The Good Play Space Guide: “I Can Play Too”

The Good Play Space Guide is about play and its benefits for everyone. Many children and adults who have a disability are not able to use public play spaces for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this guide is to examine the reasons why play spaces can limit access to some children and identify how improvements can be made to increase participation by all children in play. This guide helps providers meet the needs of parents and children through the planning, design and management of accessible play spaces. It is intended primarily for providers of public play spaces, and is largely aimed at local government, although some information may be helpful to providers of supervised spaces, schools and early childhood centres. The guide aims to: outline the benefits of play for all children, and discuss the general characteristics of quality play spaces; investigate the subject of access, inclusion and participation in play for people with a disability, in public play spaces; demonstrate what makes a play space accessible, and what improvements might be achievable; and provide guidance on how to develop accessible public play spaces.