International Day of Play
United Nations International Day of Play, 11 June every year.
Happy and healthy childhoods are built on play. But in many of our communities, safe public spaces for children to play are shrinking. This International Day of Play, let’s commit to protect every child’s right to play. Because when we protect play, we protect childhood.
PLAY IS NEVER JUST PLAY
Play is a fundamental right; it builds resilience, instils confidence and helps children develop. But children need time to play. That’s where we need policies, training and funding to get play integrated into education and community settings.
Play heals through learning, life skills and psychosocial well-being. That’s why there must be investment into diverse, inclusive and safe play spaces, extending access to all, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised children.
There are so many reasons we should all be celebrating the power of play.
97% of us believe play is important yet one in three of us do not have the time to play.
To change this, we ask adults and decision-makers to:
- INVEST in children’s well-being by protecting our right to play.
- PROVIDE children with more time and opportunities to play, including in school.
- PROTECT our right to play by creating safe and accessible places to play, including for those of us with special needs.
- RESPECT our rights to be heard in decisions impacting our right to play.
- SUPPORT us in developing social skills through play.
Education Toolkit available on the website.
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"Play is a sign that children feel safe and nurtured and loved. They feel somewhat that they can be children even in the midst of great difficulty."
UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell