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Playschemes and Playgrounds

• Unstaffed Play Provision
• Staffed Play Provision
• Play and Risk
• Support For Disabled Children
• "Open Access" Frequently Asked Questions

Unstaffed Play Provision

Find out about children’s playgrounds, recreational pitches and play provision (including multi-use games areas and skate parks). Alternatively find out more about one of Wrexham’s 11 larger public parks.

Staffed Play Provision

There are an increasing number of staffed "open access" play projects operating in the Wrexham County Borough area. These include both playschemes and adventure playgrounds. Please see information below on play projects running during 2011/12.

Please note that under 8’s can attend if accompanied by an adult.

If you would like to find out about childcare services in Wrexham including play provision for children under the age of five please contact the Wrexham Family Information Service.

Play and Risk

"Sensible health and safety is about managing risks, not eliminating them all. HSE is not in the business of stamping out simple pleasures wherever they appear and at whatever cost. We recognise the benefits to children's development of play, which necessarily involves some risk, and this shouldn't be sacrificed in the pursuit of the unachievable goal of absolute safety." The Health and Safety Executive, January 2005

By taking risks and having adventurous play experiences children can challenge themselves, test the limitations of the environment around them, develop problem-solving skills and find creative approaches to new situations. Ultimately experiencing risk in their play influences a child’s ability to be adaptable and resilient, to cope with stressful events and therefore enables them to support their own well-being.

It is important to recognise that risky play does not, necessarily, mean dangerous. Nearly all types of play incorporate a degree of physical or emotional risk whether it’s balancing, climbing, singing, dressing up or even playing with someone new. Risky play can be any play opportunity that provides children with a sense of adventure and allows them to step outside, or at least to the edge, of their comfort zone. Obviously we want to avoid serious injury but getting bumps and scrapes is an important part of playing because childhood involves a great deal of trial and error. We would, for example, never learn to walk if we were not allowed to fall down.

Playworkers are trained to facilitate risky play and choose an intervention style that balances safety with the developmental benefits of allowing children to continue their play.

Creating a Rich Play Environment

Open access play settings aim to provide opportunities for children and young people to interact with and experience the following as part of an enriched play environment:

Examples

A varied and interesting physical environment

Things at different levels, spaces of different sizes, places to hide, places to inspire mystery and imagination, trees and bushes to play in, as well as man made structures.

Challenge in relation to the physical environment

Activities which test the limits of children’s capabilities, rough and tumble, sports, group games and chase.

Playing with the natural elements – earth, fire, water and air

Campfires, digging in the dirt, playing snowballs and flying kites.

Movement – running, jumping, rolling, climbing and balancing

Balance beams and rope ladders, soft mats, bike riding, juggling and circus equipment, and space to run.

Manipulating natural and fabricated materials

Materials for art, cooking, making and mending of all kinds; building dens; making concoctions; using tools; access to bits and pieces of all kinds.

Stimulation of the five senses

Music making, places where shouting is fine, quiet places, different colours and shapes, dark and bright spaces, cooking on a campfire, rotting leaves, a range of food and drink, objects that are soft, prickly, flexible, large and small.

Change in the natural environment

Experiencing the seasons through access to the outdoor environment; opportunities to take part in building, demolishing, or transforming the environment.

Social interactions

Being able to choose whether and when to play alone or with others, to negotiate, co-operate, compete and resolve conflicts. Being able to interact with individuals and groups of different ages, abilities, interests, gender, ethnicity and culture.

Playing with Identity

Dressing up, role play, performing, taking on different kinds of responsibility.

A range of emotions

opportunities to be powerful/powerless, scared/confident, liked/disliked, in/out of control, brave/cowardly etc etc

Secluded spaces

Opportunities for children to access small intimate places where they can think, relax and talk however for the safety of the children these spaces also need to be visible for the staff working.

A playable space

Movement within the environment from elements such as flags, windmills and rope swings. The space needs to be vibrant, full of colours and different textures. The space needs to give permission for play i.e. it needs to look "playable".

Support for Disabled Children

The WCBC Play Development Team is committed to upholding the right of all children to play. However we also recognise that some children will need more support than others to access play opportunities. Some children may need access to specialist provision where there are facilities that can meet their specific support requirements. Other children may just need a bit of extra support to enable them to access staffed play provision within their own community.

If your child thinks that they would like to attend one of the open access play settings in Wrexham but has a recognised disability and might require some extra help please contact the WCBC Play Development Team. We will then try to arrange for one of our playworkers to provide your child with some additional support. In doing this we also recognise that the open access nature of the playschemes may not be suitable for all children and that we may need to put in special measures to meet the support requirements of individual children.

If your child is not disabled but is experiencing a barrier to accessing play provision for another reason please contact the team and we will try to identify possible solutions to the problem.

"Open Access" Frequently Asked Questions

• What is "open access" play provision?
• What does "open access" mean and how is it different to childcare?
• Why do we need open access play provision?
• Who provides open access play services?

What is "open access" play provision?

Open access play provision usually caters for children aged 5 to 15 and is free for all children to attend.

Open Access play provision can be permanent or short-term. It can be located in a variety of settings, with or without premises, and can include play centres, adventure playgrounds, holiday playschemes and peripatetic playwork projects.

Open access play provision is staffed by Playworkers who are trained to understand the complex nature of children’s play. Playworkers aim to create rich play environments and support children to extend their play experiences.

What does "open access" mean and how is it different to childcare?

Just like previous generations of children, children today need to be given the freedom and independence to decide for themselves when, where and who they play with. In open access play provision children are not restricted in their movements, other than where related to safety matters and are not prevented from coming and going from the setting as and when they wish. Playworkers do not have a responsibility to ensure that children stay on site for a specified period of time. Open access play provision should therefore not be confused with childcare.

The WCBC Play Development Team recognises that in some cases "open access" provision is not appropriate due to the specific support requirements of individual children. To find out more visit our Support for Disabled Children page.

Why do we need open access play provision?

As recognised in the Wrexham Play Policy, play is fundamental to children’s holistic well-being and healthy development. In today's society there are fewer and fewer opportunities for children to play independently of adults. In order for children to gain all the benefits that come from playing we need to create environments where they can play freely and encounter a wide variety of different play opportunities, where the adults involved understand the nature and importance of all aspects of children's play and work to support it.

Open access play provision aims to compensate children for the play opportunities that have been lost as a result of increases in traffic on our roads, fears about strangers and child’s safety as well as a general loss of natural places to play.

Who provides "open access" play services?

In Wrexham the majority of open access play projects are run by voluntary organisations with some also managed by the local authority. To find out who runs your nearest open access play project visit our playschemes and playgrounds page.

Find out how you get more involved in supporting children’s play in your community.

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