Children share thoughts on play with MSP
CHILDREN from Whitecraig Primary School were invited to attend the Scottish Parliament to share their thoughts on “play-friendly communities”.
They took part in a Queen Margaret University research project titled ‘Creating a Play-Friendly Community with Children in Whitecraig’, which aims to generate practices and policies about play and drive improvement.
The study was carried out by Silvia Veiga-Seijo, a PhD student in occupational science at the university.
Pupils organised community events as part of the project, both in their local village and at the university, which policy-makers were invited to attend. Subsequently, Silvia and the children were asked along to the Parliament.
The aim of the visit was to advocate for their right to play in their local village and have their voices heard in the space where decisions are made about children’s rights in Scotland.
The children were taken on a tour of the Scottish Parliament, led by local MSP Colin Beattie and Jenny Gray, office manager. They heard interesting stories about the Parliament while walking around the space.
The pupils also enjoyed a questionand-answer session with Mr Beattie, posing questions such as “What are the current plans for Whitecraig?” and “Who has the responsibility to make changes in Whitecraig?”
They also talked about their personal experiences and the importance of the play project.
Mr Beattie is making plans to visit the community and school so the children could explain to him what play looks like in their village, for taking actions forward.
Lunch at the Parliament was enjoyed before the participation and communities team organised a workshop to explore how the children felt during their visit and find out how to make the experience even more child-friendly.