Play ​​​​- Tamariki actively following their own ideas and interests for their own reasons. 

Please note that the play trailers are booked for the rest of the year in Clutha and Waitaki region. If you have requests for 2025 continue to fill the form out. 

Play is the earliest physical experiences for our tamariki, and it is where they develop and practice life skills. It allows children to experience fun, joy and laughter in a way that is important to them and that they enjoy.​​​​​​​

Play can be engaging and simple, like stopping at the park on your way home from school, or sending the kids out in the backyard or garden before dinner time. 

There are many opportunities and different ways we can encourage and enhance play in our community. If you want to learn more about play, and how Sport Otago can support your play mahi, give us an email to connect.

Have a look at the video below to see a great example of nature play, in a Dunedin school. 

North East Valley Normal School Neighbourhood Play System

The Neighbourhood Play System is an exciting approach to urban play design that places the key stakeholder – tamariki – at the centre of the process. The Neighbourhood Play System provides a blueprint to identify and address opportunities and barriers for tamariki to play in their school and neighbourhood.

Linking to local plans and funding opportunities, the NPS blueprint looks at how to embed play elements through school grounds, footpaths, streets, alleyways, greenspaces, waterways, industrial zones, mare, churches and shops – to promote play every day.

Have a read of the report of North East Valley Normal School, based in North Dunedin here. 

Your Otago Play Contacts​​​​​​​

Loosey in covering all play elements at Elm Grove School

Inflatables in action at North East Valley Normal School during a play festival 

Tamariki enjoying the endless play opportunities in and out of the trailer at Grants Braes School

Equipment

At Sport Otago we have a range of equipment to hire out from our Play Box with over 40 kits to choose from including our obstacle course inflatable kit and school fun run kit.

Our loose parts play trailer, 'Loosey' is a great way of exploring free and unstructured play. Loosey is a trailer that can be booked by any school, community group or organisation, picked up and taken to your community for use! Our tamariki love Loosey, and she is very busy so get yourself a booking! ​​​​​​​

We are lucky enough to have a second play trailer which makes it way around the rest of Otago, so fill out the booking form or check out if it's in your region on Facebook.

Local Play Network

We release a newsletter quarterly throughout the year with information on what has been happening in the play space at Sport Otago and across Dunedin/Otago. It features upcoming events, news and a spotlight on our network members. The network has future plans of meeting in person as well. 

If you would like to join the network or be on the mailing list, please get in contact with Georgia at gclarke@sportotago.co.nz

Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund

If you have a great idea in mind for your community to do with activating tamariki through play, have a look at the Tu Manawa fund. This fund exists to help deliver and provide support for our youth who want to be active! Sport New Zealand are targeting Māori, Pasifika, and children with disabilities, but projects to activate all inactive and under-active youth can be considered.