‘Playing Out’ movement goes from strength to strength
The ‘Playing Out’ movement which sees communities closing their streets to traffic and is continuing to grow has scheduled another online forum for professionals.Read more
Children have their online say on design of Belgian city playground
A digital platform popular with children for creating ‘virtual’ worlds’ is being employed by a Belgian city to redesign a playground.Read more
‘Urgent need’ to implement changes to play infrastructure in Wales – report
A report on play services in Wales says there is an ‘urgent need’ to deliver key changes like promoting school grounds as community assets and having adequate safeguarding in place.Read moreWelsh Play Workforce Study 2021
The play workforce in Wales is examined in detail in the newly-published Welsh Play Workforce Study 2021.Read more
Pre-school play with friends reduces risk of mental health in later years – study
Researchers say that children who learn to play well with others at pre-school age tend to enjoy better mental health as they get older. A new study by the University of Cambridge claims that they have...Read more
Children who ‘take risks’ and play adventurously have better mental health – study
Children who spend more time playing adventurously have lower symptoms of anxiety and depression, and were happier over the first Covid-19 lockdown, according to new research. A study led by the University of Exeter asked parents...Read moreFour reasons why children need to be more active in school playgrounds, and what’s stopping them
School breaktimes might be assumed to be the most active period in a child’s school day. The fanciful notion that when the school ‘bell’ rings children flood the playground, running, jumping and actively playing with...Read morePlay Wales – publications for professionals
Play Wales, the national body for children’s play, has this year published a wide variety of guides and resources to help professionals working in and around the children’s play sector.Read more
Play Wales: Weighing up risks and benefits in children’s play
Play Wales has published a new information sheet aimed at helping children’s play organisers take the right approach in decision-making over play infrastructure.Read more
Outdoor play in Canada ‘should continue beyond the COVID pandemic’
An important incidental change that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic has been our collective rediscovery of the outdoors. As we begin building back better, we have an opportunity to leverage this re-engagement to enhance our...Read more
Australia: ‘Children need playgrounds now, more than ever. We can reduce COVID risk and keep them open’
It’s been a tough 18 months for Australian families and their children. We can’t underestimate the cumulative impact of parent and carer job losses, mental strain, working from home and remote learning. As developmental paediatricians...Read more
‘Urban Playground’ makes the case for child-friendly cities – Tim Gill
No parent would ever say ‘this is a great neighbourhood – but I won’t let my child walk to school or play in the local park’. Former Bogotá mayor Enrique Peñalosa grasped this insight when...Read more
Social skills suffered during COVID but children in Northern Ireland are more resilient – report
Research into the impact of COVID on early-years classroom play in Northern Ireland points to a significant negative impact on children’s social skills and level of independence, but at the same time they have become...Read more
Playgrounds designed with accessibility in mind make play fun for every kid
When it comes to providing play opportunities to children with disabilities, not all playgrounds are created equal.Read more