Analysis

Play in peril: charting the decline of playgrounds across 40 years

6 mins read Youth Work Play Play
Author of a landmark directory of adventure and holiday play provision in 1980 draws on new data that documents how many schemes are still running and assesses the impact that closures have had on children.
Adventure playgrounds give high-quality play opportunities with trained playworkers. Picture: Wavebreak3/Adobe Stock
Adventure playgrounds give high-quality play opportunities with trained playworkers. Picture: Wavebreak3/Adobe Stock

Revisiting a directory of children's play opportunities in England that I compiled in 1980 has revealed a massive reduction in support and provision.

Research has shown the benefits of play for children's health and wellbeing, so the decline in play opportunities should be a source of concern for policymakers nationally.

The 1970s boom

Throughout the 1970s there was a growing concern that children were losing the freedom to play outdoors; a freedom previous generations took for granted. It was natural for children to play out all day in the streets where they lived.

At the same time, it had been noted that the post-war generation of children had exciting “playgrounds” on bomb sites.

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