Explore Play Wales
Today, children across Wales and the rest of the world are celebrating the first ever International Day of Play.
Here in Wales, International Play Association (IPA) Cymru Wales is collaborating with Play Wales on a joint national call to protect playtime in schools. Together, we are asking schools to give all children additional time to play, for example, by making the lunch break longer or providing an extra playtime.
Play is central to children’s physical, mental, social and emotional health and wellbeing. Schools can make a significant contribution to our children’s health and wellbeing by protecting playtime. We are calling on all schools to give every child in Wales more time to play on International Day of Play – and every day.
Support for schools
To mark International Day of Play, we are publishing a new edition of A play friendly school, guidance for a whole school approach to supporting children’s right to play.
This updated version is designed to build on the good work that is already being done to provide better play opportunities in schools. It aims to make everyone’s time at school happier and healthier. As well as providing policy related information, A play friendly school includes a range of practical resources and templates to support schools to give children plenty of opportunities to play during the school day.
The guidance has been developed as a response to Estyn’s Healthy and happy – school impact on pupils’ health and wellbeing report, which notes the importance of school play and break times.
Download A play friendly school
Story time
To celebrate this special day, we are making our Fun in the playground storybook available online for a short time. The story is about one of the most important parts of the school day for many children – playtime. It aims to support children in making sure they have the right to play at school.
This storybook is for primary school children and their parents – as well as teachers and school staff. It’s also a useful resource to support those working with children and families.
(The storybook will be available online until 18 June)