About Us
Play Aotearoa NZ is a branch of the International Play Association (IPA World) and is a non-governmental organisation that exists to promote the child’s right to play, their way.
Who We Are
We are the New Zealand branch of IPA World – an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1961 that exists to protect, preserve and promote the child’s right to play in accordance with Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are a membership of players, play practitioners, researchers, educators, and enthusiasts who provide a forum for exchange and action across disciplines and sectors to advocate for tākaro in Aotearoa.
Discover Purpose
The objective of Play Aotearoa is to provide a national forum to promote and improve opportunities for play, and the development of play environments, leisure time facilities and programmes for all children and youth in all countries, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Discover Vision
All tamariki and rangatahi of Aotearoa have the right to play, their way.
Discover Mission
To protect, preserve and promote the right for all tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa to a life full of play in their own way*
*In accordance with Article 31 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Volunteer National Committee
Shyrel Burt
In my role as a planning specialist at Auckland Council I enable play in public spaces by advocating for and developing policy which provides for play.
Adrian Te Rangi
In my current role as Internal Cultural Capability Advisor at Sport Waikato
I look forward to being part of an organisation such as Play Aotearoa and contributing to the already awesome mahi that the team does, advocating for the rights of our tamariki to be able to participate in play, whilst providing specialist support in the aspiration to become more bicultural. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ā, tēnā tātou katoa.
Charlotte Jelleyman
A lifelong participant in risky, outdoor play, my mahi now, as a research fellow at AUT, is to understand why others might not be, and what can be done about it.
Nola Harvey
I became a member of Te Rōpū Tākaro- Play Aoteaora in 2003 and as secretary 2015-2020.
My experiences in Playgroups in the UK, Playcentre Aotearoa, the Intermediate Schooling sector, the AUT Centre for Refugee Education, and as lecturer in Initial Teacher Education has informed my passionate advocacy for access to play for every child and youth in Aotearoa NZ.
Adam Gard’ner
Adam Gard’ner is an advocate for the value of play and physical activity as contributors to well people and places.
Adam is passionate about the land and people of Aotearoa New Zealand, and he is passionate about positive people power projects, big and small, that contribute to well and connected places, neighbourhoods and communities – and Adam knows that wonderful mahi is being done every day to support this.
Adam is the Play Systems Innovator at Sport Canterbury and Healthy Families Ōtautahi Christchurch, supporting initiatives at whānau, neighbourhood, local government and regional levels that represent healthy impact and change.
Adam is on the Play Aotearoa New Zealand Executive Committee.
“I have an incredibly supportive wife and we have three awesome tamariki. I am passionate about community, positive people power, meaningful connections, and the awesome things that can be achieved when people band together for positive common causes. I love beautiful Aotearoa New Zealand, I love the outdoors, and I am passionate about looking after the environment. I am grateful for the opportunities that I have experienced through my mahi in play, physical activity, recreation and sport.”
Greg Gurau
Hi my name is Greg Gurau and I currently work for Sport Waitakere, in developing their Magic Play Box Social Enterprise which supplies schools and community with large loose parts for play.
I have a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation majoring in Coaching and Exercise Science, with an interest in long term athlete development.
This is where I gained a deep understanding of the importance of unstructured play in the development of children through to their adulthood.
Charlotte Robertson
As an early childhood teacher, parent and grandparent, I value being a partner in play supporting children’s well-being, welfare and agency in all settings and situations including nature based play, risky play, play for children who have experienced trauma and children with a loved one in prison.
Bea Enriquez
In her role as a Play Systems Innovator at Healthy Families Waitākere, Bea enables increased play opportunities in Waitākere through influencing planning, urban design, policy, investment and settings.
Jean Yern worked with us as our Māori advisor from May 2020 to October 2021 to help us develop our strategy to encompass a te ao Maōri perspective in line with our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and established the annual Kaiārahi Tākaro award for play advocacy, of which Charles Looker was the first recipient at our AGM in 2021.
Our History
It all started in 1961, when Play Aotearoa life member, Beverley Morris, worked as a volunteer on an Adventure Playground in South London for children with disabilities. There she met Lady Allen of Hurtwood, the landscape architect who had designed the playground. Lady Allen, one of the founding members of the World Organisation for Early Childhood (OMEP), was a pioneer in the advocacy for all children’s right to play and a foundational mentor for the International Play Association (IPA World). Inspired by Lady Allen, Beverley Morris formally joined IPA World in 1970.
Beverley represented New Zealand at the triennial IPA World conference in Vienna in 1972. There were about eight IPA World members in the 1970s scattered through the main cities including Elizabeth Hanan who as Deputy Mayor of Dunedin initiated a Play Policy for her Council, and Alisa Densem who led the Playground Association in Christchurch. Communication was difficult to arrange within the groups except by mail and phones. Coming together to confer was expensive.