The Guardian Play Strategy Archive

Between 2006 and 2011, Adrian Voce, as the founding director of Play England, was invited to write a series of comment pieces for the Guardian newspaper and website. Taken together now, these articles form an archive that tracks the arc of the national Play Strategy, from its inception as the major policy objective of the play movement in England to its premature termination by the Coalition government.

Readers of Policy for Play may find it interesting to follow the contemporaneous arguments for the Play Strategy – its inception, its progress and (unsuccessfully) its continuation – as they were developed and published as part of Adrian’s advocacy work at the time.

They are collected here in chronological order.

Where do the children play?
The Guardian, Wed 2 August 2006

All to play for
The Guardian, Tue 31 July 2007

Some room of their own
The Guardian, Thu 3 April 2008

Risky play prepares kids for life
The Guardian, Wed 6 August 2008

Ever so serious about play
The Guardian, Wed 10 December 2008

Don't be distracted from the importance of play
The Guardian, Wed 6 January 2010

Cutting spending on playgrounds will only cause problems in the longer term
The Guardian, Thu 12 August 2010

The government needs to pitch in on child's play
The Guardian, Wednesday 3 August 2011

Preventing future riots starts in the playground

The Guardian, Friday 19 August 2011

Readers may also be interested in this Guardian article at the time the strategy was launched, in which a number of other play specialists give their verdict on the policy:

Playing for Keeps
The Guardian, 9 April 2008