A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.
The newly formed Wild Network – a collaboration of nearly 400 organisations - is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screen and into fields, woods and parks.
Organisers say it is the UK's biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general wellbeing.
A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will herald the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.
Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS sustainable development unit.
Andy Simpson, chairman of the Wild Network, said: "The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation.
"Time spent outdoors is down, roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost."
Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers, camping or snail racing, and observing autumn colour on trees.
From January, the network will aim to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more to get children muddy and bright-eyed.
This is not the first time the message of less screen, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were entreated to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don't You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to "switch off your TV set, and go do something less boring instead".
英国正在发起一个活动，鼓励孩子们每天用半个小时的上网时间去参加户外活动。
新成立的野外网络——有近400个组织合作——正试图让青少年远离电视、电脑，吸引他们去田野、森林和公园玩耍。
组织者称，这是英国有史以来最大的一次让孩子们重新走进大自然和到户外玩耍的活动，并声称这项活动有助于改善健康，使人精力充沛，增加幸福感。
纪录片《大自然的投影》从10月25日开始在英国50多家电影院上映，为此次活动拉开序幕。这部纪录片反映了儿童与大自然之间越来越脆弱的联系。
活动成员包括国家信托、皇家鸟类保护协会、玩转英格兰和英国国家医疗服务系统可持续发展部。
野外网络的主席安迪·辛普森说：“令人感觉不妙是，在这一代人中，孩子失去了与大自然和户外接触的机会。”
“孩子们的户外活动时间减少，活动范围急剧缩小，活动水平下降，识别常见生物的能力丧失。”
关于如何增加孩子们户外活动时间的建议有收集板栗游戏、露营或蜗牛赛跑和观察秋色。
从一月份起，野生网络将致力于向政治家们建议政府采取措施让孩子们变得更加热情活泼。
少看电视多玩耍，这一想法并不是首次提出。20世纪80年代，BBC电视连续剧“你为什么不”中就恳求孩子们少看电视多玩耍，让人困惑的是BBC是电视台，却让观众“关掉电视，去做一些比看电视更有趣的事”。