Download Glossary of playwork terms - Play Wales

July 2009
Glossary of playwork terms
Adult led agendas
Reasons for doing things on the basis of adult
ideas, needs or wishes
Adulteration
Play being controlled or spoiled by adults
Advocate for play
Publicly support and promote the importance
of play
Affective play space
A space that pays attention to and supports
the variety of feelings and moods that children
and young people bring with them or have
during play. The space has particular areas,
materials and or props that at different times,
stimulate or encourage expression, experience
or experimentation with a range of emotions
Annihilation
When play ends or is stopped
Anti-discriminatory practice
Taking positive action to counter
discrimination; this will involve identifying
and challenging discrimination and being
positive in your practice about diversity without
compromising the right of individuals to play
Battery children
Children reared in a confined and controlled
way without freedom to play out independently
Behavioural modes
The characteristics and essential manner of
play behaviour
Biological drive
Natural inborn urge
Child and play centred
Playwork that responds to the play needs of
the children, not to external requirements
Child protection
The duty of adults to care for children in such
a way that neither they nor others cause
harm to children and to report and record all
concerns related to a child being harmed (see
also safeguarding children)
Children’s rights
Children’s entitlements under law and the
United Nations convention on the Rights of
the child, particularly in relation to play and
decisions that affect them
Children and young people
All children and young people of school age
with respect for any impairment, their gender,
race, culture, language, sexuality, health,
economic or social status and any other
individual characteristics
Compensatory play
Supplementary play experiences for children
to choose from that aim to compensate for
missing play opportunities in their lives
Compensatory space
A play space that takes account of what is
available to children elsewhere in their local
area and aims to make up for shortfalls
in possibility by offering an alternative
environment
Consultation
An active two-way process of informing and
involving individuals and groups to encourage
the sharing of ideas, views and opinions
especially in order to reach an agreed decision

Containment
Supporting play by providing a ‘virtual’ shield
against interference
Discrimination
Make unjust distinctions or fail to recognise
support needs resulting in failure to
acknowledge an individual’s right to participate
in play and exercise freedom of choice
Display
Lack of response to a play cue that prevents
the play from going forwards
Dynamic risk assessment
Active ongoing risk assessment of situations
as they occur - usually taking place as a
mental rather than a written process
Ecological well-being
Good balanced relationship between the play
space and all the players
Environmental hazards
Things within the environment that may cause
harm
Equal Opportunities
Recognising that play is for all children - we
are all different and different children have
different things to offer and different needs to
be met. Equal opportunities means supporting
every child with respect and fairness
Facilitate experimentation
Create the right environment and atmosphere
to enable children to experiment
Flow
The natural course of uninhibited play – where
children are immersed in what they are doing
and unaware of what is going on around them
Gender socialisation
The social pressure exerted on a child to
behave in a way associated with being either
male or female
Hazard
Something that may cause harm to the
health, safety or welfare of users of the play
environment
Inclusion
Ensuring that play provision is open and
accessible to all and takes positive action
in removing barriers so that all children can
participate
Impact absorbent surface
Safety surfacing
Impairments
An individual physical, psychological or
emotional make-up which differs from
accepted norms
Intervention Styles
A range of methods the playworker can use in
the play environment. These may range from
complete non-involvement through to specific
intervention to enhance the children’s play
Intrinsically motivated
Internally driven reasons for doing something
Loose Parts
Materials that can be used flexibly for play –
they can be moved around, manipulated, used
as props or to change the environment
Meta-communication
Deep and subtle communication that gives a
real indication of what is being meant beyond
any words that are being said for example;
non-verbal play cues; intonation of voice; facial
expressions; body movements
Metalude
The action of the brain that produces the
desire to play and issues a play cue (see play
cue below)
Monitoring and evaluation
Regularly observing, checking and keeping
and eye on specific aspects of the provision
and then assessing whether they are fulfilling
their intended purpose
Narrative frame
A story line that keeps the play going
Observe
Watch children’s play behaviors and the
response of adults to ensure that the
environment continues to provide effective
play spaces

Overlapping play frames
The real or imagined boundaries that keep
in tact the different play of individual, and
groups of, children who are using the same
environment to play at different things, but at
the same time
Personal Care
Provision of personal and intimate care to
disabled children or very young children who
are unable to provide care for themselves
Play audit
An inventory of play provision, or the play
opportunities available
Play Cue
Facial expressions, language or body
language that communicates the child or
young person’s wish to play or invite others to
play
Play deprivation
Notion that if children do not play they will lack
experience that is developmentally essential
and this may lead to them being biologically
and socially disabled
Play frame
The real or imagined boundary that keeps the
play intact
Play impoverished
Lacking in play potential
Play type
Different kinds of play that can combine to
make up children’s play behaviour
Playwork curriculum
The essential experiences playworkers make
available to children that fall into the categories
of – The elements, Identity, Concepts and The
Senses
Playwork Principles
The professional and ethical framework for
playwork
Playwork theory
The researched information that is relative
to playwork and informs the way that it is
practiced
Reflective practice
Playworkers’ ongoing thinking about their work
and identifying what they do well and what
they could improve
Resilience
Ability to recover quickly from difficult
circumstances
Return
The response to a play cue (see play cue
above)
Rhythmical narrative
A rhythm that keeps the play going
Risk
The possibility of a hazard actually causing
harm
Safe boundary
A time and place (and the presence of
playworkers) that creates a sense of security
for playing
Safeguarding
Term used to describe a whole range of ways
that adults help protect children and keep
them safe from harm
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