If you’ve been part of the My First Five Years community for a while, you will already know how important play is for children of all ages. But did you know that here in the UK we celebrate the brilliance of play with a National Day of Play (known as Playday) on the first Wednesday of August each year?
Play is hugely beneficial for children’s mental and physical health, their development, their social skills and more – and play is good for us adults, too! Letting loose and being playful as a family is great fun and can help us to reset on a busy day.
Finding the time to really focus on being silly and having fun with your child, even if only for 10 minutes between other jobs, shows them that you value and make time for play. We want our children to grow up knowing that play is something to embrace and enjoy – no matter how busy life gets.
Playday itself features events run across the UK by independent groups. They vary in size, type and feel, but they are all celebrating play around a theme. This year, the theme is ‘all to play for – building opportunities for all children’. The aim is to highlight how important access to play is, wherever you live, how you move or what you enjoy.
To learn more about Playday, pop over to the website at: https://www.playday.org.uk/.
Don't worry if you've missed this year's official Playday. It is coordinated by fantastic organisations that champion and celebrate play throughout the year in each of the countries that make up the United Kingdom: Play England, Play Wales, Play Scotland and PlayBoard Northern Ireland. On their websites you'll find information about their ongoing campaigns to get the nation feeling playful – just follow the link for your home country to find activities and events that are on near you, all year round.
If you can’t make it to an official event, or simply don’t feel it would be a good fit for your family, remember that you can have just as much fun celebrating play at home. If you’re stuck for ideas for your child, remember to check your activity of the day or mix of six activities on our app.
Read more about how brilliant play is for children in our blog The power of learning through play (mffy.com). Then find out how fantastic it is for adults, too, in Why play is definitely not just for children (mffy.com)
We know play can get repetitive, and you might find you like one type of play more than others. This is normal and there is no need to feel guilty about it, as Helen, one of our parent writers, explains in our blog How to play with your child without having to dress up as a princess (mffy.com)