#SummerOfPlay
Hundreds of businesses, charities and councils from all over the UK have come together this summer to enable all children, in all our communities, to have space and time for play this summer.
Play Torbay have just signed the pledge for #SummerOfPlay campaign, enabling all children, in all our communities, to have space and time for play this summer by supporting fun, friends, and freedom. After everything children have been through over the last year, we are calling on organisations to sign the pledge to support children’s play this summer. #SummerOfPlay is a campaign to give children the space, time, and freedom to play this summer as the Covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Why now?
For more than a year, children across the UK have been forced to spend time indoors, inactive and isolated from friends due to Covid-19 restrictions. It is not surprising that we have seen unprecedented increases in children’s mental health problems and loneliness, alongside reduced physical activity.
In response, child psychologists, paediatricians and educators have independently and urgently called for play to be central to children’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and many others agree. Together we now are calling for everyone to help make this summer a #SummerOfPlay for children across the UK.
Why play?
Play is vital to children’s physical and mental health and development, and it happens when children and young people follow their own ideas and interests, in their own way, and for their own reasons. Play provides opportunities for social interaction and physical activity, it can reduce children’s stress and promote wellbeing and is a dynamic facilitator of creativity. Importantly, social connection and play offer myriad learning opportunities and positively support children’s academic attainment and learning.
What can we do?
Children are experts in play and can play almost anywhere and with anything when they are given the freedom and permission to do so. As restrictions are eased, it is vital that children are given the time and safe space they need to reconnect and play with each other and to enjoy a wide range of playful activities, so they can start to recover and heal.
Everyone has a role to play in making this possible. Every setting counts: parks, streets, schools, summer schools, playgrounds, public space and more. Together we can make this a positive legacy of lockdown for children, after all they have sacrificed to keep others safe. Let’s begin to restore their freedom with a #SummerOfPlay.
