PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2015
Melbourne, Australia – Global nonprofit Playground Ideas has equipped more than 950 schools and communities in impoverished places around the world to build stimulating play spaces with only local materials, giving over 450,000 children access to play. On October 12th, Playground Ideas released a pathbreaking report called “The Case for Play.”
The report highlights the most significant research findings on the impact of early play interventions, particularly for children living in poverty. The results are astounding: Access to play from birth through preschool boosts life outcomes substantially – 42% raise in yearly earnings, 44% increase in high school graduations, and 17% increase in bachelor degrees. Perhaps most importantly, play builds the critical skill of self-regulation, which underpins success for a lifetime.
Playground Ideas has seen the impact of play firsthand in places like Kenya, Brazil, and the Thai-Burma border, where the organization first began. And now, based on these findings, Playground Ideas and the play advocacy community is calling on both the public and private sectors who oversee the welfare of children to:
- Ensure every child under the age of 12 has substantial daily access to a stimulating, safe space for play;
- Emphasize the importance of early play opportunities from 0-3; and
- Prioritize play as a basic right for children in crisis.
“With this research in hand there is no excuse,” said Playground Ideas Founder and CEO Marcus Veerman. “Universal primary education is a great start, but with 60% of children failing after four years in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, it’s time to recognize that lessons and tests are not the final answer. Children are wired to play, because play is how children are wired to learn. It’s time to make sure every child has the space and freedom to play.”
READ THE CASE FOR PLAY
Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and join the movement: #caseforplay
Help us spread the word via social media. Here are some sample tweets:
1) New report from @playgroundideas shows early play = 42% raise in earnings. #caseforplay http://goo.gl/mdythn
2) @playgroundideas report just out shows play to be a powerful, cost effective poverty reduction tool. #caseforplay http://goo.gl/mdythn
About Playground Ideas: Playground Ideas is an Australian non-profit organisation that equips anyone, anywhere to build a stimulating space for play using only local materials, tools, and labor.
Media contact:
Elizabeth Moreno
Communications & Program Development Manager
Playground Ideas
[email protected]
