Over-protective parents are harming their children's development by banning them from 'dangerous' pursuits such as climbing trees, a study has concluded.

Half of children aged seven to 12 have been stopped from climbing trees, one in five are forbidden to play conkers and 17 per cent are not even allowed to play tag, researchers found.

While 70 per cent of parents said their own greatest childhood adventures were among rivers, trees and woods, only 29 per cent of today's children said their favourite play experiences were outdoors.

Child's play: Wrapping youngsters in cotton wool is not preparing them for setbacks in adult life

While 73 per cent of seven to 12-year-olds could surf the internet unsupervised, 42 per cent were not allowed to play in their local park without an adult.

A third could not ride a bike to a friend's house or play in their local streets unsupervised.

But the survey of 1,030 children and 1,030 adults found many parents were too busy to watch their children playing.

Adrian Voce, director of the charity Play England that carried out the research, said: 'It's not the end of the world if a child has an accident. 

Resilience: Children can take a bit of rough and tumble

Playing is an essential part of growing up and adventurous play that both challenges and excites children helps instil critical life skills.

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

Three times as many children are put in hospital each year from falling out of bed as from tumbling from a tree, the researchers said.

Penny Nicholls, director of the Children's Society, which runs 80 charity projects for children across the country, said parents were over-anxious about play.

She added that schools and other groups looking after children feared legal action in case of accidents.