Council leaders have called on parents to allow their children greater freedom and help put the adventure back into playgrounds New research by the Local Government Association has highlighted the role of councils in reinventing playtime by building or refurbishing more than 3,500 playgrounds, funded as part of a £235m Children's Plan. The new playgrounds aim to give children a sense of traditional fun by installing zip wires, giant climbing structures, tree houses and tunnels, as well as through council-run holiday play schemes offering activities such as circus skills, BMX biking and surfing. Cllr Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: ‘Children benefit from physical activity, and even some rough and tumble. We do our youngsters no favours by wrapping them up in cotton-wool, which can prevent them from developing skills they'll need in their adult life.' Peter Cornall, head of leisure safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: ‘Parents have to accept that their children may get injured and that bumps and grazes are not serious and are all part of growing up. ‘Children can learn valuable, life-long lessons, particularly about risks and how to deal with them, when they are given the chance to get out and about.'