International Day of Play

By Penny Wilson

Well that jumped out us, didn’t it? All of a sudden, there it is: the announcement of the International Day of Play by the UN. June 11th, all over the world and every year. Remarkable. I am quite blown away by the enormity of this.

In my mind there is a sort of global TV or video scanning and we can watch as every nation pays tribute to our shared heritage of play. The language that unites us.

Of course, the irony is that children are being killed and oppressed and the ‘Right to Play‘ is not regarded as the glorious, life affirming wonder that we understand it to be. But we must never allow it to be thought of as a luxury. It’s as essential as “oxygen, nutrition and love”; it’s a basic human right and a biological imperative, and we need to advocate for it as such.

This day has snuck up on us. We were not expecting it at all. We have not fundraised or set aside budgets, or energy, or time to celebrate it as it deserves.

So, we need to be ingenious and creative.

Adele Cleaver – playworker and author of Children Don’t Dissolve in the Rain – recently shared that she had requested that her child’s school plays, all afternoon, on that day. How simple and clever is that? The Head Teacher has agreed to it. Hurrah!

How else can we celebrate?

We can look at pavement play days, or take some loose parts to that boring fixed play equipment in the park so the children can zazz it up a bit and make it their own.

Perhaps we could just linger playfully in a place we normally wouldn’t linger with children, a shopping centre or a park by school.

At our play settings – where everyday is a play day – perhaps we just remember. Savour the moment. Film it. Document it. Photograph it, build a time capsule of it to add to each year.

Whatever you do to mark this day, the Playwork Foundation would love to hear about it and see your pictures, hear your stories.

It’s a chance to celebrate each other celebrating children playing, all over the world.

It gives me goosebumps. It really does.

This article was written by Penny Wilson of AssemblePlay and a Trustee of The Playwork Foundation. These views are her own personal views and not necessarily those of AssemblePlay and/or The Playwork Foundation.