World Play Day remains one of the most important dates on TLASA’s annual calendar. It is celebrated in toy libraries across South Africa and brings communities together in the spirit of playfulness. The annual theme for the day is selected by the International Toy Library Association (ITLA) each year. This year’s theme: Playing towards sustainability tied in perfectly with the theme of TLASA’s 2022 National Toy Library Conference: Sustainable play and allowed us to build on what was shared during the conference.
TLASA celebrated WPD this year by putting the theme of sustainability into practice. We ensured sustainable play through collaboration and partnerships. Our main WPD celebration event included three days of play sessions for children and workshops for play facilitators done in collaboration with three organisations and an individual professional. We provide details in our report.
Leading up to World Play Day, TLASA also hosted a webinar on the topic of Sustainable play where we discussed sustainable toy selection, practical ideas for bringing the concepts of sustainability into play sessions, making your own games, and how to make your toy library sustainable long-term. This webinar was well attended and we received positive feedback about the valued of the content shared.