Welcome to our ‘Play on the way’ campaign! Play can happen anywhere!

Over the next week we will taking a play-journey approach to play, thinking of playable streets, play trails in urban places and play in the little left over green spaces, along the way to somewhere else. We will consider the term ‘Guerilla play’, with some cheeky ideas to make places more playful. We want to think on how we can create opportunities for ‘Play on the way’ rather than as a destination – wherever we find ourselves throughout Aotearoa New Zealand – and especially for our tamariki and rangatahi.

Our ‘Play on the way’ campaign will run from Feb 23 to March 3, 2022 with lots of ideas on how you can make play a way of life, for your whole whānau.

Let us know how YOU play along the way in your daily lives.

Play Streets

Once upon a time, playing on the street was nothing new, nothing risky and nothing ‘weird’.

Generations of families, neighbours and children remember their local streets and neighbourhoods as places to gather, talk, have BBQs and play.
Groups of children would be their own traffic signals by screaming out “Car!” to let their peers know when to move away.

‘Play Streets’ are claiming back the opportunity for tamariki and their families to once again play on their streets. This movement also builds trust in communities and promotes Article 31, the right of the child to play.

Ideas around ‘Play on the Way’

• Journey of Manu
  It is a unique Augmented Reality app that brings Māori mātauranga (knowledge) and physical activity together in one innovative package. Launched at the Puhinui Stream Challenge event in 2017, the concept was developed by AUT University’s Research and Innovation, Healthy Families Manukau and The Southern Initiative (TSI). You can join Manu on his quest to explore different areas of Aotearoa, learning about how the stars and moon cycles were used to determine the ideal days for planting and fishing. Manu also teaches people about Manukau’s key landmarks along the Puhinui Stream trail and the tohu (signs) of spring according to the Maramataka (Māori lunar calendar). The free ‘Journeys of Manu’ app is available on Google Play and the App Store – just search ‘Manu Journey’.
• Fairy Houses
  The Fairy Houses movement is a lovely and fabulous way for imagination play and to encourage “Play on the Way”. Have you visited and found them yet in Te Onekiritea Park? Have you created one in your own backyard?
• Mara Hupara
  Storytelling and learning through play is a universal language through indigenous cultures around the world. Utilising Te Taiao (the natural world) – streams, trees, logs, and rocks – to create physical challenges through climbing, balancing and jumping is a timeless and universal activity. Adding meaning to play through imagination and storytelling is equally ubiquitous. This is the secret behind mara hupara. With mara hupara there’s no separation – the story and the object are linked together, and together they create a spiritual connection back to the whenua (land) and to our tūpuna (ancestors). Let’s have a play on the Mara Hupara in Mount Roskill, Auckland.
• Whale Tales Art Trail
  Another brilliant way to incorporate PLAY in your way, in your day, in your adventures: WHALE TALES ART TRAIL in Auckland. From 24 January- 18 April 2022 a trail of unique and stunning whale Tail sculptures, designed by artists and children, sponsored by business and organisations will animate Tāmaki Makaurau and bring to life themes of protecting and restoring the mauri of our Ocean.

Guerilla Play

Guerilla Play’ originated from the term ‘Guerilla gardening’.

The idea behind ‘Guerilla Play’ is about doing a small intervention in a public place that offers children an invitation to play, or a “”play affordance”, without going through all the usual channels to obtain consents etc.

We encourage you to use your common sense about what is appropriate. We acknowledge that the kaitiaki of the public space, generally the local Councils, have the authority to remove our/your ‘Guerilla Play’, but we expierence that they will most likely turn a blind eye so long as nobody is in danger.

Ideas around ‘Guerilla Play’

• Park(ing) Day
  Park(ing) Day is a unique and exciting opportunity to engage in the ongoing dialog around how our cities are designed and built. It began as a guerilla art project and act of design activism in a single parking space, and has grown into a global movement, inspiring the creation of “parklets” and COVID-era “streeteries” in cities. Friday 4 March 2022 is Wellington’s PARK(ing) Day! Take a walk down Cuba Street between 9am and 5pm for a surreal outdoor art experience!
• Check out these inspirations from our Executive Committee!