Building a brighter culture of play for children and young people

Today, Wednesday 7 August, marks Playday, the annual celebration of children and young people’s right to play.

With the UN Convention on The Rights of the Child (UNCRC) now incorporated into Scots law, including Article 31 which outlines children’s right to play and relax in a safe, supportive and stimulating environment, it’s never been more important to highlight the critical role of games, art, creativity, sports, and many more playful activities.

Here, Cherie Morgan, Director of Projects at Play Scotland, shares what the charity is doing to celebrate the UK’s national day of play.

Playday is celebrated each year on the first Wednesday in August, and this year, we are focusing on play as part of the “culture of childhood”.

Play is at the core of children’s lives, and it’s vital for health, happiness, and creativity – and through play they can learn and achieve so much, including:

• Developing a sense of, and value, for culture
• Working together, negotiating, and building relationships
• Feeling connected to each other and their neighbourhoods
• Creating and passing on games, songs and stories
• Cultural exploration is also encouraged, fostering an appreciation for diversity

As thousands of children and young people come together to celebrate play at local and regional events on the UK’s National Day of Play, it provides a timely opportunity to highlight the need for a renewed commitment to play at all levels across society.

Playday provides a wonderful opportunity for children, families and communities to plan to play together. Scotland is well on its way to becoming a play-friendly country with play at the heart of our culture of childhood, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that every child gets to play, every day.

This Playday, we invite families, playworkers, decision makers, and all those who work with children across the UK, to join together to foster a culture of play. It is hugely important that we all take action to ensure that children and young people are able to fully realise their right to play.

Play is every child’s right. On Playday and every day, let’s unite to create a more playful future for our children and young people.