University of Leeds Civil Engineering

Collaborating with Playful Anywhere I designed a series of creative, interactive activities for qualitative research and engagement with the public about their experiences of Leeds City Centre.

Aimed at capturing diverse perspectives on outdoor play in the city centre, with a focus on inclusivity and accessibility. I led the development of the “Design Your Perfect Outdoor Play Space” activity, where we invited children to imagine their ideal play areas through drawing, crafting, and sensory work. Experienced artists, specialising in engaging with children facilitated these sessions, collecting visual and verbal insights from the children.

A “Spin the Wheel” activity was commissioned to feature customisable prompts that could spark discussions with our facilitators about accessibility and inclusivity of city spaces.

To encourage exploration of the city centre space from different perspectives, I created reverse periscopes to help adults view the city through the perspective of a child or wheelchair user, while playful periscopes were provided to enable children to be involved in the discussions also. These striking playful tool encouraged meaningful conversations between participants of all ages and facilitators.

Curated the free play resources of Playful Anywhere Playboxes such as tyres, hula hoops, and a giant ball run, I developed playful instructions to better support neurodivergent children and to ensure a calming retreat, I also contributed to the design of a quiet sensory space in the Playbox, equipped with sensory lighting, ear defenders, fidget toys, and bean bags. This holistic approach combined creative facilitation and thoughtful resource design to generate rich qualitative data through playful, multisensory experiences and inclusive engagement.

Field notes and observations were collated from all of the facilitators and drawings and creative outputs were collated or photographed if children wished to take them away.