Spaces to Play, Places to Meet

Welcoming Young Children in Regional Western Australian Towns

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative data from a study of three towns in the South-West of Western Australia, this article emphasizesparticipants’ yearningfor spaces to play and places to meetby detailingthe towns’ narratives of welcome and longingandframing themes of playfulness and hospitality. Wearguethat towns that see themselves as places of courtesy, curiosity and imaginationare well-positioned to construct a vernacular of playfulness and hospitalityfor their citizens, activating quality of life for people of all ages.We also extend an invitation to early childhoodsettings to act aspublic common spaces,places of welcome, encounter and hospitality.