Child's Play
In March
2009, Croydon Play Service engaged WSA Community Consultants to lead a cutting
edge analysis of the play needs of the Borough’s 8-13 year olds, to inform
their 2010-2013 Play Strategy.
The Service wanted a better understanding of the ‘emotional aspects’ of children’s play, and how they could best enable creativity. They were interested in children’s actual play experiences, what play means to them and their wants and values around it.
WSA Community Consultants reviewed current research and thinking, and based the overall design of the project on the following concept:
‘Places for play should offer children opportunities to: engage with their natural surroundings, be sociable and solitary, create imaginary worlds, test boundaries, construct and alter their surroundings, experience change and continuity, take acceptable levels of risk…. Places for play should please and stimulate the senses, and be sources of delight and surprise.’ (Source: Play Link)
Semi-structured interviews with individuals, pairs and small groups enabled children to decide the direction and focus of discussions. WSA Community Consultants included photo-based activities and ‘ideal’ scenarios to draw out their experiences and engage their imaginations.
We worked closely with local school, play and youth services, and ensured that children whose play needs are often less well met were well-represented.
Our Report was presented in July 2009. We also produced a child-friendly version of the key findings, and ran creative art workshops with children to produce images inspired by the findings.