Tomorrow at 10am, we will be looking at the importance of play and informal outdoor physical activity for children and young people, and how the Government can better support and promote opportunities for play. Find out more below ⬇️

'Risk and reward: a new era for adventure playgrounds' - @FT ft.com/content/0110b480-0108… Britain’s heritage estates are engaging a new generation with epic areas for risk-taking outdoor play. It’s a bittersweet evolution for the pioneering postwar movement. The much-loved, messy, inner-city play areas of postwar Britain, called adventure playgrounds, owe their existence to a maverick peer of the realm. Marjory Allen, Lady Allen of Hurtwood, a landscape architect, pioneered a British outdoor play movement after visiting Copenhagen in 1945 and seeing secure spaces locals had created in the war-torn city centre for children to play freely. Unlike traditional playgrounds, these encourage unstructured play, problem solving and elements of risk taking. A new generation of British adventure playgrounds is now under construction, and again peers of the realm - together with royalty - are involved. But this time they are building on their own heritage estates rather than housing estates. Typically, the sites of this new breed of adventure playground operators are spread over a couple of acres, much larger than old-school playgrounds, and cost several million pounds to design and build. However, legacy adventure playgrounds are an endangered species. England lost more than half its sites between 1980 and 2021, according to research commissioned by @PlayEngland. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… And recent research by the @SheffieldUni found stark inequalities in playground provision across England. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… @EugeneMinogue, Executive Director of Play England said: “Adventure playgrounds are one of the few remaining models that actively challenge inequality. They provide inclusive, accessible, trusted spaces where children can take risks, build confidence and experience freedom — and they’re needed now more than ever. These aren’t just play spaces — they’re community anchors, helping tackle hunger, isolation, and inequality, while giving children the freedom to grow.” The importance of access to play — and learning through play — at this technologically driven moment in history is acute. Psychologists and biologists have increasingly found links between the invention of games and human development. This makes the access problem a serious one, according to Play England’s, Eugene Minogue. “While we welcome the rise of creative playgrounds in heritage settings, we must ask: are we matching that ambition in the everyday environments where children actually live? Lady Allen’s legacy was rooted in equity. Play should never be a privilege reserved for visitor attractions or hidden behind a paywall — it must be a right in every neighbourhood.” #ItAllStartsWithPlay #EverythingToPlayFor #AdventurePlaygrounds #PlaySufficiency #NationalPlayStrategy #UNCRC #Article31 #RightToPlay