Playground in brief: the original, but much changed, heart of the Venture

The Venture is one of Britain's largest adventure playgrounds and is open to children and young people throughout the year, with extended hours during school holidays.

Built and constantly developed by the community for the community, the adventure playground offers children and young people the opportunity to play, explore, take risks and learn.

'Play encompasses children's behaviour which is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. It is performed for no external goal or reward, and is a fundamental and integral part of healthy development - not only for individual children, but also for the society in which they live.'?
Welsh Assembly Government Play Policy (2002)

The playground provides an open access facility, because of its very nature, where children and young people can enjoy activities of their choice. They can join in at any stage and participate in the activities which can be as diverse as sports, art and craft, nature work and site development.

A true adventure playground

Play Wales, the national body for children's play, could be summing up the Venture in its description of adventure playgrounds:
'Many of us think of adventure playgrounds as play areas with fixed wooden play equipment. A true adventure playground is much more than this, it is an open access setting staffed by trained playworkers, where children can find materials and support so that they can build and adapt their own play space to suit their own needs. It is a rich play environment that compensates for today's lack of accessible natural space where children can play independently of adults.

An adventure playground is a place where children can build dens or treehouses, make campfires, dig gardens, stage water fights, play in the mud and rain. It is a place that children should be able to call their own - where they can direct their own play, be spontaneous, loud, dirty, messy, silly, and where they can test themselves out against their environment and other people.

It is an inclusive place where children can play and socialise with others on their own terms and follow their own agenda. There is an ethos of participation and self-help; children are involved in decision making and planning and are supported to follow their own initiative. Rules are kept to a minimum - a long list can be overwhelming and prohibitive ... and easily forgotten.

It is a place where children can confront and learn to manage risk. Children can experiment, push boundaries, innovate, build and demolish in the knowledge that there are trained playworkers on hand to support them if necessary.'? For more information, visit Play Wales at http://www.playwales.org.uk

Simple pleasures

Ben Tawil, Development Officer for Play Wales, reflected on his own childhood and that of today's children for the Winter 2007 newsletter (Issue 23) from Play Wales. In an article entitled 'Simple pleasures', he used his own childhood experiences, with a professional insight, to explore risk and blame in the contrasting play arenas of yesterday and today:
''? Perhaps the single most differentiating factor between today's childhood and yesterday's childhood is BLAME: there seems to be a belief that every action deserves a reaction, usually in the form of remonstration or compensation. The belief that if you have an accident somebody must be at fault, and you can't play without having an accident. I mean you really can't play without having an accident '? Today we talk about the provision of compensatory opportunities to replace the ones we found naturally. The focus on risk is not about developing an agenda that promotes risk at all costs ,,, it's an agenda that seeks to develop an understanding of the vital role that risk plays in children's play, an agenda that champions children's right to climb trees, make swings, ride bikes, roller-skate, build dens and tree houses, use tools, fall out, fight and make friends, to have fires, to get wet and messy, and to be afforded the opportunity to have supportive adults who feel empowered to provide environments and opportunities fit for children without the constant fear of BLAME. It is an agenda that celebrates the simple pleasures that make childhood complete'?.

For the full text of the article, click here

Summer Camps

The Venture annual summer camps are a huge success, often the highlight of many children's summer.

We average eight camps each year to cover the full age range of our children and young people. The Early Years children and their families set up camp in Llangollen; our juniors, aged 6-10, camp in Chirk; the 11-13 year olds head for Bala, whilst the seniors traditionally visit Harlech.

An age-appropriate programme is developed, in consultation with the participants, which allows them to sample the simple pleasures of the outdoor life, albeit under canvas. Activities range from gorge walking and bear hunting (!) to camp fire games, swimming or just splashing about.

School Holiday Programme

There's never a dull moment during the school holidays, with programmes offering a range of activities for all age groups. Participants can enjoy activities on site such as sports, den building, arts and crafts, cooking, sports, bouncy castle activities, fire building and dancing '? to mention just a few! Each activity is adapted to individual needs to encourage participation from all age ranges.

The holiday programmes can also have elements of off-site activities: sporting tournaments, day trips to various attractions, outdoor pursuits, motor bikes, walks, swimming, and more

To read more about the history of adventure play, visit Robert Dighton's website at http://www.adventureplay.org.uk