Dec 31, 2022 | Reflections, Zan
We’ve come to the end of the year and it’s been a little more of a pensive year than usual. I’d like to reflect on the year for myself, and share a little about what’s been going on. Meeting Our Own Needs Pop-Up Adventure Play has spent the last 12 years working to...
Oct 2, 2019 | Children, Community, Just Play MCR, Photos, Play, Playwork, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, Pop-Up Play Shop, Radcliffe, Zan
Sitting at a tiny desk in the middle of a swelteringly hot day in Hong Kong, I stared at an email that had just popped through. I am working in Asia and my brain is discombobulated from many layers of bilingual conversation. So upon reading this email, I wasn’t...
May 20, 2019 | Cardboard, Children, Music, Photos, Play, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, Radcliffe, Reflections, Zan
Quite without me realising, pop-up adventure playgrounds have become quite popular in my community. I am obviously delighted, but boy has it been busy! Here are some little reflections of some of those events this month: ***** 1. Radcliffe Market 3rd May The 4 of them...
Apr 24, 2019 | Charity, Children, Community, Just Play MCR, Manchester, photo, Play, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, Radcliffe, Volunteers, Zan
By Zan It’s been a while since I have written about my community pop-ups. The 19 Pop-Ups that we managed to host in 2018 were a real hit, so there has been a lot of anticipation for what 2019 will bring! So as not to inundate non-Manchester folk with local play...
Jan 1, 2019 | 2019, Adventure Play at The Parish School, Adventures, Asia, campference, Just Play MCR, Manchester, Morgan, PhD, photo, play conference, USA, Zan
By Zan The coming year promises to be filled with adventure. Right off the bat, we are excited to be just over a month away from the second-ever Playwork Campference, a gathering of over 70 play advocates from 6 different countries in one of our favourite adventure...
Oct 29, 2018 | Adventures, flight, fund raising, Giving Tuesday, Playwork, playworker, Playworker Travelling Fund, Pop-Up Adventure Play, robot, Zan
For this Giving Tuesday initiative Pop-Up Adventure Play aimed to raise funds for their Playworker Travelling Fund, supporting playwork travel to different communities. This was an opportunity to gather funds that would help playworkers travel to different...
Apr 26, 2018 | Children, Community, Photos, Play, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, Reflection, risk, tape, Zan
We explore the vibrant world of pop-up adventure playgrounds, illuminating how communities come alive through play. This adventure embodies the heart of our play-based approach and how we employ our resources within local communities. Stepping into a familiar...
Mar 22, 2018 | Adventure Play at The Parish School, adventure playground, Children, Jill Wood, Play, Pop-Up Adventure Play, press release, risk, Risk Study, Zan
I am really excited to be writing this blog post. It celebrates a publication written by fellow playworkers Jill Wood and Morgan Leichter-Saxby. Acknowledging my bias, I am always proud of everything that Morgan does (she is my work-wife after all!). But seriously,...
Jun 2, 2017 | box, child-led, Children, festival, Photos, Play, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, right to play, robot, Zan
After much organising and some epic geometrical loose parts stuffing into our cars, Pop-Up’s Andy and I found ourselves in the middle of a field and under a giant tent. This would be the site of our 3-day pop-up adventure playground at the Geronimo 2017...
Apr 2, 2017 | adventure playground, energy, junk, Junkyard, loose parts, musical, playworker, Zan
Sitting in my seat next to Andy, I felt really excited. I hadn’t thought about the set for Junkyard the Musical and now that I was looking at the silhouette of it on the stage before the show. It had real pallets, and barrels, and planks and rope…...
Mar 5, 2017 | campference, Children, connections, fire, Photos, Play, play advocates, Playwork, Santa Clarita Valley Adventure Play, weather, Zan
By Zan The five of us sat smiling at one another as we reaffirmed for the umpteenth time that organising our first-ever conference would be a fabulous idea. It was a year before the proposed date and our many play connections combined with our passion for play could...
Dec 28, 2016 | Adventures, Board of Directors, celebrations, Pop-Up Adventure Play, Pop-up Adventure Playgrounds, review, Zan
By Zan This year has been a tough one for Pop-Ups Morgan and me. We had set out to get our heads down and into our playwork PhDs but unexpected things happened and we both had to turn our focus onto our families. Nonetheless, we still have many things to celebrate...
