Toy Library Association South Africa

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
Toy libraries and Play-focused organisations around the globe celebrate World Play Day on 28 May each year. The theme for 2024 is: 
Toy libraries grow sustainable cities and communities through play.
 
TLASA created a WPD Booklet with tips and activity ideas for you to download free of charge
You can still download last year’s World Play Day Booklet. The theme was:
Playing towards sustainability
You can also still download 2022’s World Play Day Booklet. The theme was:
Rediscover play. Recover through play.

Tell us about your WPD celebrations!

 
We would love to know how you celebrated World Play Day this year. Complete the form below and you could be featured in the next TLASA newsletter.

World Play Day Song

 
The Founder of World Play Day, Dr Freda Kim, developed a song to celebrate this special day. She wrote the words and arranged the melody. This recording of the song was recorded in the Seoul Anglican Cathedral. The piano accompaniment and composition done by Geonyong Lee, one time President of Seoul Arts University. In addition to English, the WPD song has been translated into Greek, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Hebrew.
World Play Day Song Score 1
World Play Day Song score 2