PARENTS 4 PLAY: Download the new Bristol Harbourside Urban Wild Play Trail

Yes, it's true! We've created a new Bristol Harbourside Urban Wild Play Trail with Playing Out. Children! It's up to you to lead the way. 

Download Urban Wild Play Trail A4
Download Urban Wild Play Trail A3

The only objective for this trail is to play. NOT to try and finish the trail. If you run out of time because you're having so much fun then come back to the trail another time. Surprisingly, there is so much play to be had around the Harbourside and there are lots of ideas on the trail for how to stimulate play and exploration of the environment around you. The trail was timed at the pace of a three year old and is suitable for all ages - adults beware, you might find yourself playing too!

Inspired by Project Wild Thing, we decided to see what wild time could be found right in the centre of Bristol!

Parents 4 Play is a campaign created by Children's Scrapstore supporting parents in providing better play opportunities for our children through sharing play ideas and play knowledge. Playing Out facilitates street closures for playing out in the street and we both thought that a play trail was a great way of showing what fun can be had just by walking around and playing in the urban environment. 

Play is always happening for children, not just at a specific time or place like the park or playing with toys in the bedroom. Play occurs as much in the journey to and from places as when you get there. Sometimes it doesn't event matter if you get to the park if you've played all the way there.

Download the trail in either A4 or A3 - you might want to a grab some chalk, a stick for pooh sticks, a cup to play in the fountains or see what you find on the way round. There are plenty of ways you'll find the kind of play you can experience in nature around the harbourside. You want to pack a towel and a change of clothes. 

Remember, let children lead the way, don't worry how long each bit takes and have fun!

Download Urban Wild Play Trail A4
Download Urban Wild Play Trail A3

The Lost Element - Play

by Jeff Hill, CEO of Children's Scrapstore.
It has been my privilege during the last 11 years to be engaged with one of the most incredible and inspiring areas of human behaviour that I can imagine.

I have watched while human beings make amazing and astounding discoveries, experienced breakthroughs in social behaviour, and construct complex and beautiful things from pointless rubbish.

I work in play, supporting children in their development and supporting a sector in its effort to support children. Luckily, I am in a unique position as the services we deliver are of extreme value to our members and the children that we serve.

During my time in this field I have had to learn about play, the critical role that it has in children’s development and the unique and skilful way in which play is professionally delivered to the benefit of everyone.

As an ordinary citizen of this country I watch as various governments come and go and their policies shape the world that we live in. Sometimes a good one arrives, and other times poor ones are generated. Like everybody else I can see the madness in some of these and how some of them are necessary.

To my mind the Key Elements which go to make up a successful society are these:

• Health
• Economy
• Community
• Environment
• Spirituality

Within each of these elements is a subset of elements that make up the whole.

Health and Play

If we take health for example, there are so many other titles which could be used to contribute to the understanding of a whole person’s health. They will range from eating, exercising, hygiene through to attitude, work, stress and then onto special circumstances. There is physical health, mental health, emotional health.

It is my observation that as human beings we often comment on the need for relaxation and entertainment to enable health to be achieved. That is not to say that these things are the sole contributor, but rather an underpinning support essential to whatever treatment is being administered or whichever approach for preventative medicine is being undertaken.

So here, I have called these subset elements relaxation and entertainment. These are adult words for play. As you look into each of these Key Elements you will find that play in one form or another offers a positive contribution to the desired outcomes of that element.

Economy and Play

As an example if you look at economy there are countless stories from successful people about how they are being paid to do something they love. The movie awards are very public examples of that but they are not alone.  In many cases successful business people will recount how much they love doing what they do. To my mind this is a person at play.

Because we believe that play is essentially a 'waste of time' we will find it hard to discover a business person who will admit to playing for a living. Yet that element of enjoyment, invention and risk which accompanies successful enterprises is in itself playful and matches exactly the characteristics that we would list in children’s play.

Play is for Life

I am proposing therefore that play is with us throughout our entire lives. That its importance and influence on us is massive and indeed, that it is essential to the development and maturation of healthy human beings.

They say that humour heals, I would add that humour is healthy, yet would we allow ourselves to say that what makes us laugh is what happens when we play?

It is my intention to go through each of these key elements and create a layman’s eye view of how play can and often does, contribute to positive outcomes. I will write a blog for each area which demonstrates the underpinning nature of our need to play and what it brings.

