Many people and organisations in the Ōtautahi community recognise the importance of Play and how it can support well people and places.

In a collaborative approach between Master Painters NZ and Sport Canterbury two of four playhouses have been gifted to two worthy recipients in the Ōtautahi community to support Play enablement in the area.

The playhouses were created by contestants in the Master Painters NZ Apprentice of the Year Awards in Christchurch, held in February this year. The final activity the four contestants were judged on was the painting of a playhouse. As part of their mahi, the contestants assembled and painted the playhouses using colour schemes designed by Resene Colour Consultants with a brief that the customers were tamariki aged from 1-4 years. They had to incorporate interactive elements as part of their brief.

The first playhouse was given to Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub to sit alongside the existing playground to broaden the play opportunities for tamariki at the facility. “It is wonderful to see how tamariki, both big and small, are interacting with the playhouse at Ngā Puna Wai, the chalk wall in particular is proving very popular,” says Ngā Puna Wai Partnership and Activation Manager, Katrina Mansfield.

The second playhouse was offered to ACTIS (Aranui Community Trust Incorporated Society) to decide where in the community it would best be utilised and they chose to place it at St. James Primary School, Te Kura O Hato Hēmi. 

“We approached Aranui Community Trust Incorporated Society (ACTIS) with the proposal to gift the playhouse to their community to enable Play. This is a wonderful outcome as the playhouse will provide another opportunity for tamariki at St.James School, te Kura O Hato Hēmi to engage in Play,” says Adam Gard’ner, Sport Canterbury’s Regional Play Systems Lead.

The playhouse at St James has become a favourite at the school especially for the junior children.

“I love being able to touch the roof, play hopscotch and open the windows,” says one tamariki at the school.

While, Principal at St James Primary School, Rose Firth- Scott says, “The children love it, and we often see the side window open and tamariki role playing ‘shop’ as if serving customers.”

St James Primary School have plans to expand on the playhouse site which include putting up a white picket fence and landscaping the area with a sandpit play space and perhaps some garden bins.

Ara Institute of Canterbury were also given two playhouses for their Kohanga and Daycare Centre as a thank you for hosting the contestants during the event.

Master Painters NZ National Training Manager, Ash Leatherby was thrilled that the playhouses have gone to such great homes in Ōtautahi.  “We bring contestants from all around NZ to the final of the Apprentice of the Year and they put so much time, thought and energy into creating colourful and interactive playhouses.  We always try to ensure their creations are gifted to places where they will provide lots of joy and the contestants are always interested to hear where their playhouses are going.”

Adam, Kat, and Sport Canterbury are grateful for this opportunity provided by the Master Painters NZ Apprentice of the Year Awards in Christchurch to gift a playhouse to communities in Ōtautahi Christchurch. 

Read more about the Play movement in Ōtautahi - Click here 

Article added: Monday 09 May 2022