ABSTRACT
Children's level of environmental competence increases as they explore larger areas beyond the home. This chapter is about Cherbourg children's spatial activity through and beyond their community environment. It begins with an overview of the relationship between children's mobility, environmental competence, and healthy development. The different facets of children's spatial activity are described in terms of independent and dependent mobility patterns. Children's independent mobility is especially important for children's development in middle childhood. The extent of children's independent mobility is captured through their home range, maximum distances travelled, typical streets, pathways and routes, mode of transport, and social constellations. In Cherbourg, children's spatial activity patterns vary throughout the year and there are few parental restrictions placed on children, which allows them to independently explore great distances. Other restrictions, in the form of family responsibilities, fatigue, perceived danger, and multimedia influences, have a more indirect impact on children's freedoms.
