Play in the Hutt case study
Play in the Hutt case study
Championing play to increase quality experiences and opportunities
This case study has been created for organisations wanting to integrate and embed play across their departments.
Hutt City Council and Healthy Families Lower Hutt recognise the value of play in both improving physical activity and the overall wellbeing of the community. They wanted to lay strong foundations to ensure tamariki were able to be physically active throughout their life-stages – starting with play at a young age. In 2017 they undertook an insights led approach to explore and understand the state of play in Lower Hutt neighbourhoods and help answer the key question "how do we enable our tamariki and rangatahi to play more every day?"
Play in the Hutt's insights, knowledge and data are now influencing Council policy, and playing a key role in how the Council approaches the design, build and use of local environments to ensure healthy, safe play environments for tamariki.
In this video below we hear from Mark Curr, the Sport and Recreation Manager at Hutt City Council, about being a play advocate and working collectively to make Lower Hutt a great place to play.
Video transcript Championing play
In the video below we hear from Dr Wendy Russell, who has worked in the play and playwork sector for almost 40 years, about how play enlivens life and is the basis of mental and physical health.
Video transcript Play enlivens life
To find out more about what Sport NZ is doing towards play, click here.