The 5th of August is a very special day, it Playday 2026 and their tag line this year is ‘Play – here, there and everywhere’. Playday is so important as it highlights and champions the importance of play. This year Playday 2026 specifically wants to show that play can happen anywhere, be that in your local park, in your front room, with your neighbours and on your streets. It wants to highlight that play doesn’t have to be costly days out, it doesn’t need to be far flung holidays or expensive activities, children just need the opportunity to play, have fun and they can thrive wherever they are.
‘This Playday, we are calling for all children to have access to:
- playful moments.
- everyday adventures.
- play their way around their neighbourhood.
- inclusive and welcoming environments. ‘
– Playday 2026 The National Day for Play – https://playday2026.blog/
I am a mother of two children, both Primary School age (but one taking the next big step to Secondary School eeek!) and I know that in less than two weeks’ time they will be at home with me for six weeks! And as parents we all have the same worries, ‘How do I juggle work and the children’, ‘How do I keep them entertained for 6 whole weeks they will just be bored, ‘How do I afford to entertain the, days out are just so expensive. We are all fed the picture-perfect postcard on Instagram of happy, go lucky children having all the fun, experiencing and doing the world’s best activities and the constant thought is how do we offer the same to our children.
And what I have learnt after nearly 7 years of Summer Holidays is that children don’t need the super expensive and fancy days out, they just need the opportunity to play and to be children, and that play really can be ‘Here, there and everywhere!’ There are so many activities that we can do that are free or very low cost and they can keep the children entertained for hours, letting you maybe catch up with emails or just enjoy play with them.
Here are a few of my firm favourites that seem to bring the smiles and giggles to my two:
- If we are having a lazy day at home, den building, is always fun, I just get all the pillows, blankets, duvets, cushions, sheets, pile them up and challenge them to make the best movie watching den ever! The initial half hour might be jumping on the huge pile of comfy stuff, but this can add to the fun. Once the den is built and they are happy they are then rewarded with some popcorn and a movie!
However hopefully the sun is shining, and we can play outside and the best bit about the wonderful outside is that it is free!
- Den building is also a winner outside but just make sure they are not using your best sheets!
- Bubbles are easy and free to make, a good how to make guide can be found here – https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-bubble-mixture Then task them to make their own bubble wands, can be made from pipe cleaners, plastic hoops, colander basically anything with holes in it. Then challenge them to see who can make the biggest bubble!
- Chalk – a small bag of chalk can go a long way, they can make hopscotches, noughts and crosses, obstacle courses or just brighten up the front doorstep with a colourful picture
- Number Hunt/Treasure Hunt/Colour Hunt – you can make various versions of these, just go for a little walk round the village and task them to find items, could be the numbers 1-10, the colour of the rainbow, items beginning with the first letter of their name
- Nature Hunts – going on a walk to find leaves, feathers, sticks anything that they find pretty, they can then bring them home and make pictures with the nature they have found.
And then also for us at Playing Out the best place to play and to meet people is right outside your front door, your neighbours and your local community! If you are interested in closing off your street so you children can experience safe play with other children on the street and neighbours can meet each other for a cup of tea and a chat, then Playing Out could be for you. And remember Playing Out isn’t just for the children it can be a fantastic inter-generational activity; older neighbours love to share how they used to play maybe share some skipping songs or a game or two from their childhood! you can find out all about Playing Out here – https://sustainablestalbans.org/playing-out/ or contact Sophie at playingout@sustainablestalbans.org
So, let’s remember that play can be anywhere, we just need to give our children the opportunity to play and have fun and it is okay for them to occasionally ‘be bored’ as this is when they really have to use their imagination and the creative ideas they can come up with can be fantastic!