Playwork principles - Practice led by values
My career started in early years and following many
years of working with young children, I began to look
for new opportunities to try something new. The
opportunity arose to train and work as a Playworker,
a role I have great pride in being. I now work as a
Lecturer in Early Years but my role as a Playworker
is still just as valuable now as it was then. Playwork
principles still frequently inform my pedagogy and
have led to many wonderful moments with children
and young people. For those of you considering a
career in Playwork, I would encourage you to do so.
It requires energy, commitment and development
but that personal growth leads to becoming part of
a supportive and kind community, which value the
importance of play.
The Playwork Principles
The Playwork Principles were
designed by Playworkers
from across the United
Kingdom and were approved
by SkillsActive in 2005. They
provide us with a framework
for approaching our
Playworker role and remind
us of our responsibilities
when committing to being a
play advocate. In this article,
we will delve deeper into
the principles to consider
what they might look like in
practice and why these eight
principles are so important.
Principle one: All children
and young people need
to play. The impulse to
play is innate. Play is a
biological, psychological
and social necessity, and
is fundamental to the
healthy development and
wellbeing of individuals
and communities.
Play is not an add-on to our
routine. It is essential and
required so that we are able
to strive. As a foetus develops
within the womb, we see
the impact music can have
on a little one, with them
moving and wiggling as they
recognise a familiar tune
being played. Once they enter
into the physical world, their
natural curiosity leads to the
child gazing, touching and
tuning into the environment.
Our playful nature connects
us with both the physical
space and the people that we
interact with. Children’s play
brings them relationships with
others and an understanding
of how things work. Play
informs us of social structures
and dynamics, we learn
how people respond to our
behaviours and usually lean
into experiences that bring
us positive emotions. Play
provides us with a space to
experiment and to fail safely.
Learning the importance of
perseverance builds our self-confidence and our ability to
try new things in life. Principle two: Play is a
process that is freely
chosen, personally directed
and intrinsically motivated.
That is, children and
young people determine
and control the content
and intent of their play,
by following their own
instincts, ideas and
interests, in their own way
for their own reasons.
When it comes to play,
children are the experts. We
need to plan for play that
incorporates their ideas and
interests; if we miss this
then the likelihood is that
children will not engage. As
Playworkers, our role is to
follow children’s cues and
provide an environment that
encourages curiosity and
freedom. Being observant
and responsive allows for us
to consider how we can use
children’s interests to guide
the sessions. It can take time
for individuals to feel secure
and brave enough to tell us
about their inner thoughts
and feelings, so by being
fully present we create a
space for this to happen. We
are used to a society where
adults frequently dictate
how children should behave
and even think, but our role is
not one to dictate what will
happen. Being guided by the
children is an empowering
action that builds children’s
self-confidence and belief
in themselves.
Principle three: The prime
focus and essence of
playwork is to support and
facilitate the play process
and this should inform
the development of play
policy, strategy, training
and education.
Being a Playworker is a
role we should be proud
of. I am sure all of us have
heard the comments of “so
all you do is play all day?”
within our role in the sector
and it is part of our role to
challenge these opinions
appropriately. One way of
doing this is by showcasing
the professionalism of
the Playworker role and
ensuring that our training
and education is authentic
and beneficial. Play should
be seen within our policies
and procedures, with clear
expectations as to how these
principles will be embedded
into working practices and
why play is so important to
your setting. When we sit
down to write our policies and
strategies, take a moment to
step back and ensure that play
is what underpins its focus.
Principle four: For
playworkers, the play
process takes precedence
and playworkers act as
advocates for play when
engaging with adult
led agendas.
Our role as an advocate for
play is essential to the role
of a Playworker. One of the
things I love is when I get the
opportunity to be in a space
with other Playworkers. The
identity of the role is highly
significant to all of us and
the importance of play is
recognised. When attending
meetings where policymaking decisions are being
made, this is approached
with a playful and intentional
manner and I am grateful
that I am able to be fully
myself within the space. This
is what play brings us. Role
modelling play should be
integral to every Playworker
and meetings, conferences
and seminars should have
play embedded into the
schedule. When Parents and
Carers first meet with you,
explain why your organisation
values play so highly. When
asked about what you do, tell
others why play is essential
in communities. It can be
useful to follow hashtags
and organisations that are
supporters of Playwork
to consider how you can
build on being an advocate
for play. I am often led by
the work of organisations
such as Playboard (the
lead organisation for the
development and promotion
of Children’s play in Northern
Ireland: www.playboard.
org) to consider how I can
use their campaigns on the
ground with the students and
children that I work with.
Principle five: The role
of the playworker is to
support all children and
young people in the
creation of a space in which
they can play.
