Play Audits

We recognise that many play projects are small charities and that funding is a major challenge for many. It is incumbent on them to make the most of every penny and to get the most out of all of the resources at their disposal. The outside space of a playground needs to provide for the full range of play needs and preferences and the wide variety of children that use it. We can work with your play organisation to make the most of the resources at your disposal. We can provide a play audit of your setting's outside area which will identify the affordances it provides for potential play activity, and then identify areas for development. We provide an audit report with a range of recommendations and suggestions as to how you could make better use of the space or resources you have. The reports can be used to support grant applications or fundraising activities. We use the most well established and up to date play and playwork theory as the basis of the audit . In this way you can be sure that the end result will provide maximum benefit to the children that attend your setting. If the recomendations in the audit are all completed, you can be sure that your play project will be able to provide for the full range of play types that children need and will be flexible enough to cater for their individual play preferences.

 Design and Build of Bespoke Play Structures

The design and build process can be provided as a stand-alone service or to follow on from a play audit. You may have an idea of what you want already such as some kind of swing for example. Alternatively we can carry out observations of how children use the outside space in order to identify if there are a lack of affordances such as Deep Play or Rough and Tumble Play for example. Which are types of play that After School Clubs or Primary Schools often find a challenge to provide. We would then make detailed, costed suggestions as to how this could be provided. In some cases it may be that a play structure isn't actually required as the modification of an existing one would do the job just as well. Perhaps a wide variety of loose materials would provide the flexibility in the environment required to provide the play affordances needed. Whenever possible our audit will identify a number of possible recommendations or options to fit the available budget.

Whatever the recommendations we make. We can support your organisation through the whole procees, to whatever level you require.

We aim to empower playground teams, so they no longer need our support but are always available when support is required.

All play structures are created along the well-established guidelines laid down by PlayLink in their publication Risk and Safety in Play. All will pass an APIA or RoSPA inspection.

In all cases, observations of how the play space is used by the children, will form the basis of any kind of design and build. Even if a play provision has a clear idea of a particular type of play structure they want. Our experts will want to verify that the proposed play structure will achieve the desired aims of the staff team.

Our preference is to work closely with staff teams to develop ideas and also consult with children at the earliest stage. We find that this process works effectively and there are no shortcuts to achieving effective results. Depending on the design of any bespoke building programme. Our preference is to involve children in some part of the build process whenever possible.

The level of participation of children and young people in the process will depend on the nature of the organisation. Interplay are more than happy to work with the full range of organisations that provide services to children, such as Playgrounds and After School Clubs, Community Centres, Schools, Forest Schools, Local Authorities, Women's Refuges, Youth Clubs and other community organisations.

We have previous experience of building play scructures for Adventure Playgrounds, Primary Schools, Forest Schools, Play Centres and Woodland Play Projects.