Socioeconomic inequality in Scottish children’s exposure to and use of natural space and private gardens, measured by GPS

•Our study described ‘real’ use of natural spaces and private gardens within neighbourhoods.•We linked 15 million individual GPS locations to a natural space and private garden spatial dataset.•We found that 15% of children’s time outdoors, outside school hours, was within Natural Space.•This rose to 41% when private gardens were included, highlighting the importance of these spaces.•Increased availability of natural spaces and private gardens were associated with increased use.