for Wales Play

In this issue you will find inspirational articles on play practice in hospitals, prison visitor areas, zoos, museums and schools.

Remarkably, it’s ten years since General Comment no. 17 on Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was published in April 2013. The International Play Association (IPA) invited me to be a member of the working group tasked with drafting the General Comment. I was Children’s Commissioner for Wales at the time and in nearly all my meetings with children, in various settings, they spoke to me about their play experiences. How important play was in their lives, the extent adults prevented them from playing outside in particular, and how important play was during the school day.

When we met as a group in Geneva to talk through what