Creating accessible play spaces – a toolkit

Author: Play Wales and Alison John & Associates
Date: April 2025

This toolkit is intended to support the development and upgrading of accessible and inclusive play spaces in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. It is aimed at local authorities, town and community councils, open space planners, housing associations and parks and playground managers.

The toolkit is designed to provide clear and concise information that will:

• help to create play spaces that enable all children to play in, along with friends and family
• support people to understand and solve issues of concern
• provide practical, step-by-step tools and templates for undertaking work linked with removing the barriers to accessing play space faced by disabled children and their families.

This reviewed and updated toolkit responds to Including Disabled Children in Play Provision, a joint statement from the Children’s Play Policy Forum and UK Play Safety Forum.

The previous edition of the toolkit was developed by Play Wales and Alison John and Associates. A small focus group of parents, local authority play area managers, play development officers and representatives of children’s organisations advised on the original toolkit content.