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Residents across Leeds are being invited to stop the traffic on Wednesday 11 June 2025 and host a play street in their neighbourhoods to help mark International Day of Play.<\/p>\n
Applications are open until Friday 16 May for communities to register to close their roads and host family fun on their doorsteps for the global awareness day to celebrate the power of play.<\/p>\n
Hosting a play street is completely free and offers the chance for neighbours to come together in an open and safe space to allow all children and families to \u2018play out\u2019.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to wait for 11 June. Residents of Throstle Avenue in Middleton are holding a play street event on Saturday (10 May) with the road being closed between Sissons Road and Throstle Row from 3-7pm. Access to residents and emergency vehicles is not affected.<\/p>\n
Leeds City Council has an award-winning play streets scheme which first began over a decade ago and last year alone saw 78 play streets across the city, totalling over 300 hours of play.<\/p>\n
The scheme is co-ordinated by the Child Friendly Leeds team \u2013 which works towards the ambition of making Leeds the best UK city for children and young people to grow up in \u2013 in partnership with the highways department.<\/p>\n
Leeds has been ahead of the curve when it comes to play \u2013 with the council becoming the first in England to complete a \u2018play sufficiency assessment\u2019 in 2023, creating an action plan optimising play opportunities for children and young people.<\/p>\n
A list of priorities developed with children and young people led to the Child Friendly Leeds 12 Wishes\u2019 \u2013 with \u2018Wish Two\u2019 to ensure that children \u2018have safe spaces to play, hang out and have fun\u2019.<\/p>\n
International Day of Play began last year when the United Nations declared the awareness day would take place annually on June 11, to showcase how central play is to every child\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
To mark this year\u2019s event, Leeds City Council is hoping many streets across the city will join in the celebration and is urging people to register now before the May 16 deadline.<\/p>\n
To apply, simply gather support from neighbours to ensure there are enough adults to supervise on the day, then email play.streets@leeds.gov.uk<\/strong><\/a> with the street name to check eligibility.<\/p>\n Successful applicants will receive advice from the authority about which part of the street is safe to close and will be supplied with a road closure notice and \u2018road closed\u2019 stickers to display on wheelie bins.<\/p>\n Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council\u2019s executive member for children and families, said:<\/p>\n \u201cAs the Play Champion for Leeds, I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing as many streets as possible come alive with play for this global awareness day.<\/p>\n \u201cPlay is vitally important to a child\u2019s wellbeing and Leeds has been proudly leading the way on this for a number of years, helping to inspire playfulness in our neighbourhoods and ensure our city\u2019s children get the best start in life.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s celebrate the power of play and take the opportunity for all \u2013 young and old \u2013 to get outside and have fun right on our doorsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n For more information, view the play streets toolkit on the Child Friendly Leeds<\/strong><\/a> website.<\/p>\n Any schools which would also like to support event can find suggestions on how to get involved on the Leeds for Learning website<\/strong><\/a>, including access to free Child Friendly Leeds resources to support a playful curriculum for the day.<\/p>\n Other ways to celebrate International Day of Play in Leeds could include visiting a local park or green space or one of the mini playboxes<\/strong><\/a> in the city\u2019s libraries and community hubs.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n