idealist.org

Did You Know that Today is World Play Day?

From Put Barber, editor of the Nonprofit FAQ.


Cricket photo from Flickr user prakhar Today is World Play Day. All you need do to participate in the celebration all over the globe is play. In a park, on a card-table, online, wherever you like.

World Play Day is sponsored by the International Toy Library Association, a Belgium-based umbrella group for organizations that offer the loan of toys or opportunities for shared play.

A search on Idealist.org for "toy library" turns up only three organizations. If you know of one that serves your community, or for that matter anyplace in the world, encourage them to create an organization listing so more kids can have access to toys and more people can have the satisfaction of sharing play-time opportunities more broadly. There are 124 organizations that have "toys" in their listings; if you have some unused toys you'd like to donate, this would be a terrific day to search for an organization near you that could put them to good use.

Today will be the 10th annual celebration of World Play Day. The goal of the organizers is "A day that is FUN, shows adults and children in interactive situations promoting the healthy growth of each other in simple, self-motivated activities of their own choice."

So, no matter how busy and jangled your schedule may be today, you can connect in a moment of vicarious shared celebration with others all over the world if you take a couple of minutes—or a couple of hours—to play. After all, how often can you claim that just getting out there to play is part of an organized world-wide campaign?