Making Space for Play

Updated 17 July 2016

Design for Play

Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces [2.7MB PDF] explains how good play spaces can give children and young people the freedom to play creatively, while allowing them to experience risk, challenge and excitement. There is also advice on how play spaces can be affordably maintained. Overall, Design for Play sets out a new approach, tackles some current myths, and challenges providers to think more laterally and creatively about children and young people.

The guide was produced in association with the Free Play Network, Play England believes this advice will help those involved in commissioning and designing play spaces to put play value at the heart of their work. Be aware that the guide was produced to support the previous Government’s play pathfinder and playbuilder programme, to help develop existing and new play spaces. As such, some policy and other references may now be out of date.

Chapter 1: Inspiring play

As a follow up to Design for Play (linked to above) Public space lessons – Designing and planning for play lists 10 design principles and encapsulated in one golden rule: a successful play space is a place in its own right, specially designed for its location, in such a way as to provide as much play value as possible.

The rules ask practitioners to imagine a play space that is:

Designed to enhance its setting
successful play spaces are designed to fit their surroundings and enhance the local environment, complementing attractive spaces and enhancing poorer environments.

Play is what children and young people do in their own time, for their own reasons. When playing, children choose what to do, how to do it and who to do it with. Play takes many forms: doing nothing in particular; doing lots; being boisterous; showing off; being contemplative; being alone; being social; being challenged; being thwarted; overcoming difficulties. Through play, children explore the world and learn to take responsibility for their own choices.

Chapter 2: Inspiring play spaces

Ask any adult to recall their best play memories. These were almost always outside – often in natural surroundings – with friends; exciting, social, creative experiences often high in anticipation. Ask the same adults if their children can play in the same way today and silence falls. But today’s children should have access to just as wide a range of play opportunities as their parents had. Creating spaces where children can play freely and which offer them experiences they might remember for the rest of their lives, requires careful thought and imaginative design.

Chapter 3: Designing places for play

Successful play spaces are located and designed with reference to their surroundings. Play equipment and features are chosen for the way they can complement and enhance their setting as well as for their play value.

This chapter sets out the importance of a holistic approach to designing for play, thinking about the setting, features and potential use of equipment together from the outset, and considers how to design both new and refurbished play spaces that complement their surroundings.

Chapter 4: Making other spaces more ‘playable’

Children and young people should be able to play freely in their local neighbourhoods. Providing play opportunities is as much about creating general public space that offers play opportunities, as it is about designing and developing designated play spaces. What is ‘playable’ space? Playable space is one expression of ‘shared’ public space, which meets the needs of different people at the same time. Support for playable spaces can greatly extend the range of play opportunities offered to children and can be highly cost effective. A positive attitude towards children and young people and their play is a key feature of good playable spaces, and helps create a more child-friendly society. A playable space is one where children’s active play is a legitimate use of the space.

Playability is a feature of fixed equipment play areas. But it is also a feature of some parks, recreation grounds, natural areas and other types of public open space. Playability is not just a matter of the physical characteristics of a space. It can also be influenced by social and cultural characteristics. For

instance, a space that is dominated by people who are hostile to children’s presence is obviously not playable, whatever its physical characteristics.

Design guidance for play spaces

Design guidance for play spaces is a short guide that sets out principles for developing considering the needs of people who will use the space. The aim is to create naturalistic play spaces that act as a woodlands as a whole. They should encourage children to explore the natural environment and to take part in active play where they have the opportunity to create their own play environments and activities.

Close to nature
grassy mounds, planting, logs and boulders can all help to make a more attractive and playable setting for equipment, and planting can also help attract birds and other wildlife to bring the play space to life. 10 principles for designing play
Designed so that children can play in different ways
successful play spaces can be used in different ways by children and young people of different ages and interests; they can also be important social spaces for parents and carers, as well as for children.
Geared towards encouraging disabled and able-bodied children to play together
children with different abilities can play together in well-designed play spaces, and parents and carers who are themselves disabled should be able to gain access to play spaces if they are to accompany their children.
Loved by the community
a successful community engagement process will help create a site that the community likes and which meets its needs.
Where children of all ages play together
good play spaces avoid segregating children based on age or ability and are laid out so that equipment and features can be used by a wide range of children.
Designed to enable children to stretch and challenge themselves in every way
Children and young people need opportunities to experience challenge and excitement in their play.
Maintained for play value and environmental sustainability
good play spaces are designed and constructed using sustainable materials and maintained to encourage different play experiences.
Flexible and able to evolve as the children grow
Building some ‘slack space’ into the layout — areas with no predefined function — can help introduce the potential for change and evolution.

Located in the best possible place
successful play spaces are located carefully ‘to be where children would play naturally’. While children often enjoy feeling as if they are away from adult view, there is a fine balance between a space that is pleasantly secluded and one that is remote and hidden away.

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