PlanToys was invited to co-design the play experience in public spaces at Bangkok Design Week 2023 at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) City Hall. In this event, we participated in a forum on the topic "Public Spaces" represented by Krit Uppatep, PlanToys Play Manager, to share our experiences working with children and opening the Forest of Play, PlanToys play space in Bangkok and Trang. We also established the “Play Build the Town” activity between 10-12 February 2023, in which 60 families participated.

The “Play Build the Town” activity came out of applying the Social Emotional Learning theory for children to understand their potential, meet new friends, express opinions, explore, and solve problems. Participants in this activity will also receive a "Brave Box"- a set of loose parts to bring home and enjoy.

This activity allows children to walk around and explore the nearby city areas. It encourages them to take notice of nature, buildings, temples, schools, restaurants, and parks to bring what they have found to create their own imaginary city in the Play Build the Town activity. Children can connect their existing experiences when new learning experiences. Together they built their dream town without forgetting the little details in their real-life surroundings. Some children created green spaces and wastewater treatment ponds, while others preferred an abundance of trees for visual beauty and shade.

We are delighted that children have learned to be aware of the importance of their surroundings. We hope this activity can be applied to other groups of children in the local community to learn how to improve their surrounding environments.