New research has found that children's opportunities for adventurous play have become restricted.

The ICM poll, commissioned by Play England, showed that half of children aged between seven and twelve years old are not allowed to climb a tree unsupervised, while 49 per cent said they have been stopped from climbing trees because it is too dangerous.

Over 1,000 adults, and 1,000 children aged between seven and sixteen years old were involved in the survey, which also showed that the places that children find adventurous and challenging play had altered.

Seventy per cent of the adults who took part said they enjoyed most of their adventurous play in a natural outdoor environment, compared with 29 per cent today.

The research was conducted ahead of this year's Playday on 6 August, the theme of which calls for a rethink on play restrictions, such as the banning of conkers.

Adrian Voce, director of Play England, said: "Playing is an essential part of growing up. Starting from their earliest play experiences, children both need and want to push their abilities. Children would never learn to walk, climb stairs or ride a bicycle unless they were strongly motivated to respond to challenges – but we must accept that these things inevitably involve an element of risk.

"Constantly wrapping children in cotton wool can leave them ill-equipped to deal with stressful or challenging situations they might encounter later in life."