Here at ELPA, we’re honoured to have collaborated with international play expert and writer Wendy Russell to publish her paper Rules for re-enchanting our relationship with play. We were both enchanted and inspired when we first read it. And when we read it again we asked if we could share it more widely.  Rules for re-enchanting our relationship with play is all about looking beyond what play is, or even why it’s important, to developing ways to pay attention to how it happens. It introduces some practical ways to document children’s play including ‘critical cartography’ methodology. Rules for re-enchanting is freely availably to download from ELPA’s website.

Wendy told us, “For me, looking at how spaces works is a really good way to think a little differently about the very ordinary magic of children’s play. It can help adults pay attention to how play happens and doing more of that.”

Wendy was our guest in East Lothian when she came to to introduce the European Play-friendly Schools project. You can find out more about this project here We are currently working with Wendy in the Erasmus+ loose parts play project with Windygoul Primary School and partners in Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Find out more on our Erasmus+ page where you will also find the Rules for re-enchanting to download.

If you are also inspired by the ideas in Rules for re-enchantment we’d love to hear how you have used it and see the results of your critical cartography. You can contact us at info@elpa.org.uk or through our social media.