Sport Canterbury - Case Study - Poipoia: Time to play

In 2021, we completed the “Access to Play for Tamariki During and Beyond a Crisis” report, framework and toolkit for the Ihi Aotearoa Sport New Zealand Play Unit and presented back to Sport New Zealand Managers. This project has enabled collaboration with a range of action partners at community, Council and regional sector agency level. The desired outcome is that this project will normalise the idea that play should support crisis relief and trauma recovery alongside other essential relief considerations.

We provided key support to the inaugural Ihi Aotearoa Sport New Zealand National Play Workforce Hui held in Ōtautahi, activating key relationships to schools, communities, council and partners to provide local insights, challenges and opportunities to support the enablement of play in the east of Ōtautahi. Following on from this we are engaged with the Southshore Residents Association on a project called SouthShore Takaro Mile.

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Thank you again to our friends at the International Play Association (IPA), for honouring our mahi and enabling us to share our Healthy Families New Zealand approach with the world. In Ōtautahi over the last 10 years, as much as any city in history, we have seen how play empowers children in times of crisis, supporting their learning and development.In partnership with Te Ara Koropiko, West Spreydon School, our mahi and pandemic response through play was recognised with a Special Award in 2020, from the IPA.

This TVNZ story from Te Ara Koropiko, West Spreydon School, shows the magic that happens when students lead, and we listen. What a wonderful community, which understands the value of giving students time and space to play, and a voice to shape what that play time looks like. Thank you to everyone involved in this celebration of Poipoia! Time to Play and the presentation of a play pod on the school's temporary site.

As a team, we are grateful for the chance to work alongside inspiring people who share our vision - To make the healthy choice the easy choice. What a wonderful experience it has been for us at Te Ara Koropiko – West Spreydon School. Physical Activity Leaders - students known as PALs - have helped our team design a play pod, and we continue to gather insights from this school that help shape our approach in other communities across Ōtautahi. These students are true champions - for the value of play and physical activity to improve wellbeing and resilience.

Eighteen months ago, our Healthy Familiies Ōtautahi team began a journey in collaboration with our Muslim community based at Rasol-O-Allah mosque in Bishopdale. It was about elevating the voices of our young people and considering the value of play to wellbeing. Youth Leader Sadra Sultani supported us on this journey, starting with a session at the mosque last year where we engaged tamariki and took their ideas into a co-design process, led by the children. Thier ideas were brought to life in the play pod construction by a team at Hornby High School. It was a truly a story of communities pulling together, and empowering our tamariki to lead the way.

A healthier city for healthier families is about access to fresh food, clean water and smokefree spaces. It also means making it easier for our tamariki to move, connect and play. For this reason we are partnering with schools, sports, facilities and communities who share our vision for the healthy choice to be the easy choice. At Ngā Puna Wai, the city’s southwestern home of sport and recreation, we introduced Poipoia! Time to Play. We loved seeing tamariki inspired while their whānau could keep an eye on the game.

A “Free Play Zone” seemed like such a simple idea. The response to having this space to play at the city's annual Tip Top Kite Day shows how much families enjoy the chance to pause, play and connect. Having plenty of space to play is critical to a healthy thriving city; and our team is ensuring that local events give families time, space and tools to connect and keep moving. Thank you to Kia Kori Waitaha and Canterbury Ultimate for sharing our vision - that a city with play at its heart is a healthier place to be.

A collaboration between Sport New Zealand and Sport Canterbury's Healthy Families Ōtautahi began in 2019, with the goal of finding out more about how we play, and how play can promote emotional and physical wellbeing in our communities.

Through Sport Canterbury’s initiative, Waitaha was the first region in New Zealand to host these Play Huddles. It has enabled the Regional Sports Trust to bring key stakeholders and action partners together to work collectively, to enhance and prioritise the importance of play. It has accelerated the team’s engagement with communities regionally and locally, and shown the diverse range of people who are keen to work and engage in play.