This idea for this sign was sparked by Penny Wilson and Eloise Wu who are both prominent playworkers, advocating for children’s rights to play and access to public play space. They asked, “What would a pro-play sign look like, what would it say?” and they very much had the NO BALL GAMES sign in mind as something to replace.

My suggestion plays on the language of road signs. It’s very simply an invitation to play, but it also sets up the uncomfortable union of road traffic and play space. If this prompts people to question the dominance of cars in our cities, it would make my day. One day perhaps, people will start associating the letter P with Play rather than Parking…

The signs can be used to temporarily turn any space into a play space. Or they can be fixed permanently. We encourage people to be mindful about where the sign is placed – there’s a duty of care to those invited to play. Busy roads and obvious hazards are to be avoided.

The sign comes in two flavours, simple of all-singing. The simple version is printed on hardwearing plastic and can be found here. The all-singing version is reflective and backed on to aluminium and can be found here.

We would love to see the signs popping up all over the place, on streets (where appropriate), in estates, in classrooms and places of work. Here are some snaps from people making use of it.