Play is every child's right.

Children’s Links Play Team works in close partnership with District Councils, schools, voluntary organisations and other professionals to create quality play environments.  Services the team offer include advice and guidance in
funding and play development, play workshops, training and Playrangers.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the
importance of play for the Child.

All children have the right to relax and play, and to join in with a wide range of
activities. (Article 31)

Play space should include:

• Supervised and unsupervised designated play provision
• Shared public open space and parks
• School playgrounds
• Streets, squares and cul-de-sacs
• Rural and semi-rural areas

Children’s Links works in close partnership with District Councils, schools,
voluntary organisations and other professionals to create quality play environments.

 Play Environments

 Good quality play environments: 

• Reflect the wishes and needs of children
 • Are based on the understanding that a play environment is much more than simply play  equipment
 • Reflect the individual spirit of their locality
 • Involve local people in the design and development

 Play Space should offer children and young people opportunities to:

• Engage in their natural surroundings
• Be as sociable or solitary as they wish
• Create imaginary worlds
• Shape and re-shape their surroundings
• Test boundaries
• Experience change and continuity
• Take acceptable levels of risk

What can we offer?

• Children’s participation—gathering children’s views and involving them in  
 projects through workshops, fun days and children’s panels
• Play Today for Tomorrow—workshops to provide parents with ideas for  
 playing with their child
• Deliver play, art, music, drama projects for children and adults
• Neighbourhood Play Projects
• Traditional Playground Games Project—introducing traditional games  
 to school playtimes
• Advice and guidance in funding and play development
• Support for community groups
• Support and guidance to develop Play Strategies
• Play Rangers—mobile play projects
• Play in Prisons—co-ordinating child visits and family days in prison• Play workshops for groups

What are Play Rangers?

•  A mobile play service which is delivered in both rural and urban  communities.

•  The service offers free, open access play sessions for ages 5–15 years.

• Children and young people help plan the sessions and choose the kind of activities that they would like. 

• Rangers build relationships with the children and young people, giving them a friend and role model that they can talk to.

Play activities include arts and crafts, junk modelling, den building, parachute games, ball games, music making, dance and dressing up.

The Play Rangers target their work to meet the Every Child Matters outcomes framework, for example, by encouraging healthy lifestyles by exercise, healthy eating, and encouraging them to be involved in their communities.

How does the scheme work?

The Play Rangers work in parks and outdoor public spaces. They operate on an 'open access'
principle, meaning that children are free to come and go as they please.

By being present in the parks, Play Rangers do their utmost to ensure children are kept
safe, yet at the same time provide opportunities for them to be challenged, take risks
and have fun outdoors come rain or shine.   

However we must stress that,due to the nature of the environment children are responsible
for their own actions.

Where and when do the Play Rangers work?

The Play Rangers work in teams in parks and open spaces throughout the whole year.   
They are managed by national children’s charity,  Children’s Links.

Play Rangers offer services in local communities after school and during
school holidays to suit each individual community’s needs.

Why do you need Play Rangers?

By offering a consistent service working in the communities several times a week
there will be many long term benefits. This includes building relationships with the
children and young people and becoming known and trusted within the community. 

In addition  the Play Rangers will give children a voice, build confidence and encourage
a sense of ownership of their parks/open spaces which should in time help to reduce
anti-social behaviour. It is also a great opportunity for children to get back outdoors.

What qualifications do the Play Rangers have?

•  Playworker qualifications

•  Child Protection or Safeguarding Children

•  Drug Awareness

•  Inclusion training

•  First Aid qualification

•  Enhanced CRB check

Volunteers

The Play Ranger project is always looking for volunteers for each area to join in the sessions. This is a great opportunity to develop your skills. 

For information contact the Play Team on 0845 3730645 or play@childrenslinks.org.uk.

Why it works

•  Children and young people enjoy the sessions

•  Children and young people can choose activities and are involved in planning  and evaluation.

•  Children and young people feel safe and can take risks and be challenged physically, emotionally and mentally

•  Achievement promotes self-esteem and in turn produces happy children.

