Playtopia: RSS Loose Parts Play Space

23/09/2026

I’m presenting at IPA 2026!

I’m thrilled to be presenting at the International Play Association World Conference 2026 in Ōtautahi Christchurch!

I can’t wait to share my work, spark new ideas and connect with play advocates from around the world.

With the theme mahi auaha - innovating for play, IPA 2026 will be packed with bold thinking, playful possibilities and inspiring conversations about creating a future where every tamariki has the right to play, their own way.

Let’s connect, create and play!

IPA 2026
📍 Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
📅 2-5 November 2026
🔗 Register now: ipachristchurch2026.com

13/09/2026

  I have been writing and speaking about the importance of play in childhood for a very long time, and yet it seems that today’s children are definitely showing the ...

10/09/2026

For all the play lovers out there - Keep going.
Keep raising it up.
We are right beside you.

Keep playing beautiful people. ❤️

08/09/2026

The Cozy Bears cafe was open for business today - our Year 6 & prep buddies played hard in Playtopia today ♥️

24/08/2026

Children don’t just play at being capable and kind… they live it in the worlds they build together. The sign, the shared ownership, the rules, the warnings, the hearts and stars — it’s all evidence of children organising themselves with fairness, care, humour and a deep sense of community.

24/08/2026

Kids setting their own limits, communicating with others, shaping shared space and figuring out how community works. This is the kind of learning you can’t script… you can only make room for.

24/08/2026

24/08/2026

To an untrained eye, this play might look cluttered or unfinished. But to a child, this is meaningful. Structures that are temporary, experimental, and meaningful only to the players who built them.

This is the opposite of adult‑designed playgrounds where everything is fixed, safe, predictable, and closed. Here, the environment is alive.

The adult’s job is not to tidy, correct, or “fix” the space. It’s to hold the play process lightly, ensuring safety while protecting the integrity of the children’s ideas.

24/08/2026

To quote Daniel from Educated by Nature… it’s the beauty in chaos 💙

24/08/2026

A great reminder that real, authentic, healthy childhoods are messy!

“The idea of the ‘aesthetic of play’ isn’t about neat spaces or visual perfection. It’s the beauty in chaos, the poetry of half-built cubby houses and scattered loose parts. It’s the potential of a space to be something else. Adults often see mess; but in that mess, children see possibil...