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WA PLAY CHARTER
The WA Play Charter, drafted by the Play Matters Collective, is a declaration of the importance of play in children’s lives.
By endorsing the WA Play Charter you are signalling your shared belief in the fundamental value of play to children’s health, happiness and development, and putting up your hand to support a more playful world for the children in your care and in your community.
Schools and Early Learning Centres
who endorse the Play Charter
RESOURCES
The following resources and play-friendly organisations have inspired the PMC and development of the WA Play Charter.
International Play Association – Summary of United Nations General Comment 17 on Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations General Comment 17 is a comprehensive statement on play in response to failures of States Parties in adequately recognising and promoting the importance of play articulated in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the impact on children’s lives and society.
http://ipaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IPA-Summary-of-UN-GC-article-31_FINAL1.pdf
International Play Association – Declaration on the Importance of Play
Declaration reaffirming IPA’s aim and intent to: Protect the right to play; Preserve the right to play; Promote the right to play, including an outline of the impacts of play deprivation on children, young people and the whole of our society.
http://ipaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/IPA_Declaration-FINAL.pdf
The Lego Foundation – Why Play
The LEGO Foundation is committed to re-defining play and re-imagining learning to ensure children develop the skills needed to navigate an uncertain and complex world. The LEGO Foundation aims to fund, collect and showcase evidence that play is fundamental to children’s positive development.
www.legofoundation.com/en/why-play/
Canadian Public Health Association – Children’s Unstructured Play Position Statement
Outlining the benefits of unstructured play with recommendations to all levels of Government, public health agencies, research and surveillance agencies, play space designers and Canadian Standards Association
Canadian Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play
The Statement is a result of two systematic reviews of available scientific evidence on the net effect of outdoor and risky active play.
https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play/
American Association of Paediatrics - The Power of Play: A Paediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children
Guidance to Paediatricians based on current research evidence of the critical importance of play in children’s health and wellbeing.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/142/3/e20182058
Scotland’s Outdoor Play & Learning Coalition Position Statement
A statement on the importance of outdoor play and learning, including links to research evidence.
www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Coalition-Position-Statement.pdf
Rights of the Child, United Nations General Assembly (1989)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12344587
A Guide to General Comment 7: Implementing child rights in early childhood, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] (2006.)
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002157/215738E.pdf
Children’s right to play. The British Psychological Society. (2019)
https://www.bps.org.uk/sites/bps.org.uk/files/News/News%20-%20Files/PP17%20Children%27s%20right%20 to%20play.pdf?fbclid=IwAR152p3p71h5ziSAaM4gx781dvubHYtHe_y5uakeV6rS1tZlJSNFX_d5ATQ\
Welsh Government’s Play Sufficiency Duty
https://www.glos.ac.uk/content/welsh-governments-play-sufficiency-duty/
Scotland’s Play Charter – Play Scotland
https://www.playscotland.org/about/scotlands-play-charter/the-play-charter/
Charter for Children’s Play - Play England
http://www.playengland.org.uk/resource/charter-for-childrens-play/
Calgary Play Charter
https://www.calgary.ca/csps/recreation/research-and-development/calgary-play-charter.html
PlayBoard, Northern Ireland
American Academy of Paediatrics. (2016). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182
How your early childhood shapes your brain. World Economic Forum (2018)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/how-your-early-childhood-shapes-your-brain/
Play and resilience project, World Organization for Early Childhood Education, [OMEP]. (2018)
http://www.worldomep.org/index.php?hCode=ACTION_04_02_01
Prioritising time for unstructured, child-led play is key to supporting children’s mental wellbeing, especially during a pandemic
American Psychological Association.
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace [DEEWR]. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming – The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Retrieved https://docs.education.gov.au/node/2632
Why Play-based learning? Barblett, L. (2016)
http://thespoke.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/play-based-learning/
How We Deprive Children of the Physical Activity They Need, Gray, P. (2018)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201806/how-we-deprive-children-the-physical-activity-they-need
Neuroscience and learning through play: a review of the evidence, The Lego Foundation (2017)
https://www.legofoundation.com/media/1063/learning-through-play_web.pdf
Children should learn mainly through play until age of eight, says Lego. Ward, L. (2016)
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/15/children-learn-play-age-eight-lego?fbclid=IwAR2pRj17j-m1gG-q_Y-IZBmMa9VZjPJipyZFvuVyFocDpC7ywZJ4pVI52D8
Engaging families in the early childhood development story. Neuroscience and early childhood development, Winter, P. (2010)
http://www.scseec.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Reports%20and%20publications/Publications/Early%20childhood%20education/Engaging%20Families%20in%20the%20ECD%20StoryNeuroscience%20and%20ECD.pdf 7
The importance of play: A report on the value of children’s play with a series of policy recommendations. Whitebread, D. (2012)
http://www.importanceofplay.eu/IMG/pdf/dr_david_whitebread_the_importance_of_play.Pdf
Play types. Hughes, B. (1996)
https://www.playscotland.org/playful-learning/play-types/
Parents’ play pack: For parents and carers of children aged eight to twelve. Play Scotland. (2018)
https://www.playscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/Play-Scotland-Parents-Play-Pack-3.pdf
Play Types Toolkit Bringing more play into the school day. Scott-McKie, L. & Casey, T. (2017)
Building Language and Literacy through Play. Scholastics Inc. (2021) https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/building-language-literacy-through-play/
The Gonski Institute
Resources for parents and caregivers to support their child’s education. The guides provide quality, up-to-date information, translated research and practical tips on a range of topics including being a child’s ‘first and forever teacher’, why play matters and the impact of parental beliefs. Find them here.
International Play Association’s Play in crisis:
Support for parent and carers guidebook here.
VIDEOS
The following videos were reviewed in the creation of the WA Play Charter.
International Play Association This is me – Article 31 & a Child’s Right to Play
Video featuring Professor Roger Hart, Director Children’s Environmental Research Group, City University New York, explaining the importance of the United Nations General Comment 17.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tjRPWPhIfA
Learning through Landscapes, Scotland – Why play?
Discusses the range of benefits for children’s wellbeing and learning from improving play provision on school grounds.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3yvHysI5Gc&t=2s
LEGO Foundation - Introduction to PlayFutures
https://vimeo.com/262009320
The UNICEF partnership – The LEGO group & the LEGO foundation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmg6L-zk7C8