The answer is very simple. It is play - unstructured activity that children do because it is fun, or as Webster's dictionary puts it, "exercise for the sake of amusement". Play is not just healthy, it is essential for every child's physical, social and mental development.
It is puzzling, therefore, that play was conspicuously left out of the mix when the Government brought various services within the new Children and Families Directorate. Play was left with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which allocates it a budget of just £500,000. The Government will point to £200 million that the New Opportunities Fund is providing for play development. But you cannot sustain long-term provision on the back of a one-off Lottery grant. It is no use building new playgrounds if they can't be maintained.
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