The Collection originated as an information centre run by the National Playing Fields Association and funded by a grant from the Wolfson Foundation in the 1970s. In 1984, it transferred to the Play Board, then from 1988 was under the auspices of the Sports Council. In 1996, the National Playing Fields Association resumed responsibility for NPIC, with funding from the Department of National Heritage, later the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This continued until 2000, when the National Children’s Bureau won the tender from the DCMS to run a national play information centre, known as the Children’s Play Information Service (CPIS).

In June 2014, the Collection was transferred from the NCB to the University of Sheffield Library’s Special Collections Department, where it is known as the National Play Collection. It is co-ordinated by Helen Woolley of the University’s Department of Landscape, a member of the Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth in the Faculty of Social Sciences.