The website has now gone live so I've just been checking it out. There are some nice and really simple ideas for keeping the kids amused on there.
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On 20 February 2012 (in other words today !), Eureka! is launching Play 20 Playtime Anytime - a campaign aimed at getting families playing together. Coinciding with the museum’s 20th birthday, Play 20 is the cornerstone of Eureka!’s mission to remind parents that play is not only simple and enjoyable, but can take place at anytime of the day and virtually anywhere.
Play 20 launches with a new website www.play20.org which will provide parents with simple and easy-to-access ideas for playing with their children in a wide range of settings and themes.
As experts in playful learning and with over 5.5m visitors since it opened in 1992, Eureka! The National Children’s Museum is a passionate advocate of the power of learning through play and of the wider benefits play can bring.
Based on its own research of museum visitors, Eureka! discovered that many parents found themselves making excuses when asked to play by their children. In its survey, conducted in December 2011, 80% of respondents admitted to making some kind of excuse, with just under 49% saying that household chores, such as cooking and cleaning, got in the way of play. Work or study pressures prevented play for 40%, whilst 16 % were simply too tired to play.
Recent reports by other charities such as Unicef and The Children’s Society, have shown that parents and children are often distracted by technology, and have forgotten some of the simple pleasures of playing together. Some of today’s adults feel they have lost the knack of playing creatively with their children, using whatever is at hand, be it cardboard boxes, twigs and leaves, or simply their imaginations while sitting in a waiting room.
This is reinforced by Eureka! visitors, who indicated that they are short of ideas and inspiration, with just under 72% saying that they would like to have some kind of help with ideas to instigate play with their children. By providing a quick and simple ideas resource for busy mums, dads, guardians and carers, it is hoped that Play 20 will become a powerful tool to help families rediscover the joy of playing together
Eureka! Chief Executive Leigh-Anne Stradeski said “With our new campaign and website we want to create a lasting legacy that extends well beyond our 20th birthday. We know from our 20 years of experience that parents, grandparents and carers enjoy and benefit from a day of play at Eureka! just as much as children. We want to extend the Eureka! learning through play experience into the home, garden, into car journeys - virtually everywhere, and make it accessible not only to our visitors but also to the families who haven’t had an opportunity to come to Eureka!”
Play 20 is designed to gain momentum over a three year period, attracting a wide range of partners and supporters along the way. Apart from engagement with children and families, Eureka! is keen to forge collaborations with other organisations, charities and businesses who have a vested interest in the well being of children and their families.
Eureka! has already secured support from the mums parenting website MumsNet, and Family Lives, the national charity providing help and support in all aspects of family life.
Eureka is on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eurekamuseum and Twitter: http://twitter.com/eurekamuseum
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I love Eureka remember going in primary school when it first opened
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