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Wilson explains how play is viewed as freely chosen, personally directed, and intrinsically motivated behavior, and how playworkers facilitate children’s free play through careful environment design, continuous observation, and team reflections. The discussion includes expertise as children-led, the craft versus art/science/political perspectives of playwork, and practical methods such as conducting play audits to enrich play settings.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":10,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-cultural-origins-and-play-philosophy-of-playworkers-an-interview-with-penny-wilson/591499/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-cultural-origins-and-play-philosophy-of-playworkers-an-interview-with-penny-wilson/591499.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"How do playworkers define play in this interview?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"Playworkers do not try to define play; they see it as freely chosen behaviors that are personally directed and intrinsically motivated.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"What is a play audit, and what is it used for?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"A play audit is a constant process of observation and reflection where playworkers monitor how children use space so adjustments can support the kinds of play children need.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"How do playworkers approach the challenge of being experts in play?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"The interview argues children, given the chance, are the experts in play, while playworkers help children relearn and re-access that language through supportive environments and facilitation.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},591499,1792072610,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":8,"category_name":10,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":138,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":143},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","The Cultural Origins and Play Philosophy of Playworkers  \nAn Interview with Penny Wilson  \nPenny Wilson is a playworker—one of a group of professionals who facilitate children’s play in adventure playgrounds, parks, and other settings, principally in the United Kingdom. Wilson grew up in the Southeast of England and spent much of her childhood playing on the coast near her family home. She studied illustration in art school, settled in London’s East End, and came to playwork through a community program for children with disabilities. Over the course of two decades, she has earned distinction for helping such children—especially those with disabilities—play with their peers. Currently she works for the Play Association at Tower Hamlets, a second-tier, not-for-profit organization and play provider. She is an ambassador for playwork and has visited the United States several times to advocate for the incorporation of playworkers into American society. In this interview, she recountshow playwork originated in Great Britain, tells how playworkers view children’s free play and how they facilitate it, describes Britain’s adventure playgrounds, and elaborates on the play of children with disabilities.  \nAmerican Journal of Play: Playworker is an uncommon term in the United States. When playworkers talk and write about play, how do they define it?  \nPenny Wilson: We playworkers do not try to define play. It’s too big and will not be pinned down. Playwork writer and theorist Gordon Sturrock says that trying to define play is like trying to define love. We view play as a set of behaviors that are freely chosen, personally directed, and intrinsically motivated.  \nAJP: Is it fair, then, to ask what a playworker is?  \nWilson: It’s easier to describe what we do. We look at what is around for the children we seek to serve and for what they are missing. Then we establish an environment that helps compensate for what is missing. Then we watch how children are using the space and share our reflections as a team. Together we make adjustments informed by those observations and reflections. Then we watch some more.  \n© 2009 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois  \nAJP: Is that how playworkers become experts in play?  \nWilson: No! Playworkers are not experts in play. Children, given the chance, are experts in play. That is what children do. But I don’t know one single adult I trust who would claim to be a play expert the way children are. We cannot be. Play is an ancient language—the first universal language—but we lose it as we grow. As playworkers we try to relearn it, but we can never be as fluent in it again. Picasso spent his working life trying to re-create the childlike, unselfconscious, creative process. We can be playful as adults, of course. We can study play and playwork. We can learn a load about play. But we can never again be experts in play. However, that being said, many of us believe we know a lot about play because at one time we experienced it for ourselves. This beliefis a great asset to those of us who are interested in re-igniting the play flame for children within their communities. We can remind other adults just how very much they remember about it and then work with them to find ways to provide better play opportunities forchildren.  \nAJP: Is playwork an art or a science?  \nWilson: For me playwork is an art because that’s how I see the world and how I feel it and know it. For others, it is a science. For others still, it is a political act. Whatever playwork is, it is as different as folks. Given the right conditions every child plays just as every adult has a unique world view. Play encompasses all of human existence. It cannot be pinned down by artificial categories of knowledge. It’s best to think of playwork as a craft  \nand playworkers as artisans. That will cover the broadest of spectra. AJP: So what do playworkers do when they are practicing their craft?  \nWilson: We plan for possibilities. We talk thr","cbCaiaFM8Vuvx9x8","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaFM8Vuvx9x8","pdf",154683,14,"English","# The Cultural Origins and Play Philosophy of Playworkers\n## Defining play in playwork\n## What playworkers do and how they learn\n## Playwork as art, science, or politics\n## The play audit and enriching playground settings","[{\"question\":\"How do playworkers define play in this interview?\",\"answer\":\"Playworkers do not try to define play; they see it as freely chosen behaviors that are personally directed and intrinsically motivated.\"},{\"question\":\"What is a play audit, and what is it used for?\",\"answer\":\"A play audit is a constant process of observation and reflection where playworkers monitor how children use space so adjustments can support the kinds of play children need.\"},{\"question\":\"How do playworkers approach the challenge of being experts in play?\",\"answer\":\"The interview argues children, given the chance, are the experts in play, while playworkers help children relearn and re-access that language through supportive environments and facilitation.\"}]","The Cultural Origins and Play Philosophy of Playworkers - An Interview with Penny Wilson | PDF",22]