Let’s Play! Save the Children and Play: Guidance Note

The purpose of this guidance note is to provide a framework and guidance for Save the Children’s work with play. It focuses primarily on our programmatic work with children, from babies to adolescents and provides content for advocacy work. The final section looks to spark a conversation around play and our organisational culture: the role it might have for staff engagement and development, and to support child and youth participation at the organisational and governance level.

The guidance note provides:
• A definition of play and the characteristics of quality play.
• A conceptual framework consisting of the right to play, learning though play, and resilience through play.
• Rationale and evidence supporting the power of play.
• Signposting for where to go for more resources, examples and guidance on how to integrate play into our work.

This guidance note is for a wide range of Save the Children staff and partners – those working on programmes, advocacy and coordination in all countries and all contexts – sudden onset emergencies, to longer term protracted crises and development and peace contexts.