uk