The intention was to analyse how public spaces of leisure on the outskirts of Curitiba meet children’s needs, its relations with the public administration and urban problems. The methodological procedures were: implementation of protocols, observations, interviews with local leaders and interpretive analysis. We concluded that in this area there is little chance for experience leisure areas, limited violence, empty spaces, the rarity of state actions, and the absence of parents in children’s daily lives. It seems inherent the need of articulating actions for leisure experience, by mobilizing the community and the state in search of the right to leisure in childhood in the suburbs of large cities.
City; leisure; childhood; periphery