Taking play seriously

articles and papers on policy and advocacy for children’s play

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

For children, playing is as natural as breathing, and scarcely less important. It is how they engage with the world and form their identity within it. Playing is how children first communicate, socialise and explore. It is how they encounter and manage risks, develop their emotional awareness, and form attachments to people, places and things.

Play also has a key role in children’s creativity and capacity to learn. And the exuberant physicality of much of children’s play – given enough time and space for it – provides all the exercise they need. Most importantly, playing is simply how children enjoy life.

Yet, in the modern world, time and space to play is routinely constrained for millions of children. Their neighbourhoods are dominated by traffic, commerce and poor planning, their time filled with formal education and structured ‘enrichment activities’. Denied opportunities to play outside in the real world, their leisure time is monopolised by screens.

Our archive

Here you can browse stories, articles and papers from our archive, taken from 15 years of independent advocacy for policy on children’s play..