Save Skrammellegepladsen i Emdrup
Skrammellegeplasden in Emdrup has been described as the birthplace of ‘modern’ playwork. The junk playground has served as a beacon and inspiration for playworkers all over the world but is now under threat from similar financial constraints that have closed several much-loved adventure playgrounds in this country like Stonebridge and Battersea. Changes by the local … Continue reading
Bold move to kickstart an outdoor play renaissance in Canada
Originally posted on Rethinking Childhood:
Last week the Lawson Foundation, a Canadian family foundation, launched an ambitious outdoor play strategy with the announcement of $2.7 million (£1.3 million; $US 1.9 million) in funding for 14 projects. The strategy has an explicit and exclusive focus on unstructured outdoor play. Tackling risk aversion is a prominent theme, building on…
Film screening – Jonathan Dimbleby chairs a heated debate
Guest blog, by Laura Hetherington Growing up in a small working-class village community in rural Derbyshire I took for granted the immense adventure playground on my doorstep: the woods I roamed with my sister, the fields in which we picked armfuls of buttercups and looked for toads, the hedges we made our dens, the stream … Continue reading
Conversations with Neighbours
CONVERSATIONS WITH NEIGHBOURS Originally posted by Naomi on the Playing Out website I have lived in my street for nine years – a terraced Bristol street of 30 houses – and now know nearly everyone who lives there. There are some people I just say hello to but lots I stop and have a chat with, and … Continue reading
Market Forces
In a famous speech on the campaign trail for the US Presidential nomination in 1968 Bobby Kennedy said, ‘too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things…yet the gross domestic product [the official measure of such things] does not allow for … Continue reading
This week is Love Outdoor Play Week!
Outdoor Play Week is a campaign being led by Re:Play and is now in its fifth year. It is all about celebrating the play opportunities on offer in the fantastic green spaces across the South East. It is an annual celebration with events organised all over the region to help children and young people get … Continue reading
Building the case for play: help me fill the gaps
Originally posted on Rethinking Childhood:
First, I would like to thank everyone who has responded so far to my appeal last month for evidence to build the policy case for play. The material I have received has almost without exception fitted my brief. But there are gaps, so I am putting out one last call…
Help build the policy case for play
Originally posted on Rethinking Childhood:
Playday, Bristol City Council This post asks for your help in building the case for play. I am writing a report – aimed at Government – that gathers together evidence for the difference that play facilities and initiatives can make to children, families and communities. And I need your help…
Out of sight, out of mind
Recent surveys have shown children’s independent mobility has declined and that opportunities to play are much more restricted than they were in previous generations. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. For most children there is a higher level of adult surveillance than we would have been used to when we were younger but many … Continue reading
Is snow the ultimate plaything?
Originally posted on Rethinking Childhood:
Over sixty years ago the architect Aldo van Eyck, who weaved outdoor play into the fabric of war-torn Amsterdam, was inspired by seeing how, after a snowfall, children came out of their homes and claimed the city’s spaces for themselves. Even today nothing gets children of all ages out of…
We’ve been given a Liebster Award!
