SPORTS & PLAY
INFECTION FREE PLAY -
DESIGNING PLAYGROUNDS FOR A POST PANDEMIC WORLD
The current pandemic is responsible for many things but surely one of the most destructive has to be the effect it has had on children ’ s play , their spaces and ultimately their all so important childhood freedom .
Both good physical and mental health are vital outcomes of play . Play depends upon the provision of physical and social environments that meet the needs of children , that provide fun , creativity and freedom . Playing in an authentic , safe and happy environment can nurture the biological needs of children ’ s play .
The impact of staying at home and the closure of our play spaces will have had a severe effect on the well-being of many children and young people . As we adapt to living with the virus it will be vital that we ensure children have many good opportunities to access play . Outdoor play will be more important than ever . Giving children more space , allowing for the socially distanced 2m , providing safe play hygienically , managing numbers on site and limiting play times , may all need to be taken into consideration .
Public parks , school playgrounds , and outdoor spaces have been and will continue to be increasingly vital for the nation ’ s health both physically and mentally .
Once schools reopened at the beginning of 2021 , school staff were tasked with the huge responsibility of navigating new measures to ensure that our children were safely given time to exercise and play whilst not mixing different classrooms and school years . Creating segregated playing areas played a huge role in this allowing for multiple school years to be outside at once .
At Merton Bank Primary School in St Helens they opted to have a new Multi Use Games Area installed in their play area in time for reopening to assist in these new measures . Multi Use Games Areas ( or MUGAs for short ) are enclosed steel structures that can cater to a multitude of sports in one space , from football to basketball to cricket and hockey . The contained sports space allowed for multiple classrooms to be out playing at once and staff can easily monitor
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