Are you longing for the era when weekend sport wasn't cancelled at the slightest hint of rain and the nearest park didn't have signs warning that all ball games and any sense of fun were prohibited?
Woodford ultramarathon athletes and teachers Brendan Davies and Jo Brischetto can remember this time and this year they've combined their passion for outdoor fitness and education to bring the great outdoors back into children's daily lives.
Their venture, Trail Kids, hosted its first multi-day school holiday camp at Euroka Crossing last week when more than 50 lucky kids stopped watching TV and playing with smart phones and started running on remote tracks, tackling obstacle courses, walking on slack lines and best of all, crawling knee deep in mud.
"Jo and I are real outdoorsy people and are coaches and educators so we find our new project really fulfilling," Mr Davies said.
"Our aim is to give children the confidence to play in the great outdoors again and to teach them about the importance of having an active lifestyle.
"We want to see kids outdoors again climbing up trees, playing in mud and running around using their imagination.
"Australian research shows that outdoor play is decreasing and children are having less and less opportunities to do things outdoors.
"When I was growing up I was allowed to be outside until dark but I think there's a bit of a risk-averse attitude going on in society now.
"Trail Kids, while having a focus on trail running, provides opportunities for a wide range of supervised structured and unstructured play and activities out there in nature."
The camp was divided into three groups for children of different ages and also included a bush scavenger hunt, team building games, strength and fitness exercises and an introduction to trail running.
Mr Davies admitted getting the kids muddy at the camp wasn't planned, but when he and Mrs Brischetto spotted a good sized area of bog next to the picnic area, they figured it was too good an opportunity not to extend the obstacle course right through it.
"We found the mud by chance and we just thought, 'why not get the kids dirty today?'
"That's one of our big things, to let kids experience the great outdoors to the maximum and have lots of fun.
"Some of the kids were afraid at first to get muddy because they were worried their parents would find out and get them in trouble but others couldn't wait to get stuck into it.
"I don't think a lot of the parents today would let their kids play in mud but you could see by the kids' smiles how much they loved it."
Trail Kids, in conjunction with Parks and Leisure Australia, is hosting a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Project Wild Thing on October 15 from 7pm at The Edge Cinema in Katoomba.
"It's our way of raising awareness in the community about issues like the disconnect children increasingly are having with nature, the over use of technology in our society and the power of marketing," Mr Davies said.
"Basically the core values of this film are completely in line with our Trail Kids venture."
Apart from school holiday camps, Trail Kids also runs regular weekend sessions for children of all fitness levels.
To find out more, visit www.trailkids.com.au.