Let Grow: giving children back their independence and time to play
The American organisation Let Grow helps schools and parents give children more independence. We describe its two main programmes: Play Club and the Let Grow Project.
How Can We Restore Free Play
Letting Children Out More
Outdoor play and free roaming allows children to explore the neighbourhood and engage with other kids at playgrounds, sports facilities and street corners.
Organizing Play Dates
Parents can take turns inviting other children for play dates at home and organize play groups where families meet in parks or forests and let children roam free with little supervision.
Limiting Screen Time
Parents can limit children’s access to electronic devices and encourage them to spend more time engaging in physical activities and free play.
Creating Play-friendly Cities
Providing a range of opportunities for play, including traditional playgrounds, but also other forms of play such as urban parks, green spaces, and interactive public art installations. Creating safer streets by limiting car usage in urban areas.
Promoting Unstructured Play Time at Schools
Schools and childcare centers can create opportunities for more free play by extending recess times and providing after school play clubs.
More about play restoration
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Reclaiming the street for children: the story of Playing Out
In 2009 two mothers in Bristol closed their street for a few hours so their children could play on it. We describe how the idea grew into a UK-wide movement and why it is easy to copy.
Taking children’s smartphones away is not enough
There is growing concern that children get smartphones too early. But a ban alone won’t change much if children get nothing in return: time, space and other children to play with.
Play-friendly architecture
A high fence can cut children off from each other, while a well-designed neighbourhood can bring them together. We describe Marmalade Lane in Cambridge and three design decisions that encourage play.
Prescription for Play
Under the Prescription for Play programme, American paediatricians remind parents at check-ups how important play is. We describe how the idea works.
Patagonia, a play-friendly employer
Patagonia runs a preschool for its employees’ children where free play outdoors is the backbone of the day. We describe how it works and what other preschools can take from it.