Play; the lost element

For now, this blog is an introduction to a deeper enquiry. I have called it the lost element because for me its importance is suppressed within our society, yet we know as common folklore that this is an essential ingredient in life.

If you speak to almost anyone you will find that they do know that time off and time spent being engaged in interesting things (things which are playful) is good for us and that it helps us to be better people, happy people and healthier people.

I suggest throughout these blogs that for many reasons the suppression of play is historic being born of the necessity to build, conquer and rule empires. A very serious business. It is also natural to understand how the need to replace play as the main activity of a young person by the activity of work which necessitates serious and focused attention, can lead to the labelling of play as inappropriate or non-essential/frivolous behaviour.

That classification or demotion of play is, I suggest, throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Not allowing play to coexist and be recognised is like cutting off one hand and attempting to do the same job with what's left. Now, however, our society has the opportunity to acknowledge elements which in previous generations have been deemed to be unseemly or unacceptable.

Play at work

As an example, would you get told off for playing at work? The answer would undoubtedly be at least some disapproval if not it being a disciplinary issue.

Yet it is readily acknowledged throughout the world that the best things come from people who have invented new exciting solutions or products while they were engaged in doing something they cared about, were immersed in, and quite often were playing with!

VIDEO: Inside Google workplaces, from perks to nap pods

Again, being immersed and fully engaged is a recognised condition whilst playing. I am therefore calling this blog post the lost element because I believe we do not recognise readily that play begins at birth and does not end until death. If you are happy and learning until the day you die we are commonly of the opinion that you will have lived a good life. It is natural if not obvious therefore that play which keeps us happy and learning is a key element in every area of life.

Play throughout our lives

It must be recognised at this stage that play evolves as we develop throughout our lives. For example, play when we are young involves a myriad of elements most of which we can see as activity or the resulting product. We must also be aware however that play in all its forms often has no result attached to it.  Experimenting is as natural to play as water is to a fish and so outcomes are not always achievable or even desired.  The process of play has its own value!
 As we grow play is expressed in teenagers via increased social engagement which to a degree, although the expression changes, stays with us throughout our lives. In our mature years play becomes our interests which are for some of us our work as well. The nature of the expression of play at this stage has changed in that it will be evidenced by useful products or perhaps profit generation or even the peak of a hobby being achieved.

Play can also be hidden. Play as outward humour is easy to spot but play as the engagement in an interest and the fulfilment that it brings is not  always an outward expression but can be an inner thoughtful or concentrated process, which incidentally is exactly how it is in children as well.

Below are the things that I believe support our key elements. Again, there are many factors that contribute to each one of these and I will mention some as we go through other blog posts.

Underpinning the Key Elements are:

• Play
• Infrastructure
• Vision
• Humane values (shared)
• Collective values (shared personal) economic and spiritual diversification

Conclusion

Play is essential to the key elements of a successful society as it:

• Enables understanding
• Creates opportunity for progression
• Enhances education
• Enables social cohesion
• Unlocks creativity in all spheres of human experience
• Is ever present and possible
• Enhances life experience, and progresses economy.

Play is not just about children it’s about humans being.

Walking The Dog: Barriers to Children’s Play

By Dan Rees-Jones

In this post from of our Parents 4 Play series, we're discussing what the barriers to children's opportunities for play can be and whether we should be challenging these barriers with consideration of changes in lifestyle and social behaviours. 

You can also read our other blog posts in this series: The Importance of Play, Barriers to Play, The Play Cycle, My Sofa: Enabling Environments, Easy Rider: Risk and Play, Children and Schemas, The Super Powers of Loose Parts

When I was eight years old my parents moved from London to South Devon. I remember it being a big change in my life, the main one being having to leave my friends on the street with whom I played with most days….. riding our bikes in the street, playing knock out ginger or exploring the derelict house next door.  I don’t really remember any adults on the street apart from the ones that got cross because we had knocked on their doors and run away!

