ParkPlay is all about building happier, healthier communities, through the life-changing power of play. It’s a free two-hour session of active and inclusive games for families, which takes place in local parks on a Saturday morning and currently there are 15 ParkPlay locations across Essex. We caught up with Hannah Taylor; a Senior Researcher at Active Essex, who attended the Old Heath ParkPlay in Colchester with her 6 year old daughter last weekend:
“Saturday morning in my house usually starts early. Not by choice, but because I’m a mum of two and my children are apparently incapable of sleeping beyond 6:15am! So when I was asked to go along to ParkPlay, it seemed like an easy choice. Not only would I be up and about anyway, but it would give me an opportunity to spend some quality time with my 6-year-old daughter, having fun and being active.
Saturday morning came and we arrived promptly at 9:30 as PlayLeader Chloe was setting up all the games. We signed in and she answered some of my questions about the history of this ParkPlay and how it all works. She explained that the ‘regulars’ don’t normally turn up until about 10 so that’s when the games would start. While we waited, we went for a wander to explore, and I’m ashamed to say that, despite living in Colchester all my life, I had never been to this park before and I have definitely been missing out. It has a real ‘buzz’ about it with lots of people walking their dogs, a few joggers, and other ‘early riser’ parents chasing their children around the playground. It felt very much like a community space and so ParkPlay fits in perfectly.
Once the session started, we spent some time warming up and introducing ourselves to the group. This meant that as the session went on and we were playing in teams, we were able to encourage and cheer for each other using people’s names, which felt really motivating.
What I loved about the ParkPlay session was how inclusive it was. Some of the regulars turned up wearing jeans, others were struggling with injuries but joined in with what they could, and Chloe did a great job of being flexible in the games when some of the children were struggling to take turns (we played one game with an imaginary ball for a while!)
I spoke to one of the parents who told me that she home-schools her son because of his additional needs, and ParkPlay has been great for him, offering him the opportunity to engage in physical activity and to socialise with other children. She mentioned that being in an open space was helpful for her and her son, and they liked the low-pressure environment of ParkPlay – if he was having a bad day, he could take himself off to calm down.
I had primed my daughter to give me her thoughts on the session in the car on the way home. Her review… “good”, which I think is high praise from a six-year-old! I was amazed at how well my normally shy little girl had joined in with all the games and to see her having so much fun being active was a delight. I asked her how ParkPlay compared to PE at school and she mentioned how she’d liked that all the games were set up at the beginning so that we were able to use all the time playing.
What I found really interesting, was that there was another physical activity session happening on the other side of the park. It looked like all the kids involved were having a great time, but the adults were all stood on the sidelines, rather than joining in like the adults had at ParkPlay. Maybe they were enjoying watching their children being active too, but I feel like they were missing out! I’m sure I had as much fun at ParkPlay as my daughter did, if not more! We’ll definitely be back!”
If you like to find out where your local ParkPlay is, visit: https://park-play.com/parks/east-of-england/
