Wednesday 1 August 2018

National Play Day! Diwrnod Chwarae!


Keeping the kids amused during the summer holidays can be a challenge for many parents so it is just as well that there are a number of charities who move around the City putting on events designed for children.

One of these is Interplay, which provides access to play and leisure opportunities for children and young people with additional needs. aged 2-25 who find it difficult to access the same mainstream play, leisure and social activities as their peers. They run weekly term time play provision, youth clubs, summer schemes and residentials.

Another is Swansea Park Lives, which is a Coca-Cola GB funded programme led by Swansea Council's Sport and Health team, with activities being delivered across the city by community sport and physical activity clubs and organisations. Sessions include everything from mountain boarding to gower walks, circuit training, skateboarding, parkour and yoga. They are often accompanied by the council's play bus.

All of these were present at the Play Day event at the National Waterfront Museum which was packed with children and their parents/grandparents/guardians. Activities included window graffiti, Dilly the Dragon fun, Design a Flag, Under the Sea Arts and Crafts, a Pirate Ship, face-painting and Circus Eruption.

My role was to bring the event to a close by counting down to the unfurling of a banner and the firing of glittery pieces of paper from a canon onto the waiting crowd below. It was great fun, but it was the kids who had the best time.