Curious about the meaning of "unstructured play"? Unstructured active play is simply child-led free play.
While unstructured play was once a big part of childhood, today, families often find their kids’ time after school is either jam-packed with scheduled activities or spent at home on screens. Others find the cost or location of recreation programs are big barriers. Many kids are missing out on the health and developmental benefits of unstructured playtime.
The research shows that kids are MORE active when they are given space to play and move how they want!
There are many benefits of unstructured or free play, including:
-Developing physical literacy
-Fostering creativity
-Promoting independence
-Developing social skills and connections
-Building resilience
-Improving mental well-being
-Reducing screen time
Active Play Club is successfully running in schools and community centres in BC!
Hear from Active Play Club Leaders about what they've noticed:
“It's lovely giving the kids freedom to move between activities as they liked. They'd play soccer for a bit, play with chalk, then come and ride a bike for a few minutes, then go back to something else. After all the structure of school, it's nice to give them autonomy.” -APC Leader, Campbell River
“It allowed some kids to form different groups, so they made different connections.” - APC Leader, Surrey
“We found students needing time to talk to healthy adults, had that opportunity during this time.” – APC Leader, Prince George
Want to learn more about starting an Active Play Club in your community?
The BC Alliance for Healthy Living Active Play Club Guidebook offers step-by-step information to start and run an Active Play Club in your community. Flip through the guidebook below and click here to download.
