What is Play
“Play is freely chosen; personally directed, intrinsically
motivated behaviour that actively engages the child…Play can be fun
or serious. Through play children explore social, material and
imaginary worlds and their relationship with them, elaborating all
the while a flexible range of responses to the challenges they
encounter” From Best Play (2001)
This is the definition agreed upon by the key providers of play
provision withinWorcestershire.
Play as a concept is all too often dismissed as an irrelevance
but play is of enormous benefit not just to children and young
people, but to families and communities as well. What’s more, play
can be a lot of fun!
Play is fundamentally important for children and young people’s
health, well-being and learning
Children and young people play
wherever they are:
Indoors or out, in their homes, at
school, in childcare and play/ youth provision. They play in the
public and private places they
visit with their friends or with adults. For many the primary
outside play spaces are the street and other open spaces near their
homes.
Where they play depends on a
range of factors:
- Their own age, interests, experiences and influences:
- The equipment and resources available to them:
- Their parents’ feelings about their safety and security:
- The area and surroundings in which they live:
- The accessibility of the open spaces they might want to
use:
- The variety and attractiveness of potential play places and
current play trends and fashions.
Click on the link to see Play Areas in
Wychavon
Take a look at the Worcestershire Play
Strategy which was launched in 2007 and has taken a
unique countywide approach to improving children's play across
Worcestershire over the next three years. Wychavon has
also produced a Play
Action Plan which outlines how national and countywide
play priorities will be delivered in the District between 2011 and
2012.
For more information on Play please
contact
Jem Teal
Community Development Manager
01386 565235
jem.teal@wychavon.gov.uk
