Playful Gardens are monthly, inclusive family play days held outdoors within the Dundee Botanic gardens. Those involved in Playful Gardens see the huge benefits for families, but we wanted to learn more about families’ experiences at the events. In 2023-24 Playful Gardens were able to host Tara O’Leary, a research student from University of Dundee Psychology, to undertake a mixed methods, qualitative, exploratory study looking at the subjective experiences of participants in the Playful Gardens project in Dundee. We have published a summary of her research which told us a lot about what families value about the day and will help to inform the project as we go forward.
Read the research summary here:
Playful Gardens is a collaboration between Dundee Contemporary Arts, University of Dundee, Scrap Antics, NHS Tayside CAMHS team and Dundee Botanical Gardens. We are also joined by lots of wonderful organisations each session including Barnardo’s, the Yard, Sound Play Studios, PAMIS, Peace Begins With Me, Music Broth, Everwild, and many more.
Playful Gardens has also been shortlisted for a Fantastic for Families Impact and Innovation Award so we are keeping our fingers crossed! https://www.familyarts.co.uk/fantastic-for-families-awards-shortlist-2024/