Identifying and protecting environments for play

Managers Tool 4 Identifying and protecting environments for play

Identifying a place for playing can be challenging, particularly in situations of crisis. Nonetheless, good spaces to play within a community show that playing is important. They create a hub for a community, offering opportunities for adults and young people to become involved and socialise together.

There are a number of models of provision within The Policy Makers section of this toolkit. When engaging with policy makers to identify the best model for play, it is useful to consider a number of principles when thinking about environments.

Wherever possible environments for play should: • Make use of natural elements if possible • Provide a wide range of play experiences • Be inclusive and accessible to both disabled and non-disabled children • Allow children of different ages to play together, but also allow specific age groups to have time together (e.g. very young children, teenagers) • Provide opportunities for risk and challenge • Be looked after and maintained • Respect children’s choices about where and how they play • Allow people to connect with other people and enhance opportunities for socialising.

•Consider the location for the play environment very careful – will children feel safe walking there and back? • What toilet and washing facilities are/can be made available? • Is the space used for anything else and how will that impact on the children? • Organise some introductory play sessions to help children, parents and other colleagues understand what you will be offering • Advertise and promote what you will be doing • Be as visible as possible. Try to make sure other professionals, adults, parents and children can see what is happening • Reflect with colleagues so that successes can be celebrated, challenges can be discussed and solutions to these identified • Make sure there is an understanding of the community – find out as much as possible about the characteristics, culture, and demographics of the community to be served. Things to consider in the short term:

For the long term • Environments for play have an important role in long-term community rebuilding efforts, including the creation of childfriendly communities • Advocate for space for play to be built-in to the plans for permanent or semi-permanent dwelling areas. These do not need to be equipped play areas but safe places for children to within walkable distance of their homes and schools • Schools have the potential to offer safe, regular play opportunities for children – space and time for play is essential as well as training for adults

•Identify local services to work with to help integrate the parents and their children into the local community • Make links with services children will access on an ongoing basis. For instance, children may attend health services, formal education or schools. Work with education and other agencies to help them to ensure a playful experience for children.

See: Section 1: The features of an optimum environment for play Staff Tool 5 Play environments Staff Tool 6 More features of environments for play to consider Staff Tool 7 Placemaking