Information stands with play ideas in Athens

There are not enough dedicated outdoor play spaces for young children in Athens, and parents increasingly lack the time to take their children to them. However, with some imagination, public spaces offer opportunities for parents and children to play and learn together as part of their daily lives in the city.

The project will place information stands along pedestrian routes, showing – in both words and pictures that children will be able to understand – simple ideas for how parents and children can play together along the route. The stands will also feature QR codes linked to videos of examples of play activities.

Update, March 2018: Due to difficulties obtaining permission for information stands, the project will instead place large street stickers on busy pedestrian routes with a hopscotch court, ideas about play and QR codes for further information.

In total eight videos are produced of examples of play activities (see below example). All eight videos can be viewed on the project’s YouTube channel.

The play stickers (hopscotch court) were on various pavements for a month, during which time they generated significant interest among children and adults. The videos have been watched over 15,000 times across various platforms. The project also created a wooden house in a park, in collaboration with a local architecture firm, that contains balls for children to play with and information for parents to read on the importance of play. This also generated significant interest, including from a local hospital, which is currently exploring the possibility of replicating both the house and the stickers on its premises.