Impact of play streets

How play streets benefit children and communities and bring about long-term change

A growing national movement

Since Playing Out began supporting residents to organise street play where they live:

• Over 1,500 street communities have ‘played out’ in 100+ different local authority areas across the UK
• Most of these streets have at least 12 sessions a year
• Around 45,030 children and 22,515 adults have been directly involved on their street*
• 92 councils are now actively supporting the playing out model and many have specific street play policies in place

This is just what we’ve managed to record. We’re also hearing that much more informal playing out is happening in streets and spaces across the UK because parents, residents and professionals are starting to think differently. Here’s the deeper impact taking place each time residents open their front doors to meet, play and use the immediate space in a shared way:

*As the play streets model is flexible and resident-led, the number of people, session length, frequency etc. are all variable depending on the street and people involved. However based on head counts at many sessions in Bristol and the results of a national survey (2017, 2019 and rechecked 2021) we use the following averages for play streets: two hour sessions; 12 sessions a year; 30 children attending and benefitting; 15 adults actively involved in the play street. Numbers accurate as of December 2022.