"The right to play is a child’s first claim on the community. Play is nature’s training for life. No community can infringe that right without doing enduring harm to the minds and bodies of its citizens."David Lloyd George
The National Occupational Standards of the playwork, childcare and early years professions define play as ‘freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child. It can be fun or serious... by playing, children learn and develop as individuals and as members of the community’.B Hughes and F King, 1985 as adopted by the National Occupational Standards for Playwork.
Every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31
Play is also defined comprehensively within the Derbyshire Play Strategy 2006, ‘Planning for Play’ and these definitions provide a basis for our strategy as expressed below:
Derbyshire Play Forum, April 2006
Supervised play requires the presence of an appropriately qualified adult. Children welcome the presence of adults around where they are playing, such as in parks or in more organised settings. They see an adult’s presence as supportive and helping children play. Good play work is a skill that has to be learned and honed like any profession.
Unskilled play supervision can inhibit the play experience, undermine children's confidence to play and lessen children’s enjoyment in attending. It is important to note that while activities may advertise as offering play, unless the activities and supervision allow free choice they are not play. Training is essential to improving the quality of play supervision. Good play supervision is the key to the inclusion of all children in play events and the deepening of play experiences. It may be within a club, on the park or at home.
Informal supervision of play can often take place through the presence of adults who have tasks associated with the maintenance of public open space, for example, estate caretakers on council owned estates and grounds maintenance operatives in parks. This can provide a level of comfort to children and young people, who are aware that a council employee is in the vicinity, without having any formal responsibility for the children and young people.
Unsupervised play is important to all children, especially to the older age group, who will seek opportunities to be with their peer group. It is necessary to find young people space to meet and engage in recreational activities with their friends, where they can feel safe without the presence of adults.
Free play allows children to develop their own experiences and explore possibilities. This strategy will enable children to undertake free play and will focus on providing suitable environments for this to be achieved, both in formal and informal play environments.
‘Play often, though not always, implies a sense of fun for the child. But it can also be serious, in two senses. The child may feel serious while playing, and/or the content of the play may be serious, that is, not trivial and light-hearted. Much free play is reflective. Play is as much in the approach as in the activity – way of doing anything or nothing.’Best Play – What Play Provision Should Do For Children - March 2000
Derbyshire Play Forum, April 2006.