World Play Day is celebrated internationally on 28 May each year. This day commemorates the day in 1987 when the International Toy Library Association (ITLA) was first proposed.
Dr Freda Kim recommended this day at the 8th International Toy Library Conference in Japan in 1999. Dr Kim is a British play advocate and teacher. During a board meeting in Italy in 2001, the date was decided and WPD has been celebrated annually ever since.
"The reason for promoting a World Play Day is to emphasize the importance of play in all our lives and particularly in the lives of our children. Children learn to talk though play, they learn to make friends through play, they get exercise through play; they also acquire the basic skills for formal education such as concentration, imagination, self-expression and the retention of useful facts. Let a child play today and ensure his happy, useful and healthy future."
Freda Kim, M.B.E., Ph.D.
World Play Day Founder
