Mr. Charlie Flanagan T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, today announced that 31 local authorities have been granted funding to run events on National Play Day, which takes place this year on Sunday, 6th July.
Announcing National Play Day 2014, Minister Flanagan said: “The aim of National Play Day is to help increase public awareness of the importance of play in supporting children’s physical and social development. The focus for National Play Day in 2014 is on ‘going out to play’ and a variety of projects have been funded that create opportunities for outdoor play at street, neighbourhood and community level. National Play Day provides the opportunity for Local Authorities to encourage children and their families to experience play in their own locality.”
Among the events funded by Department of Children and Youth Affairs are traditional outdoor games, skipping, marbles, penalty shoot-outs, relays and obstacle courses, sport, music, storytelling, bouncy castles, egg and spoon races, nature walks, family cycles, Forest School Activities, Scavenger Hunts, Wildlife Detective games, Mini Beast Hunts, and many more. “The variety of events on offer provides a snapshot of the type of play opportunities that can be made available at street, neighbourhood and community level”, stated Minister Flanagan.
One of the national outcomes in the recently launched Better Outcomes: Brighter Futures - The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014-2020) is the active and healthy physical and mental wellbeing of all children. One of the specific aims of realising this outcome is that all children will enjoy play, recreation, sport, arts, culture and nature.
The events for National Play Day are part-funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and organised and supported by a network of key Local Authority managers and staff responsible for the local delivery of play and recreation services in communities across the country. This network was established as the Local Authority Play and Recreation Network in 2012, to introduce a more coordinated and interagency approach to achieving the goals of play and recreation policies at national and local level.
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A list of upcoming events is attached. More details can be found on the relevant local authority websites