 

Image: Boys playing leapfrog in the street, London, England, 1953

When we arrived at our new house it was much bigger than our last one and had a massive garden but there were hardly any other children to play with.  I made friends with the boy next door, which was good but it wasn’t the same as my old life in London.  One really good thing about moving house though was having regular access to a large woodland and two small coves…. I could and did literally spend all day in the woods, in my free time by myself creating secret spaces tucked away that no one else knew about…. I would also be equally attracted to the small coves and could regularly be seen down there happily smashing rocks up with my geological hammer in the hope of finding a huge nodule of amethyst or rare volcanic glass – obsidian.  Before long it was like I had always lived there, London being a distant happy memory.

My parents still live in the same house now and I regularly visit them with my own children enjoying and sharing the sea, coves and woodland that I enjoyed.  

On a recent visit I was taking my parents dogs for their constitutional walk one afternoon.  As I was walking up from the cove, in the woodland I came across an eight year boy by himself who was quite happily playing. In the first instance my professional head questioned and scrutinised the situation…

Who is he here with? Why is he alone… has something happened? Is he ok, should I intervene in some way?

Then my rational head responded…

This is where I played when I was eight, by myself, all day at times.  I’m a playworker, I understand the importance and value of play as well of the benefits…. What’s changed?

But this situation felt different, almost kind of weird to me because I felt bad for even thinking something was wrong for a child to play alone in the woods by themselves….

I had been challenged against the very principles I advocate strongly for…. I stood for a moment contemplating all of this…. initially blaming fundamental society principles, then realised I was part of society now….. and then carried on with my walk leaving the boy to whatever he was doing. 


In this video children discuss what they like about play and some of the barriers that affect this

Should barriers to children’s play be challenged?

We believe that they should. Playwork Principle 4 states that “For playworkers, the play process takes precedence and playworkers act as advocates for play when dealing with adult led agendas.” Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group (2005)

Children today face many more barriers to playing out than in previous generations… consequently lots of things have changed for children’s play, having a direct impact on their development and well-being.

·         More traffic on the road

71% of adults played in the street or an area near their home when they were a child. This compares to only 21% of children today.

            Play Day Research (2007) Street Play Opinion Poll

·         Technology advances beyond the ZX81

British children are estimated to spend between five and six hours a day on screen-based entertainment. During this time they’re not engaging in the outdoor, loosely-supervised play that has been children’s birth right for millennia. So it’s not just too much screen-gazing that poses a danger to overall development, but the substitution of this junk play for real play with real people in the real world.

Palmer S (2003) Toxic Childhood

 

Image from the Guardian

 

·         Parents increasing concerns about stranger danger

A BBC survey in Scotland which looked at public concerns…. Results showed that although child murders by strangers has shown no change in twenty years, 76% of parents believed that there had been an increase with 38% believing the increase had been dramatic.

Furedi F (2001) Paranoid Parenting  

·         Less spaces for children to play

For every acre of land given over to public playgrounds, over 80 acres are given over to golf.

Children’s Play Council (2004)  

·         Children leading more sedentary lifestyles creating various health concerns and epidemics

There is an obesity epidemic in young children and the main solution should be to ‘reduce television viewing’ and promote playing.

British Medical Journal (2001) 322:3 13-314 

·         Less free time for children to play from increased pressure to do well at school.

Professor Alexanders’ review of primary education (the largest in 40 years) revealed a worrying loss of childhood, from pressures to pass tests and league tables.

Alexander R (2008) Emerging perspectives on childhood

Playing helps children to explore and understand the world around them and is an integral factor in development and well-being. 

Scrapstore Play Services offers a range of playwork training courses for parents, early years practitioners and lunchtime staff about the importance of play for children .

Phone us on 0117 9143002

USEFUL TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• Think of a memory of play that you enjoyed doing as a child
• What key factors made that memory stand out
• Imagine children doing that sort of play today - What’s different?

There are lots of things that you can do to make a difference and advocate for children’s rights to play. 

• Give permission to play out on the street in your community: Playing Out is a not-for-profit information and advice resource for street play. We aim to increase children’s safe access to informal play in residential streets through: Directly supporting resident-led street play sessions; http://playingout.net/      

• Encourage schools to open up their grounds out of hours: The play team at Children’s Scrapstore have been working with schools and early years settings delivering play training, research and consultancy since 2007. www.playpods.co.uk

• Make the most of the local facilities via your local council: Bristol City Council have a useful website detailing the local facilities and play events happening in the city. http://www.goplacestoplay.org.uk/

• Find out about campaigns and movements that support children’s rights to play: The National Trust have recently launched a campaign of 50 things to do before your 11 ¾.  https://www.50things.org.uk/

• http://www.fairplayforchildren.org/

• Love Outdoor Play is led by Play England and supported by the Free Time Consortium, a growing collective of local and specialist organisations working together to increase freedom to play.