The outdoor space promotes interaction with, and awareness of, the natural
environment.  Being given opportunities to play outside in all weathers widens
horizons and develops a sense of self belonging in their communities and the wider world.

The project is by its very nature inclusive and can be accessed by children who may be
experiencing some level of social and/or educational exclusion.

Play Rangers provide children with role models and build positive relationships with
children gaining their respect and trust. From this unique position within the
community, effective engagement and preventative work can be achieved.   Play Rangers
encourage individual development and the development of social skills.

“I think Play Rangers is really good and fun and I enjoyed making lots of things.  I also enjoyed making dens and playing games”
Child

“The kids have never had so much fun in this village as they have with the Play Rangers. This is the best thing they’ve had (only thing!) since I moved here 9 years ago.  They thoroughly enjoyed playing games with them.  The Play Rangers are fantastic with them”
Parent

“We really enjoyed the time with the Play Rangers, making lots of different things and meeting friends”
Parent

"Today was brilliant, thank you, I felt like a mum again. The best feeling ever!"
(Prisoner attending a Child Visit)

Play in Prison is a project which brings some quality time and normality to the lives of children and young people who have a mother serving a prison sentence.

Children's Links have been working with HMP Morton Hall to make these visits special and provide families with happy memories between visits. The project works with children from the age of a few months right through to teenagers and so has been a huge challenge.

The activities provided during the sessions have included:

Tee-shirt design
Nail Art
Badgemaking
Electric Guitar workshops
Art and craft
Parachute games
Den building

The project encourages parents to play with their children and maintain strong relationships during a difficult period in their lives. The days are planned with the prisoners and prison guards so that it is a whole team approach and everyone has a part to play.

The most rewarding part of this project is seeing families laughing and playing together. It has also had a huge impact on the relationship between prisoners and prison staff, as the staff are given the opportunity to see them as loving parents.

"Absolutely great day! Love every minute of it and get to spend real quality time with my mum. Also get to be the child for the day!" (young carer visiting her mum with two younger sisters)

An important aspect of this project is to remember that, although these parents have committed an offence, their children have not. Play in Prison aims to provide these children with an opportunity to enjoy their childhoods.

The prison now has some excellent play facilities and Child Visits have become so popular that on our last visit we had 20 prisoners and over 30 children!

“It was the bestest playtime”  Child

Traditional Playground Games is a project run by Children’s Links to promote positive
behaviour during the lunch time break.

Consultation with school children and staff identified the following issues:

• Many children only feel safe when playing at school
• Staff were concerned with children’s behaviour
• There were high incidences of bullying
• Playgrounds are sometimes boring places

Playing games for positive behaviour!
The ability to play games is taken for granted as something that every child
can do.  Today’s children are increasingly choosing computer games rather than using
their own imagination.

Children at play in schools, parks or in the street are no longer heard chanting rhymes,
clapping or skipping.  Many children have now lost the ability to
instigate, join in or invent games of their own.

The British Medical Journal reported ‘an obesity epidemic in young
children’.  The main solution should be to ‘to reduce television viewing and
promote playing’ and ‘opportunities for play may be the only requirement that children
need to increase their physical activity’.

Children get more exercise from outdoor play than they do from clubs and
formal activities.  The most energetic time of the day is their school play/break time.

“It’s made a big difference to our school” Lunch time supervisor

“Playtime would be boring without games” Child at pilot school

The benefits

Playground games can help promote good health for children and young
people by:

• Providing lots of fun and laughter, making them feel good about
 themselves and reducing stress and anxiety
• Enhancing self-esteem
• Reducing aggression in the playground
• Increasing physical exercise to tackle obesity
• Improving moral and social development
• Developing relationships between staff and pupils
• Encouraging children to use their imagination
• Offering children opportunities for new experiences

How does the project work?

Traditional Playground Games will be delivered to school staff by experienced trainers. 

Topics covered include:

• Benefits of playing games
• What are the barriers to play?
• Health and safety
• Supporting children’s play
• Management of the playground
• Problem solving

The project will also include teaching sessions with the children and will
re-introduce skipping games, hopscotch, action, singing and ball games and many more
activities.

On completion of the course each school will receive a pack of laminated games cards
for the staff and children to use.