Dr Stuart Brown is the founder and head of the Institute of Play in the United States. While working as a psychiatrist, he studied a group of young men charged with murder and found a common thread in their stories: many didn't play much while they were children. He argues that play as a child is key to brain development in adulthood. Read More.

Ditch the cotton wool and let kids travel independently...

Barbara Champion, Executive Director of Play Australia, has been interviewed on Bush Telegraph along with Simone Bliss, designer of the new National Arboretum playground in Canberra (Landscape Archiect with Taylor Cullity Lethlean) and Megan Trousdale, the driving force behind a playground at Nundle in New South Wales that has become a focal point for the town.

‘Playwork’ originated in the adventure playgrounds created in the middle of the twentieth century to provide children’s spaces within urban environments. Playwork practice is currently used by professionals working with children in an extensive range of international settings, from parks to prisons and deserts to development projects. The practice of playwork draws on a number of diverse disciplines for its theoretical and technical foundations, and playwork practice and its origins are studied by scholars from a wide range of disciplines.

The Board of Play Australia, with the financial support of Sport and Recreation Victoria, developed a Discussion Paper for the consideration of our members across Australia, on how we might continue the further growth and operation of the national organisation to promote play both in Australia and internationally.

The consultation phase is now closed and the Final Report "Establishing a National Organisation to Promote Play: looking at structure, governance and change" is now available to download below.

Please find attached below the Parks and Leisure Australia Submission to Metropolitan Planning Strategy Discussion Paper.

Please find attached below the Dec 2012 edition of 'Play Notes' - The Organisational Newsletter for the IPA World Council.

The latest issue of Play and Folklore is now available for viewing via the Museum Victoria website. For your convenience, here is a link to issue 59:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/pages/43935/playandfolkloreno59april2013we…

This document is available to view on dropbox at the following location:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pvuj9h8zqdybla/Building%20spaces%20and%20pla…

The file is 35MB to download.

Kidsafe NSW recognises the importance of gardening with children to build life skills, inspire creativity, grow and harvest food, role model safe practices and a respect for nature.

‘Grow me Safely’ was developed to provide information for educators, parents and carers to engage children in gardening activities.