Photo by Phil Doyle
This afternoon I spoke at an event called ‘Taking Play Seriously’ in Melbourne, with a mixed audience of professionals, volunteers and parents. It followed my talk last week here at the Playgroup Australia conference. In the Q & A afterwards, one attendee – a local government employee and mother of three – told the audience how she had heard me speak last Thursday. Then two days later, her 10-year-old son had asked her if he could go to the local skatepark on his own.
Posted in Outdoor play, Parenting, Risk
Tagged adventure, Australia, benign neglect, everyday adventure, outdoor play, parenting, skateboarding, skatepark
A few weeks ago, I got a call. Channel 4 News was planning to run a story on the death of a child in a school playground accident, and did I want to comment?
Posted in Education, Outdoor play, playground, Risk
Tagged child safety, Media coverage, outdoor play, playground, playground safety, Risk, tragedy
I’m en route to Australia, where I’ll be giving talks to childcare agencies and children’s rights bodies, working with public health officials, and networking with child-friendly city projects. And I’m looking to you, my readers, for your ideas about how to make the trip more worthwhile. Continue reading
Posted in Mobility, Outdoor play, Public policy, Risk, Urbanism
Tagged Australia, child-friendly cities, nature, outdoor play, planning policy, Risk, urban design
I have been working with the National Trust since 2009 to engage more children and families in their unique properties, coast and countryside, through playful offers and activities. I am now pleased to be able to share one product of this work, a ‘think piece’ on play spaces written in 2010. Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Outdoor play, Play spaces, playground
Tagged countryside, heritage, National Trust, nature, outdoor play, play area, play space, playground, visitor attraction
Posted in Outdoor play, Play spaces, Public space
Tagged child-friendly cities, playable space, public space, Walthamstow, Wood St
Adrian Voce’s recent departure as Director of Play England is also a point of departure for the organisation that, in its previous guise, I used to run. Play England has been on one hell of a roller-coaster ride, as Adrian will be the first to agree. Continue reading
Posted in Outdoor play, Parenting, Public policy
Tagged campaign, childhood, parenting, Play England, play sector, public policy
Rethinking Childhood 