active play
Scotland commits to outdoor play
The Scottish government has committed to making outdoor play an everyday activity for children. Rachel Cowper, thrive outdoors programme manager at Inspiring Scotland, explains why.
SCOTLAND has an abundance of places for children to play; our cities are the greenest in the UK. We have a wealth of natural, wide open spaces across the country from beaches to woodlands, to meadows, moors and mountain sides. The problem is that children aren’t playing in them nearly as much as they should. Partly, we believe, this is about perception.
Children are not encouraged to use these spaces for play. In urban settings, neighbourhood streets – once the playing field for games of Kirby or Kick the Can – are now places with No Ball Game signs and parked cars. There is often a view that children playing out in the street either will cause trouble themselves or they are unsafe because of perceived dangers posed by adults. In schools, playgrounds tend to be flat, dull, concrete spaces where children are fenced in; they are not environments which encourage playful experiences. We have all heard the, perhaps apocryphal, stories of running being prohibited in break times at some schools. Even if these are not true or exaggerated, they contribute to a mood of discouragement. And then there is
28
pactfacilities.co.uk
the weather. If it rains, children have to stay inside, both at school and increasingly at home too. In Scotland, that really restricts children’s ability to play outside! Inspiring Scotland has been working to
increase outdoor play provision, in communities, schools and early years settings for eight years in partnership with government, local authorities and local organisations, and we are making strides in the right direction. But there is still a perception among many adults that play is a low-priority, frivolous activity when in fact it’s vital to the healthy development of children and should be an integral part of growing up.
national commitment Over the years that we have been working in the play sector, and through our constant evaluation of our work to increase outdoor play opportunities, the feedback we get is always the same: children are not playing enough and are not used to the physical activity involved in outdoor play. This affects children’s fitness, health, mental
wellbeing, cognitive development, the growth of their imaginations and creativity and their preparedness for learning in school. The deficit in outdoor play affects children’s whole lives – they will be less likely to be active and therefore healthy adults, and less likely to encourage their own children to play outdoors thereby creating a vicious cycle. We realised many people and organisations
were working to buck the trend and encourage or advocate for more outdoor play for children. These included organisations from health, education, childcare, government bodies and academics, as well as environmental organisations and business people who had their own concerns about the long-term effects on children. We decided to bring these groups together with the idea that a concerted, collaborative effort could bring about the change we were all seeking. After an initial scoping discussion in 2018, we
teamed up with Scottish government to form the Scottish Outdoor Play and Learning Coalition, and through a consultative process with many of the signatories, created the Position
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41
