We are Cardiff Council’s Children’s Play Service. We offer play in many different ways:
- open access play sessions – drop-in play sessions across Cardiff.
- Closed play schemes – play sessions for specific groups.
- Inclusive play schemes – play sessions for children and young people with disabilities and additional needs.
- Support Cardiff residents to sign up to the play streets scheme.
- Support communities and clubs to set up a Play Shack for community-led play.
- Engage with children and families across Cardiff and bring partner organisations together for our yearly National Playday celebration.
- Deliver on Welsh Government’s commitments to creating a Play Friendly Wales through the Cardiff Play Sufficiency Assessment and action plan.
The Play Team
Each play scheme is led by a Senior Playworker and supported by Play Organisers from our Play Team.
All members of the team are qualified to level 2 or 3 in play work. All members of staff hold a current Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
The Play Team have continual professional development throughout the year to keep their knowledge of play and child related support up to date.
Why play is important
Play is an essential part of every child’s life and is vital for social, emotional, intellectual and physical development. One of the most important parts of a child’s play is that they can choose the level of adult involvement in their play and there may be times when a child doesn’t need or want adult involvement.
The right to play is protected by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 31 of the Convention states that “Every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”
The Welsh Government is committed to the value of play for all children and defines play as:
“Play encompasses children’s behaviour which is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. It is performed for no external goal or reward and is a fundamental and integral part of healthy development – not only for individual children, but also for the society in which they live”.
(Wales: a play friendly country, page 16)
Cardiff Play Sufficiency
The Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) is a duty for all local authorities in Wales to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities in its area.
Play sufficiency is part of the Welsh Government’s anti-poverty agenda and is included within the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 (section 11).
We have completed an assessment every 3 years since 2013. We work with other local authority departments, partner organisations and third sector partners to support the development of the Cardiff PSA and highlight the value of children’s right to play.
Outcomes
The Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) 2025 to 2028 for Cardiff has identified several key outcomes:
- Raising the profile of play training: Increase the profile of play related qualifications.
- Supporting children with diverse needs: Efforts are required to ensure all children and young people have access to meaningful play opportunities.
- Improving information on play opportunities: Improve information available on play opportunities for families mapped more accurately.
- Publicising play: Developing ways to safely access local play spaces.
- Improving transition between services: Enhanced collaboration between services working with children and young people at different ages/stages of life.
- Establishing a working group for children’s play: Creating a vision and action plan for play in Cardiff with the support of Child Friendly City.
What this means for you
These outcomes mean several improvements and initiatives:
- Enhanced play opportunities: Families will have better access to information about play opportunities and safe routes to access play provision.
- Inclusive play environments: With access to inclusive, meaningful play opportunities.
- Community engagement: Increased public awareness and involvement in local play initiatives through improved social media presence and publicising local play areas.
- Collaborative services: Better coordination between services working with babies, children and young people, ensuring smoother transitions and more comprehensive support.
- Strategic planning: A dedicated working group will focus on developing and implementing a vision and the PSA Action Plan for play in Cardiff, ensuring that the needs of all babies, children, young people and families are met.
To make sure we have sufficient play opportunities in Cardiff we gather feedback from children and young people. You can have your say.