What is Play?

by Scrapstore Play Services

Welcome to our series of our Parents 4 Play blog posts. The aim of these posts is to give you play and playwork knowledge that can help you to improve play opportunities for your children and why this important. Understanding play and its benefits allows Playworkers to create the possible play environments and opportunities which are fundamental to children’s development and wellbeing.

In our first blog post we look at what we mean when we say ‘play’.

You can also read our other posts in this series:

The Importance of Play, Barriers to Play, The Play Cycle, My Sofa: Enabling Environments, Easy Rider: Risk and Play, Children and Schemas, The Super Powers of Loose Parts

Picture the scene: two groups of determined children, one group protecting their make-shift base and the other group attacking them. They are running around, dressed up, using tennis rackets as pretend guns, shouting, “take them down”, “you’re under attack!” and making machine gun noises “rt rt rt”. One brave child runs out of the base, a cardboard box, and defiantly stands in front of the attackers to throw a grenade which is actually a pine cone. It sails through the air and lands directly in front of the attackers who are thrown in every direction and roll around on the floor screaming in agony. 

 

Poppy will spend hours alone in her bedroom playing with her Sylvanian house. She will creep downstairs and take the smallest piece of bread from the kitchen. She asks her Mum “I need some cardboard” and disappears upstairs again, only to creep back down again and ask “where are the scissors Mum?” Hours later, Poppy’s Mum checks to see what she is up to only to find she has created a feast for her guests in the dining room of her playhouse, complete with a full set of plates, cutlery and cups. Outside, a group of children are playing hide and seek on the green. 

 

“Do you want to do my science experiments Daddy? First, foot wash. Take off your shoes and socks Daddy. Sprinkle. Hose  Hose Hose…..Good, you’re ready. Now, take my bucket and my measuring cup and carefully put the soil mixture in like this, 1,2,3. Now I get the hose. Squirt it in here. Fill it up…. Good. Now, get it in good, give it a stir, mix it here, poke it and now it’s ready! Do you want to try it? Now to get some more for my next experiment…” 

 

Mud Pie Kitchen

Which of the above is play? 

We believe they all are. Over the years, between us, we’ve worked in many parks, play settings and schools. Sometimes play can test and challenge our perceptions of what we believe it is. Should children be allowed to play with guns and pretend to blow each other up? Is it acceptable for children to spend hours alone in their bedroom not outside making friends? Is it safe to let children play with compost? 

Play is really complex and can allow children opportunities to explore a complete array of emotions and make sense of the world around them.

For example, play can be:

• happy or sad,
• construction or destruction,
• clean or dirty,
• risky or safe,
• winning or losing,
• sharing or choosing not to share,
• exciting or boring.

Defining what is play, can be really hard. 

As playworkers, we follow the Playwork Principles. Principles 1 and 2 state: 

1.   All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological and social necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and wellbeing of individuals and communities. 

2.   Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. That is, children and young people determine and control the content and intent of their play, by following their own instincts, ideas and interests, in their own way for their own reasons. 

Scrapstore Play Services offers a range of playwork training courses for early years practitioners, lunchtime staff and parents about play, playwork and the importance of play for children .

Phone us on 0117 9143002

USEFUL TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Things for you to consider:

Think back to your childhood memories of play.

• Did your play challenge the adults around you?
• Does children’s play challenge you?
• What did you do to get parents to understand you wanted to play? 

Observing your child(ren):

• Is play happening? Playing is a child's building blocks for life, how they learn, even if their behaviour challenges you, are they playing? 
• How often does your child's behaviour seem positive and happy or challenging and disruptive? Are they testing the world around them/learning about it?
• How could you use play to adapt the situation to both get what you want?
Next month, we’ll continue this discussion by looking at the importance of play. In the meantime, let us know what you think about the questions we raised or share your favourite childhood play memories.  

FURTHER READING:

The importance of play has recently been highlighted under the general comment on article 31 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, all children and young people have the right to play. http://www.playwales.org.uk/eng/generalcomment