Play for Wales – issue 62

Autumn | Winter 2023

This issue of the magazine revisits the theme of playing and being well. The articles show how time, space and freedom to play can greatly benefit children’s mental health, relieving stress and reducing the harmful impact of trauma. Features include:

• Professor Helen Dodd, Ms Gill Hearnshaw and Dr Lily FitzGibbon tell us why free play matters for children’s mental health
• Dr Wendy Russell, Mike Barclay and Ben Tawil introduce a relational capability approach to wellbeing
• The team at Meriden Adventure Playground share their experiences of taking a therapeutic playwork approach in their setting
• Using play informed practice to support children affected by trauma
• An overview of a new collaborative project between researchers at Cardiff University, Starlight and Play Wales to improve children’s play experiences in hospital
• Exploring how play and playwork link with the Welsh Government’s NEST framework
• Making the links between the Ministerial Review of Play and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• An introduction to our newly updated Play deprivation: the causes and consequences for child development, and the potential of playwork information sheet written by Emeritus Professor Fraser Brown
• Exciting news about funding for playwork qualifications
• An interview with Emma Booth about playwork in prisons
• An example of a playful community where a focus on play is central to collaborative improvements at the Wrexham Child Health Centre.

Download magazine