This November, IKEA, The LEGO Foundation, Unilever’s Dirt is Good brands and National Geographic have joined forces as the Real Play Coalition with their shared believe in the value of play to bring us the Global Month of Play! The Global Month of Play is a month-long celebration that provides more opportunities for children to play at home, at school and in the community. Together, the Real Play Coalition Global Month of Play activities will reach nearly 2.5 million children in more than 100 countries and activities will take place in almost 20,000 classrooms.

Additionally, the Real Play Coalition is announcing its development of the world’s first-ever Play Gap Report, created in partnership with University Collect London (UCL). The Play Gap Report will be a global study which will help pinpoint the gaps in access to quality play between genders and different socio-economic groups among more than 40 countries. It will be created in partnership with University College London (UCL). The key results will be announced in early 2019, which will fuel future Real Play Coalition programmes.

To inspire parents, guardians, teachers and children alike to play, the Real Play Coalition launched a brand-new website containing 150 games and activities www.realplaycoalition.com. The play catalogue will also be available on the Real Play Coalition App that will be launching soon.

Learn about what the partners are doing:

IKEA: Let’s Play For Change

Designed by children, for children, the 2018 SAGOSKATT collection is the result of the annual IKEA soft toy drawing competition. This sees creative kids from all around the world draw the soft toy of their dreams, with the six most unique drawings turned into real soft toys sold at IKEA stores during 2019. The full purchase price of each toy will be donated to campaigns supporting children’s rights to play and develop. Follow all IKEA activity throughout the Global Month of Play through #letsplayforchange.

The LEGO Foundation: World Children’s Day

UNICEF’s Universal Children’s Day on November 20th marks the day when the most widely ratified human right treaty in history, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, was adopted. It is a global day of action for children, by children, where leaders are held to account on their promises to children.

Throughout November, The LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Group will support this celebration through Build the Change events, where children in select schools in Mexico, the UK, China, South Africa and Denmark have been invited to build their dream school. As an outcome, The LEGO Foundation will collate and document a selection of insights from the activation and hand them to world leaders at the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 2019. Follow activities during the Global Month of Play through #worldchildrensday

Unilever’s Dirt is Good: Outdoor Classroom Day

Closely related to PlayFutures Exploration 6: Green, blue spaces, Outdoor Classroom Day is a global campaign to inspire and celebrate outdoor learning and play, led by NGO Project Dirt. Yesterday, on November 1st, thousands of schools around the world will took lessons outside to prioritise playtime, sending a message of how learning outside of the classroom engages and excites children in spectacular ways. In 2018 alone, over 2.5M children and 23.000 schools will have joined this movement. Learn more on www.outdoorclassroomday.com.

National Geographic: Play Made Me This Way

On Monday November 5th National Geographic will be launching a fascinating series of videos called Play Made Me This Way, featuring the stories of a number of very different individuals. The videos will reveal how play during the formative years have had a life-changing impact on who they grew up to be, and are making sure their own children have the same quality and time available to play. The first video can be watched on National Geographic and Real Play Coalition social media channels. #PlayMadeMeThisWay.

The world is invited to reappraise play as the rocket fuel children need to boost their skill development so let’s do this!

Keep an eye on updates via www.realplaycoalition.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitterand Pinterest.

Maximise your play this November!