Support play, fun, and friendships this Summer by starting with a day dedicated to play. National Playday takes place on 7 August and celebrates children’s right to play. This year’s theme, Play – the Culture of Childhood – Supporting Play, Fun, and Friendships, will see thousands of children, young people and communities get outside and take part in fun adventures in parks and public spaces.
Leeds City Council’s Town Hall Square will be transformed into a haven of play with hula hoops, skipping, hook-a-duck and creative play sessions. Leicester Libraries’ Bookbus will be in the square hosting storytelling sessions, and there will be stay-and-play activities for babies.
Venues and parks across Manchester will be joining in the Play Day free fun with everything from Lego in libraries, beatboxing in Burnage, soft play and skateboarding, BMX and balance bikes, books and board games, crafting and cricket, and marble runs and racquet sports.
The play movement
Manchester has a long history of delivering innovative play services. Its first recorded play scheme was established in 1913 when it delivered sand to the city’s main streets so that children could experience beach play.
It is now one of a host of cities working with UNICEF to become a Child Friendly City, where every child has a right to ‘safe open spaces and play opportunities’. ‘You don’t have to be an expert to see that playing is fundamental to children’s development,’ explains councillor Julie Reid, Manchester City Council’s executive member for early years, Children and Young People. ‘It helps them learn about the world around them, build resilience, make friends, cope with anxiety, and be creative,’ she adds.
Long lost play
But over the past few decades, there has been a substantial decline in the amount of time children are playing outdoors. Today’s children are 11 by the time they are allowed to play outside unsupervised, which is two years later than their parents, according to the British Children’s Play Survey published in April 2021.
One of the main reasons for this is the increased emphasis on keeping children safe – from increased traffic and strangers. Public playgrounds are the number-one location for children’s outdoor play, according to the survey, but access to public play spaces in the UK is unfair and unequal. The Association of Play Industries (API) found that London has the second-worst play provision in the UK with 866 children per playground, whereas Welsh
children enjoy access to more than twice the number of playgrounds than children in London.
National Play Day
National Playday promotes the joy and the importance of play for children’s development, and highlights the need to protect the community spaces children can play in. This year’s theme celebrates the rich and lively culture of children’s play. Through play children work together, negotiate, and build relationships. They feel connected to each other and their neighbourhoods, and this helps foster an appreciation for diversity. Play is every child’s right – it is recognised in the UN Convention as fundamental to theirphysical, social, mental and emotional development and intrinsic to their health and
happiness.
This Playday, families, playworkers, and everyone working with children across the UK, can join together to foster a culture of supporting play. Playday is coordinated by Play England, Play Scotland, PlayBoard Northern Ireland and Play Wales.
For the latest updates on this year’s campaign follow Playday on Facebook and X (Twitter) and get involved using the hashtags #Playday2024 and #PlayAndCulture.
Nicole
Content Creator
