“When I was little, I loved to play”. Describing play experiences using a community-based lens

Focused on community play memories, the goals of this project were to (1) uncoverthe variety and degree of playful learning memories; (2) ascertain whethercommunity members would spontaneously share memories of play, and (3)appraise whether memories differed between low-income and mixed-incomecommunities. Results indicated that although community members freely sharedplay memories, the responses differed between the two communities. Those fromthe lower-income neighborhood were more likely to share experiences of playfullearning; these embraced multiple dimensions of development (e.g. cognitive,social, physical); describing a rarely acknowledged strength of lower-incomecommunities. It is concluded that a community project can elicit fond memories ofplayful learning and the wider range of play experiences. This portrait of a playfullearning community can be achieved through a fun and rich neighborhoodexperience. This study has implications for community engagement and supportingplay as a vehicle for community learning across diverse communities.