Regular Street Play With Road Closures
To allow children to play together safely in the street you can arrange regular road closures for a couple of hours, weekly or monthly. So far over 100 Councils support this with special Temporary Play Street Orders.
This is made possible by the great efforts of the wonderful charity Playing Out who have spread this widely across the country with supporting councils. They can tell you how to do this so get some support by getting in touch with them.
This started in Bristol which is the UK’s street party capital with the full support of Bristol City Council.
See also London Play’s Street Play Project.
See this good article about street play.
Neighbours’ Street Play
Our free residents’ Street Play Guide below offers practical ideas for your street party, as well as other street meet events, for adults and children to get to know each other and to enjoy playing in their street. Once trust is built adults can also organise things like Play Circles, Toy Swaps and trips to play facilities.
Children are often kept from playing outdoors due to traffic dangers, amongst other things. As a result, parents limit them from playing freely and meeting other children and adults. At the same time children are often the oil that loosens up the community, helping to build community spirit. Our Guide below aims to help residents to build on the goodwill that is released at a street party.
Children playing in the street can be a reality today if residents use their good mood created by their street party to get organised. It is social and physical for them and is an excuse for adults to socialise more too.
Download our free 2-page Guide
