Come and Celebrate the First International Day of Play

Save the date and celebrate! June 11th is now known as the International Day of Play. Play is for everyone. It’s a fundamental right for children that builds resilience, instills confidence and helps development.The designation by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly recognizes the universality of play to the human experience. It acknowledges play’s demonstrable impact on the physical, mental and social well-being of the youngest members of society.

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A number of international bodies including child- and play-focused NGOs, foundations and private sector supporters have been working behind the scenes with a small group of UN-member nations to secure this important global commemoration. It could not have proceeded without the invaluable contributions made by children from the Global South and North. They were instrumental in informing and developing the successful strategy that supports this first International Day of Play. For children’s play it’s a fine day to celebrate and advocate.

Society, that is adults, has a responsibility, a duty to reclaim and extend the moments of joy and discovery that play affords, to provide safe and accessible spaces for play, to invest children with trust and to encourage agency of the ‘we want to be the bosses of our own selves’ variety. Together, these actions will help create the winning conditions for play to grow and flourish.

In Nova Scotia, a small group with representatives from the recreation, education, health promotion, government, and play sectors has come together as volunteers to organize a few events celebrating this inaugural International Day of Play. Thanks to the power of partners we believe there will be plenty of fun to go around. Scheduling and details of events happening on June 9 and 11 will be published later this week.

Over the next couple of weeks watch for the hashtags #nsplays, #playeveryday and #internationaldayofplay on Twitter/X, FB and Insta. Please share our posts and help get the word out there…

If you are interested in getting involved in the planning and/or in helping to run International Day of Play 2025 activities, please contact us at canadaplays@gmail.com.

International Day of Play activities in Halifax and other Nova Scotia communities have been organized with modest financial contributions and in-kind support from the organizations below.