The Week Junior - UK (2022-04-23)

4

A

survey by the Association of

Play Industries (API) has

found that many children in

the UK don’t have easy

access to playgrounds.

Who has the most

playgrounds?

The average child in Scotland

has access to five times

as many playgrounds as the

average child in London. The worst

affected area is the West Midlands,

England, where there is only one playground for

every 929 children. London is the second-worst

region for access to playgrounds, with 866 children

per playground. In Scotland, there are 196 children

per playground and Wales has 392 children per

playground. The research also highlighted

that 44% less money was spent on

playgrounds in 2021 than in 2018. The

API has called on the Government to

invest more money to even up the

number of playgrounds available to

children across the UK.

Why are playgrounds important?

Having playgrounds is very important for

children’s health and happiness. According to

the API, regular visits to playgrounds can reduce

childhood obesity, mental health issues and sleep

problems. A separate survey, in 2020, called the

British Children’s Play Survey, found that playgrounds

are the places where children play the most outside

of home. It also highlighted that many children rely

on playgrounds to play outdoors in fresh air, because

one in eight households in the UK does not have

access to a garden. Playgrounds are also important

as places where children can exercise, socialise, have

fun and learn to be independent. Play and children’s

mental health expert Dr Helen Dodd says, “When

children are at school or with their parents they are

being told what they have to do, so play is a time for

children to just enjoy themselves, express themselves

and explore in the way that they want to.”

What is the Government doing?

The Government has said it will give £9 million to

fund 100 green spaces for the areas with least access

to playgrounds. It has also said it will create a fund of

£30 million for 30 parks across the country.

WORD WEEK

OF

THE

This week in 1990, the Hubble Space

Telescope was launched. “Telescope” is from

the ancient Greek for “far-seeing”, because

we use the instrument to view objects far

away. The first part, tele,

means “from a distance”,

and the second part, scope,

comes from a Greek word that

means “to look at”.

TELESCOPE

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on

24 April 1990. It has helped with many scientific

breakthroughs, from discovering the age of the

universe to taking hugely detailed pictures of space.

The idea of putting a telescope in Earth’s orbit was

suggested by US scientist Lyman Spitzer in 1946. In

March 2022, Hubble found a star whose light has

taken 12.9 billion years to reach Earth – so it’s four

billion years older than any star previously seen.

24 April 1990

The Hubble Space Telescope is launched

Survey finds playground shortage

In its Convention on the Rights

of the Child, the United Nations

(a group of 193 countries that

work together on the challenges

facing humanity) say that all

children should have the right to

play, relax and get enough rest.

The Convention on the Rights

of the Child came into force in

the UK in 1992. Article 31 of

the Convention states, “Every

child has the right to rest and

leisure, to engage in play and

recreational activities...”

Children’s right to play

Playground

funding has fallen.

The Hubble

Space telescope.

UK news

The Week Junior • 23 April 2022

WHEE!

The UK’s first slide was

made of wood and was

put up in Wicksteed Park

in Kettering, England,

in 1922.

Playgrounds are important

for health and happiness.