Children's play

A new era of design thinking is encouraging more creativity in the design of play environments, backed by £235m of government investment and the first national Play Strategy.

We can make the most of this opportunity by drawing on best practice and providing imaginative, more natural play spaces that meet the needs of the wider community.

If you would like public space enabling support for your play project, please email Liz Hoehnke on ehoehnke@cabe.org.uk.

More on children's play

Planning for play

Play does not and should not only happen in playgrounds. Play strategies should ensure a range of accessible play options across an area, including parks, squares and even streets.

Ten principles for designing play

Ideas and practical resources for building new play spaces in a fresher and more inspiring manner.

Natural play

Playful landscape elements such as undulating landform, wildflowers, logs, stones and sand have benefits for children’s learning, healthy growth and development.

Community engagement

The government recently introduced Play Indicator NI 199 to assess local authority performance on play. Children and young people will now be asked how satisfied they are with their local play areas and parks each year.

Managing play and risk

Those responsible for managing play spaces should be involved in the design of new spaces and should adopt a new approach to risk management that takes the benefits into account as well as the risks.

Useful links

Find out more about designing and planning for children’s play.