When we look on social
media, there are lots of ideas
on how to layout a play
space. I would encourage you
to look at these with a critical
and kind eye. Do the spaces
look good to our adult eye
or are they a space where
children can engage in playful
experiences? Frequently, the
most playful spaces do not
look that appealing to adults
from a first glance. As we
explore the space further, we
can see the mess is actually a
well-considered and detailed
space that children have
designed. Loose parts are
a valuable addition to any
play space, where children
have access to appropriate
risk and challenge. On a
recent walk in our local park,
I wandered down a tarmac
path that had a typical
children’s playground to my
left. On my right was a forest
area where children used to
be discouraged from roaming.
It now has loose parts and
forest school resources
accessible for children to
investigate. It was a joy to
see how this area has been
developed to encourage play
and can now be fully enjoyed
by the children, with (not
surprisingly) more play taking
place in the forest than the
climbing frame.
Principle six: The
playworker’s response to
children and young people
playing is based on a sound
up to date knowledge
of the play process, and
reflective practice.
When you begin your journey
as a Playworker, reflective
practice is taught early on
and is strongly valued by
those working in the sector. It
can feel quite unsettling when
we take a step back and
wait to respond to children’s cues but it is vitally important.
Before we respond to these
cues, we must reflect and
consider how our interactions
can extend the play process
further. Reflective practice
can take many forms:
internally, verbally, individually
or as a group activity. It is also
important to reflect alongside
the children to gain their
feedback and ensure that
their voice is underpinning
the service you are providing.
Once our formal Playwork
training is complete, it
does not end there. There
are many books, CPD
opportunities, articles and
websites that can support
us in keeping our skills up
to date. An activity that you
could do following reading
this article is to reflect as a
team on the principles further
and consider what they mean
to you as a collective group
and how they are evident
in the approach that you
adopt. These connections
can be invaluable for our
professional development.
Principle seven:
Playworkers recognise
their own impact on the
play space and also the
impact of children and
young people’s play on
the playworker.
There have been a lot of
times in my career where I
have had to reflect on the
need to step back. Observing
a child’s interactions and
wanting to step in to help
has been something I have
had to work on as it comes
from a place of kindness. As
adults, many of us want to
create neat and tidy spaces
and this is definitely not inkeeping with a play space
that is being actively engaged
with! If you have ever sat
down at tea time to watch
one of the TV quizzes with
the family, you might have
found yourself in a moment
where the brain is working full
power on remembering the
answer to a question that has
been presented. Just as you
feel yourself remembering,
someone else in the family
shouts out the answer and
you growl internally that they
have stopped your brain
from completing its task.
This is what happens when
we step in with the answers
when children are immersed
in the play experience. It can
switch them off from their
engagement and suppress
the curiosity and enquiry that
they were exploring. Finding
the right balance, and using
reflective practice, will support
you in making sure your
impact on children’s play is a
positive one.
Principle eight:
Playworkers choose an
intervention style that
enables children and young
people to extend their play.
All playworker intervention
must balance risk with the
developmental benefit and
wellbeing of children.
Children can do a lot more
than we often give them
credit for. In Western society,
we often view childhood as
a period of time where the
individuals need protecting
and we adopt processes to
minimise risks. Of course we
must protect children from
danger and unacceptable
stresses, but we also need to
balance risk so that children
can experience it in a safe
and positive way. If a child
is subjected to harm, we
must immediately intervene
and we must minimise this
whether possible. However,
risk and challenge are an
important aspect of the
playwork environment, and
it is important for us to take
a step back as adults so
that children can feel the
satisfaction of bravery and
trying out something new.
Focusing on a risk-benefit
approach will allow for a
review of why we do what
we do and support us to feel
confident in our practice.
Conclusion
Returning to the Playwork
Principles to reflect is
important no matter what
stage of our professional
career we are at. When
evaluating them at the
beginning of our Playwork
journey, know that you have
a community of amazing
professionals who will
support and guide you
throughout your career. I
have been fortunate to have
been through that journey
and met many exceptional
people along the way. Their
commitment and advocacy
of the importance of play
has been inspiring and has
encouraged me to learn
more and do better. Take the
time this week to digest and
unpick these principles further
and consider what they
mean to you. There may be
further values and principles
that you wish to add that
reflect your own practice or
setting. What underpins your
Playwork practice?
You can find more articles by Fey in the summer issue of Aluminate, CACHE Alumni's quarterly member magazine.
“Children
can do a lot
more than
we often
give them
credit for.”
“As Playworkers, our role is to follow
children’s cues and provide an
environment that encourages curiosity
and freedom.”