From playground to patient: reflections on a traditional games project in a pædiatric hospital

Abstract

This article describes an innovative, but little-known Australian project, which took place in 1990. Tops, Tales and Granny's False Teeth was an initiative to introduce children's own play culture into the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, in the form of an interactive exhibition of children's traditional playground games. While play was valued in the hospital for its therapeutic role, children's own play culture, with its child-initiated rituals and rules, was somewhat different. Throughout the project, the exhibition staff witnessed connections being made between children and their own play culture and the unexpected benefits this had for the patients' well-being. The day-to-day happenings in the exhibition were documented, and this detailed documentation reveals, so many years later, the effect of this pioneering project on those involved and prompts reflection on its relevance to children in hospital today. Is there a place for children's own play culture in today's paediatric hospitals?