All children have a right to play but for some, special measures are required to provide access to play spaces. In addition to the legal requirements outlined in The Children Act 2004 and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, more recent policy documents, Aiming High for Disabled Children and the national Play Strategy (2008) are important landmarks.

The Play Strategy states that play areas must be “accessible for all local children and young people, including disabled children.” However disabled children are often ignored during consultation when planning a play area, although their views and opinions are valid and they are keen and able to participate in the decision making process. .

Admiral will advise on how to create your play space to ensure that it offers suitable access and opportunity for all, so that the benefits of play can be enjoyed by everyone.

Where appropriate, Admiral can create a sensory garden, either on its own, or as part of a larger play area.

The government has published a guide which aims to help all those with an interest in developing accessible play space. It gives advice which can be tailored to individual settings on developing accessible play space disabled children can use. Please click on the link to the right to download in pdf or MS Word format.