Routines and informal situations in children's daily lives

•Children's mobility is an important issue for their development and well-being.•The impact of routines and informal situations on CIM is investigated.•A qualitative survey-design was carried out with children and their parent.•Collecting a 48 h GPS tracking and qualitative data from post-interviews.•Results show a highly children's daily lives programming and limited free time outside.•Results demonstrate the informal situations promoting children's autonomy.•One specific case is situations of independent mobility shared with peers.