Think about your favourite Play memories, where were your favourite places to play and who shared in your play adventures? For me, having everyday adventures involved whoever was out and about in the street, exploring the neighbourhood, and endless rule making for games we kept reinventing. Running water was a magnet and we often had skint knees, and bumps n bruises which we wore like badges of honour!
Every child needs to play freely in order to grow into a healthy, happy, creative and confident adult.
However, we know that children in Scotland don’t have the freedom and opportunities to play that we enjoyed and took for granted. In fact, children and young people tell us that they want more time and space to play at home, at school and in the community.
Scotland’s new National Play Strategy aims to sort this out by increasing awareness and understanding of children’s play needs, and the health, wellbeing and child-development benefits of play.
By promoting a wide range of actions that encourage quality play environments and play experiences for all abilities of babes and toddlers through to teens, you can be sure that everyday adventures will follow!
You can get involved in making Scotland more playful by contacting Play Scotland which has lots of free resources for parents and groups- with top ten tips on play ideas, messy play, culture play and play types. We will be playing at the CBeebies – Mr Bloom and Friends Big Day Out in Falkirk 29th and 30th June, and don’t forget National Playday on Wednesday 7th August 2013.
Marguerite Hunter Blair
Chief Executive
Play Scotland
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