play@home is a physical activity programme for children from birth to five years - the first part of Active Fife, aimed at starting children on a lifetime of enjoyment of physical activity. The programme offers parents and carers the ideas to engage in and be aware of the importance of play, physical activity and social interaction in a culture of enthusiasm and fun. Presented in three stages, each book includes sections on movement and learning, baby massage, action songs and rhymes.
The play@home Baby Book is issued to all new parents in Fife by Health Visitors. The play@home Toddler Book is posted directly to parents' homes around the time of their child's first birthday and the play@home Pre-school Book is issued to three-year-olds on enrolment at nursery. The programme is provided through a partnership agreement between Fife Council Education Service and NHS Fife. Based on an original idea from New Zealand, the programme has been adapted for use in Scotland. Although originally intended for use in Fife the programme has spread across a large area of Scotland and is currently being used in many areas including North, South and East Ayrshire, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Argyll and Clyde, Morayshire and Renfrewshire.
Currently there is a play@home Development Worker in Fife developing a training pack to support the uptake of activities from the play@home books for the Early Years Workforce. It is anticipated that this training pack will be completed by March 2008.