Play is central to children’s physical, mental, social and emotional health and well-being, and is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 31. Play helps children to develop their inner resources, building the resilience to better face the challenges and uncertainties they experience throughout life and in times of crisis. Play is a natural, active and often unplanned process in which thinking, feeling and doing can flourish; when children are playing, they are able to be inventive, creative, and learn to self-regulate.

We are living in a time where we need to look after every penny we have, and look after the world we live in!

In these times of economic hardship, the play needs and natural urge to play for children will remain. Play activity doesn’t need to cost lots of money or involve expensive toys or days out. There are so many ‘free and found’ play opportunities that can take place within homes, communities, and settings

Re-using materials for play is part of the playwork ethos, recognising the play value of objects and resources that have little other value and cost. In this session you will look at Nicolson’s ‘theory of loose parts’, and Gibson’s ‘affordance theory’ along with our own ’less is more’ theory.

This will be a practical session where you will get lots of ideas on how you can use these materials to support the play offered in your setting across all 16 of the play types. You will also get access to the PlayBoard resource: ‘Play in times of Hardship’.