Playful Gardens is a monthly inclusive family day held within the Dundee Botanic gardens. It’s key aims are to offer relaxed outdoor opportunities to play creatively together and access support, for families who may face additional challenges in other environments. This report brings together the evaluation of the Pilot in 2022

Armstrong, Vicky

Frediani, Kevin

Hadden, Keren

English

University of Dundee Online Publications

2022 PlayfulGardens ReportPlayful Gardens was a monthly inclusive family dayheld within the Dundee Botanic gardens in 2022. It’skey aims were to offer relaxed outdoor opportunitiesto play creatively together and access support, forfamilies who may face additional challenges in otherenvironments. Playful Gardens The project teamTo be able to share the experience and visit to thiswonderful place with my whole family and to feeleach of us gained something special. We love theBotanics so thanks for the experience – parent15organisations comingtogether to supportopportunities forfamilies to playtogether outside.1000inclusive Family PlayDays in DundeeBotanic Gardens6Impact SnapshotThe project was developed byCAMHS and Art at the Start atUniversity of Dundee, along withpartners at Dundee Botanic Gardens,Dundee Contemporary Arts,Barnardo’s families team,Scrapantics, and Nurture Steps. Wewanted to work together to pilot anddevelop monthly outdoor play daysfor families who might find it hard toaccess play in other environments,and who need a more relaxed, child-centred, and less restrictedenvironment to support them to playtogether. We all came from a positionof meeting the needs of families andfollowing the children’s lead.more thanWhy it was neededPlay is crucial for children’s wellbeing but not all families have equal opportunities to be playfultogether. Families across the city can struggle to find play opportunities that meet their needs;they may have children who struggle to concentrate or stay still, they may have neurodiversitysuch as ADHD or autism, or they may have special educational needs. We also know thatDundee has very long waiting lists for extra support from CAMHS so this offered a way to helpfamilies access some informal support. We know that families can feel self-conscious and judgedabout their children’s behaviour in some environments, or they may hold a lot of anxiety abouthow they will manage. This is especially true in environments which pose a lot of restrictions orare very structured. We loved this! A greatbalance of organised activityand freedom to explore. Myeldest said 'I feel reallywelcome here'- parentWe aimed to create an environment where families felt they could let go of some ofthose worries and enjoy their time together, providing enriching playfulopportunities for the children and the chance to interact positively as a family.Funding SummaryFunding from Tay RadioCash for Kids andFestival of the Future £4860Contributed in kind byparticipatingorganisations £5192Days of timevolunteered72What was delivered?Scrap Antics delivered loose parts playArt at the Start offered creative, messyplayDCA offered structured art making likeprint making, clay and watercoloursCAMHS offered sensory play or forestschoolBarnardo’s volunteers organizedoutdoor games. We ran 6 free monthly inclusive play dayswith a range of activities spread throughoutthe beautiful environment of the garden. [Playful Gardens offered us] art andgames in a lovely safe setting, withfriendly workers. We came toseveral of the days and likedrecognising some people and havinga few new things. My youngestloves the loose parts and my oldertwo liked the art, all enjoyed thedrums and other instruments, andseeing the printer making them alightning shape to keep - parentWe invited support organisations and were joined on different months by Dundee ADHDsupport and by Perth Autism Support, running stalls to share information with families. As wedeveloped, we were able to bring in other activity providers, so over the months we werejoined by DJCAD architecture 3-d printing and running design games, the Darcy ThomsonNatural History Museum with craft and activities linked to their collections, Peace Beginswith Me offering mindfulness and yoga, Sound Play studios offering electronic soundexperimenting, and Dundee Science Centre offering science activities.We also provided snacks for families, and had more informal areas such as music making,activity prompts and treasure hunts that were self led. Before each session weposted maps as it helpssome children to knowin advance what toexpect, and we gavethese out on the dayalong with play ideas, sofamilies could exploreand choose theactivities to access.The play opportunities offered enjoyment, creativity, increased confidence,skills development, control, autonomy and choice. The activities were immersive in the garden space and have no right or wrongway to play. These kinds of child led activities often resulted in more positive play togetherand allowed the parents to really enjoy their childrenWe targeted families through the CAMHS Facebook group, and later by directly emailingfamilies on their waiting list. We also advertised to families who work with Barnardo’s and toKingspark school. We gave these families a week of priority booking before opening thesessions to the public. The ethos of the sessions was to be inclusive to everyone who felt they wouldbenefit.Reaching FamiliesSupporting FamiliesAltogether, we offered over 1000opportunities for families to playtogether outside.AdaptingSessions proved extremely popular. Wehad 80 children at our first session andwe gauged we could increase ourcapacity, so subsequent months hadover 180 families at each session. The project was designed as a ‘learning journey’, scoping out what waspossible and gathering feedback from families. As a result, we made someadaptions based on the responses from feedback as we went along. Some adaptions were simple. For example, a family with an older teenagersuggested that our musical instruments needed improved, so we createdgiant recycled xylophones to hang in the trees, and brought in large drumkits, guitars, barrel drums and rain sticks. This area then provedextremely popular. Some required more reorganization. Families fed back to CAMHS staffthat some of their young people would benefit from a quieter start to thesession and so we added an extra hour to the format so we could offer areduced number of bookable spaces for a gentle beginning. We had feedback that a more accessible toilet would help increaseaccessibility and we were lucky that the Festival of the Future was