[1] She became friendly with other women married to academic men who had given up their careers and together worked on projects such as the development of the playcentre movement.
Wood, together with Beatrice Beeby and Inge Smithells, established nursery playcentres in Wellington, New Zealand in the early 1940s.
[3] The aim of the playcentres was to give mothers some relief from single parenting while their husbands were absent fighting in World War II.
[4] On 22 July 1941 an inaugural meeting was held at Joan Wood's home and the thirteen women who attended agreed to establish a playcentre association.
All three women were anxious to be independent, however they were still able to benefit from the connections of their husbands (all three were married to influential men in the education field).