Children at play / Department of the Environment.

  • Great Britain. Department of the Environment.
Date:
1973
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Children at play / Department of the Environment. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    101/118 (page 97)
    the play schemes are going to be used to the full. At the close of the holidays, sites must be cleared and equipment perhaps stored until the next holiday. The organisers also often find that at the close of the scheme they have to cope with disgruntled children who resent ‘their’ playground being closed and ‘their’ playleaders with whom they have formed a relationship, leaving the district probably to be replaced the next year by newcomers. The leader of the play scheme at Emslie Horniman wrote after the scheme had finished: ‘Towards the end of the scheme there were signs of anxiety in the older children — would we be back next year, would it be the same people? It was strange that even when the first volunteers left after three weeks many kids didn’t come in for a week or more, they were so angry.’°° 205. Despite these problems, children, particularly those in deprived areas, need opportunities for an extended range of play activities which cannot be provided in unsupervised schemes, and to relate to sympathetic adults not associated with the formal setting of schools. These holiday play schemes may be the only way they can have these experiences, at a time when scarce re- sources prevent greater allocation of funds for permanent schemes. Community participation 206. There are strong grounds for involving the community in Supervision schemes. There has been a recent growth in the number of ‘self-help’ playgroups and adventure playgrounds. The Pre-School Playgroup Association has, right from its start, placed special emphasis on the involvement of the mother in playgroup activities, and association groups consist of mothers jointly managing and running their groups. Until recently the majority of playgroups has been confined to middle-class areas. In deprived areas self-help groups have often started where there are community development workers. Workers in the Govern- ment-designated Community Development Project areas have often found that one of the first needs in these areas is for play facilities including playgroups, and they have encouraged parents to make known their needs. A worker with the North Kensington Family Study wrote in 1966: *. . . during the past 18 months more parents have become involved in the work and have not only found satisfaction in helping to create activities for their children, but also in increasing their skills and understanding of the needs of their own children’.®’ It is no easy task for these groups of mothers to run and manage their own playgroups, as many of them are lacking in the skills and knowledge of the more articu- late Pre-School Playgroup Association members. The American Headstart Programme found that many of the mothers who participated were themselves deprived and needed trained guidance.°® 207. The task of finding premises, acquiring and maintaining equipment, arranging a rota of mothers to help with the children etc., may produce many unexpected problems, and the difficulty of financing their activities may be overwhelming. Still encourage- ment needs to be given to these self-help groups and thought given to ways of easing their difficulties if all children in deprived areas are to have the opportunity for pre-school play. The Urban Aid Programme (paragraph 159) is one way in which help can be given although its resources are limited. Social services depart- ments of the local authority who must be consulted about statutory regulations before playgroups can be started should ensure that their requirements can easily be comprehended by such groups of mothers. 208. It is clear that both children and their parents will appreciate and benefit from a variety of supervised play facilities. But with- out further research it is not possible to say how different types contribute to normal childhood development, nor to what extent such facilities can compensate the deprived child. oT