able tofund a special ‘changing places’ bus from PAMIS for our last session ofthe year to make that more accessible to those with complex physicalneedsWe recorded feedback on the days aswell as surveying families’ views after theevents. It was positive to hear from families that some of the usual barriers to accessing play wereaddressed in the design of Playful Gardens.It was good for both ages and needs of our twoboys. It was free and we could park so didn’tneed to risk a bus meltdown - parentno one judging or blaming us while my childenjoyed themselves, a nice mixture of people,positive and welcoming workers - parentI think the playful garden is a fantastic idea. I have threedaughters and my littlest son has additional support needs.We find it hard to do things as a family as he struggles withindoor things and people so being outside was amazing forhim, he took part and seemed genuinely happy 😊 - parentBarriers families faceIn feedback families told us about barriers they usually face in accessing play together. Theyworried about the suitability of venues, how staff might manage, whether their children wouldbecome overwhelmed. There were also barriers around the costs of entry and the difficulties ofmeeting the needs of several children. It’s hard to all go somewhere togetherbecause of our youngest’s behaviourissues. You never know how he’ll manageor what folk will say - parentWe don't always know what will suit ourchildrens' needs or if staff will beunderstanding - parentWe loved it - thank you! This being our second visitwas good as he was clear that he wanted to go to themusic, DCA and Scrapantics when we arrived. Havingthe core regular things is great so it feels familiar, wespent 3 hours and loved it all. And the sunshine wasgreat too! Nice touch to have the juice and snacks.This is a great model - safe enclosed space, being innature and being outside, open-ended play, optional totake part, friendly support staff (t-shirts are good forrecognising) - parentFamilies said they had enjoyed the opportunity for family time together and that they wereplanning to replicate particular activities at home. Staff we were able to demonstrate someways to play with children which are about letting children direct the play and be creative, sothey had ideas to take away to their home environment.Families appreciated having a range of activities, so that the children could orientate towardsan activity that suited their mood for that day and timeMy kids were free to move and experience newthings without being judged for being messy ornoisy as they were just being curious andeveryone there understands that - parentFamilies said that they had appreciated the non-judgmental atmosphere and that they feltwelcomed by staff. In particular, some children found it reassuring to know who staff were with our green shirtsand to have a map in advance to know what to expect. Being a series of events helped children grow in confidence.Parents told us they had not seen their children as engaged in an activity before, or for such along timeParents noticed their children were calmer than usual. What Families ValuedThe opportunity to visit with all three children andfind different activities fit them to try. It can bechallenging to find one particular thing they agreeon so the variety was amazing - parentSome relaxed fun together doing arts crafts andbuilding, suitable for both our children (one whostruggles and one who doesn’t but often missesout) - parentThe organisations taking part also fed back that they had observed the benefits forfamilies, and for them as workers in being able to engage them in this context. Staff noticed that parents were able to observe and reflect as they watched their childrenplay, notice what they are able do, and get ideas from staff. Staff saw a shift over the sessions in how involved parents became in the play.As facilitators, we had the time and space togive people the support that they needed , sothat everyone seemed happy with theirefforts. It was a joy to be outside and seemedmore relaxing for everyone than many indoorsessions, where there is less space. Thesensory experience of being in the gardenwas very inspiring and motivating and seemedto be reflected in the art work. The outdoorspace and the large range of activities onoffer seemed empowering for the children.     – visiting organisationWe were helping parents to enjoy and understand their children. We could see themcome in quite tense and come out without that - facilitatorFamilies who had other siblings were able to have a space to all play together, as the open-ended play and art opportunities were adaptable and personalized, so there were no agerestrictions and all children in the family will be able to take part. Families and the organisations who joined us all fed back that the outdoor space was importantin offering a relaxed, calm and beautiful environment. We know that the outdoor environment can support wellbeing and may also be free of some ofthe things which can cause distress or challenging behaviour indoors such as sudden noises,lighting, or lots of rules. It was more possible to move around freely and there were less imposed restrictions.The outdoor space prevented some children from being overwhelmed where usually an activityor that number of other people would be challenging. Staff running the activities also noticed that the atmosphere was calmer than usual and put thisdown to the garden setting.My child was relaxed and liked the atmosphereand I did not feel my usual worries that he wastoo loud or might not manage and the outdoorshelped that. It also felt a safe outdoor space asopposed to a park he may run out of, or a wilderspace which wasn't as accessible - parentMy kids were calmer and so wasI. They love feeling the freedom torun everywhere - parentThe Benefit of Outdoor SpaceThank you for a brilliant day! [my child] absolutely loved it and now wants to goevery week 😆😂 She even commented on "how nice" everyone was and Icouldn't agree more. Would love this to be a more regular event. Well done to allinvolved 😊 - parentThank youThank you to all the organisations and volunteers who joined us. Thank you to Tay RadioCash for Kids and University of Dundee Festival of the Future whose funding made itpossible. And most of all thank you to all the families who joined us and shared yourexperiences

2022 Playful Gardens Report

https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/files/108453663/Playful_Garden_report.pdf

2022 Playful Gardens Report

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