Over the past 12 months, our Sport Canterbury kaimahi have engaged whānau across the city, from Rasol-O-Allah Centre to Ngā Puna Wai and Te Ara Koropiko (West Spreydon School). 

The reason for this consultation is based on the unique challenges that our tamariki have faced, and significant events transforming their landscape, from the Canterbury earthquakes to terror attacks, Port Hills fires and global pandemic. 

We have wanted to learn from the unique experience of Canterbury families, to identify where the environment could better support their wellbeing. 

One of the outcomes of this learning has been a play pod project called Poipoia! Time to play. 

Through Poipoia! Time to Play, our Healthy Familiies Ōtautahi team is allocating a series of nine "Play Pods" to locations across the Canterbury West Coast region. These pods encourage connection, movement and play in places where families have faced barriers to play and being active in the past. Their design has been shaped by the ideas and inspiration of young people across Ōtautahi. 

Te Ara Koropiko/West Spreydon School - Play Pod #1

At present, Te Ara Koropiko/West Spreydon School is located on a temporary site, which has created a period of transition and a much different environment for teachers and students alike.

We worked alongside a group of Te Ara Koropiko/West Spreydon School Physical Activity Leaders (PALs), primary students who inspire and build confidence amongst their peers with lunchtime games and activities. These students recognise that having opportunities to play helps young people make sense of their world, and supports healthy mental and physical development.

These very motivated tamariki have helped our team design a play pod for the southwest of the city, in conjunction with their fellow students, with resources to encourage connection and movement, which was presented to the students on the school's temporary site on Wednesday 19 August. 

Rasol O Allah - Play Pod #2 

Eighteen months ago, our Healthy Familiies Ōtautahi team began a journey in collaboration with our Muslim community based at Rasol-O-Allah mosque in Bishopdale. It was about elevating the voices of our young people and considering the value of play to wellbeing. Youth Leader Sadra Sultani supported us on this journey, starting with a session at the mosque last year where we engaged tamariki and took their ideas into a co-design process, led by the children. Thier ideas were brought to life in the play pod construction by a team at Hornby High School. It was a truly a story of communities pulling together, and empowering our tamariki to lead the way. 

According to Zaihab Rafizada: “Play is important because it embraces the imagination, and it helps children of any race, any language, to prove themselves and communicate with each other.”

We thank the community for sharing our vision, for Christchurch as a play-centric city, where in times of crisis and beyond, play has a critical role in helping build resilience and bring familes together.

This summer, the pod is in use at Rasol-O-Allah, where families have embraced the opportunity to activate play in a space where it has not traditionally been expected. On the evening of the play pod introduction, a circle of women enjoyed an informal game of sitting volleyball, while children chatted and explored the equipment, making up games of their own.

Te Kōmanawa Rowley School - Play Pod #3 

In December, our Healthy Familiies Ōtautahi team was welcomed at Te Kōmanawa Rowley School, and the occasion was the Lalaga Night Market. Our team introduced Poipoia! Time to Play, and we spoke with local champions who appreciate the connection between play and the wellbeing of our young people.  Poipoia! Time to Play will provide inspiration to be active as a whānau, and we look forward to returning to Rowley Avenue in the summer months to see Poipoia! Time to Play in action.

Follow Healthy Familiies Ōtautahi on facebook for regular updates - https://www.facebook.com/HealthyFamiliesChristchurch/ 

Article added: Monday 17 August 2020