City of Wanneroo leads the way with It’s All About Play

It’s All About Play was launched in 2016 to create a unique play environment that offers enriching and engaging early learning and development opportunities through play.

“It has been wonderful to see the large number of parents and children attending the It’s All About Play sessions at our libraries each week, enjoying rhymes, songs and play,” said Mayor Tracey Roberts.

“The City of Fremantle has also recognised the benefits It’s All About Play has on the community and implemented its own sessions in three locations.”

The Child and Parent Centre – Warriapendi in Balga (within City of Stirling) will also host the popular sessions.

Due to the success of the sessions at Wanneroo and Clarkson Libraries, which are attracting up to 80 participants each week, the City has also added sessions at the Girrawheen Library, Alkimos pop-up Library and Banksia Grove Community Centre.

Although It’s All About Play has only been running at these new locations for a few months, the sessions are attracting 30 participants or more.

About It’s All About Play

It’s All About Play was developed by the City of Wanneroo in response to findings from the federally funded Australian Early Development Census.

The It’s All About Play program is targeted at children aged between birth and four years and involves equipment, toys, books, activities and information to use in the library and at home.

To complement the program, the City partnered with Edith Cowan University’s ‘Pregnancy to Parenthood (P2P) Clinic’, Department of Child and Adolescence Community Heath, Child Health Nurses (CHN), and speech pathologists.

An intern from the P2P Clinic attends each session of It’s All About Play to offer support, and the CHNs run their drop-in clinics from rooms close by.