Play Bombing!
It’s been a while since the Go Play Teams have been able to get outside and engage with our amazing children and families across the borough, but like us I guess you are also finding as restrictions are easing new opportunities to play together again.
Play for all of us young and old is essential to our mental health and wellbeing, it’s fun, exhilarating, energetic, loud, messy and there are opportunities to be playful everywhere you turn. A pavement or low wall can become a tightrope, sticks can become magic wands, pathways can become great places for hopscotch the list is endless you just need a good imagination!
Over the Easter holidays we put our heads together to try and come up with ways to explore and celebrate informal playfulness in everyday spaces and
PLAY BOMBING emerged.
Play bombing is a way of engaging informally, outside of the organised play
sessions and activities that are the norm and more importantly it can take place anywhere. There are no set times or dates but our playworkers dip in and out of spaces providing possibilities of play that can be transformed into many different activities dependant on how far the individual’s imagination takes them. Whilst
trying to utilise the natural and built environments existing features and structures so there is no cost and no environmental impact.
Over the Easter holiday period, the Go Play team play bombed in parks and green spaces around Sandwell. The play bombing was delivered in a range of ways, with a focus on delivering easily accessible possibilities of play for the public. Where equipment was involved, due to current government guidance the team ensured equipment was single use as well as encouraging social distancing.
In total the Go Play team delivered across 18 parks and green spaces in Sandwell with over 130 families participating in the play bombing.
The Go Play team plan on continuing to play bomb in parks and green spaces across Sandwell throughout May and June, so look out for them as they could be in a park near you!
For more information drop us an email hello@goplaysandwell.co.uk
#playbombing #outdoorplay #letthemplay
Sam Stokes
Play Coordinator - Groundwork West Midlands
