Plan a Play Day in Your Neighborhood

A “Play Day” is one day when the community gets together to celebrate and recognize the importance of play—unstructured, self-motivated play—for kids of all ages. Organizing a Play Day is a good way to draw attention to the importance of play in the lives of all children in your community as well as create momentum for long-term commitments to building and caring for playspaces. A Play Day can be a simple (and, of course, fun) affair that lasts a few hours, or it can be a full day of activities, games, prizes, free play, and community building! A Play Day can be big or small, including a neighborhood or a whole city. It’s time to celebrate and have fun. And, don’t forget, this is your opportunity to network!

Sample play day activities

Consider the following points as you work to plan your Play Day:

• Subcommittees are GREAT! Start a subcommittee within your own personal Playmaker Network for planning Play Day. You can have a “Games Committee,” a “Media Committee” if you are feeling bold, and a “Cleanup Committee” to help make your day run more smoothly.
  
  
• Set a goal! At your meeting, decide as a group what you would like to do to celebrate and recognize play. Ask the kids in attendance for their ideas. You might build a new playspace or refurbish an existing space. You may want to take over a park for one day with balloons, Play Day banners, refreshments, entertainment, and games to increase the park’s use and visibility. Having a Play Day in a well-trafficked location such as a park with a playground will definitely draw a crowd.
  
  
• Get the word out! Send playful invitations; these don’t have to be expensive or even printed, but spend a little time to make your message fun and engaging and let people know this is a NEW event that your neighborhood can help make a tradition. Have each member of your committee bring one new person to the event. There are many ways to advertise the Play Day, including the need for volunteers leading up to the day. Have your kids make flyers, copy them, and post them in government office buildings, at local businesses, and on community bulletin boards. Start an email list and ask people to forward a message to friends. Yahoo.com offers a spot for volunteer groups to set up free listservers and low-cost web pages. Put notices in church bulletins, school newsletters, and shopping circulars—the list of possibilities is endless.
  
  
• Invite co-sponsors! Most towns have chapters of civic associations such as the Lions Club, Kiwanis, or Greek chapters. These groups can be a terrific source for ideas and people-power. Meet with their leadership, ask to make a presentation at a meeting, and invite them to co-sponsor your Play Day.
  
  
• Engage businesses! Business leaders are usually very interested in improving their surrounding communities, especially for families and children. Many businesses will welcome the opportunity to co-sponsor your Play Day. It’s helpful to present businesses with some ideas and specific requests for support in a written format on official letterhead. This can lend some gravitas to your ideas about play. If any of your ideas cost money, determine a budget and brainstorm the businesses—for example, hardware stores and restaurants—that might make in-kind contributions to help.
  
  
• Talk to reporters! Almost all newspapers have sections where they list community events. With enough advance notice, you can ask your newspaper to list a Play Day in the calendar section and even call for volunteers. Also, talk with a reporter about your event before it happens and invite him or her to attend. Scan the newspaper to find a reporter who has written articles on similar social and community issues. It can pay to type up a press release—some community newspapers will print what you submit almost verbatim.
  
  
• Prepare a small “welcome and thank you for coming” speech. No, we don’t want you to do things you don’t want to do, and we know most folks don’t like talking in public, but this is YOUR opportunity to celebrate your wins to date and to let the group know where your play committee is headed. Do it with pride. You are—and you will be—accomplishing great things!
  
  
• Make it appealing to all ages—from one to 91! Assess the ages and the children who will be in attendance and the number of adults who plan on coming. Designate a few willing parents to serve as referees for a pickup soccer game you organize; at the same time, designate an area for an egg toss or water balloon races. Hang a piñata, set out a few hula hoops and jump ropes, or set up a “drawing corner” where children can paint, stencil, or color. This is also a great way for children to learn, share, experiment with colors, and take pride in their work.
  
  
• Spread your commitment to play! Organizing a Play Day is a way to grow your supporters, to add people to your email list, and to raise the awareness of the necessity of play for children of all ages—free, unstructured play and lots of it. Let people know all the positive outcomes of play for children and the amazing development experiences it offers them. Whether you are doing a build or celebrating a day in the park, have fun—and play! When new people show up, be sure to welcome them, provide them with some materials that explain why play is so important, and make them feel a part of things. Be sure to let them know how they can get more involved in promoting play and get their contact information so you can stay in touch about caring for your community’s playspaces in the future. If all goes well, Play Day might become an annual event!
  
  
• Invite some VIPs! It’s always a plus to have official recognition of your event. Ask your mayor if he or she will proclaim the date of your event as “Play Day” in your town. Be sure to invite the mayor—and all your other elected officials—to the day. Request that they announce the event in their newsletters and listservs. Be persistent!
  
  
• Get everyone’s contact information! You will need your neighborhood’s support as your advocacy efforts grow and grow. Make sure you have a “Meet and Greet” committee responsible for gathering all contact information.
  
  
• Say thanks! As always—thank ALL people who were in attendance in the most playful way you can. More importantly, thank the folks who made it happen!

"Play allows us to develop alternatives to violence and despair; it helps us to learn perseverance and to gain optimism."
– Stuart Brown, MD, contemporary American psychiatrist