Adventurous play in1 schools as a mechanism for reducing risk for childhood anxiety.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Sch of Psychology and Clinical Lang Sci
Abstract
When children play in an adventurous way, climbing trees, riding their bikes fast downhill, jumping from rocks, they experience feelings of fear and excitement, thrill and adrenaline. Being able to experiment with these feelings by taking some age-appropriate risks in their play helps children to learn about fear, uncertainty, risk-judgement and coping. This learning may later help to protect children from becoming overwhelmed by anxiety when they are faced with a situation that is scary or uncertain.
Unfortunately, many children today do not have the same opportunities to play in an adventurous way that children did in the past. Over the past few decades there has been a decline in the amount of time children spend playing outdoors, where adventurous play most often takes place. There are many reasons for this decline but one important reason is the increased emphasis on keeping children safe from physical harm. Of course, we all want to keep our children safe but there is concern that we may be keeping children too safe. By overly protecting children from physical harm we may increase their risk for emotional problems by denying them to opportunities to learn through adventurous play.
Problems with anxiety during childhood are very common. Almost all children experience periods of fear and anxiety during childhood and these often pass quickly without causing too much concern. However, some children feel so anxious that they cannot do some of the things they would like to do. The research planned will explore whether we may be able to decrease the likelihood of children experiences problematic anxiety by increasing their adventurous play in school.
This research is important because it may help us to design ways of increasing adventurous play and decreasing the chances of children having long-term problems with anxiety. To ensure that the research benefits society, the work is being planned and conducted together with organisations who affect play policy such as the Play Safety Forum, and those and who design children's play spaces, such as HAGS, as well as psychologists, parents and school staff. The research has the potential to dramatically affect the way that schools approach children's play and to significantly decrease anxiety problems as a consequence. This would improve the quality of life of the children across the UK and decrease the substantial societal costs associated with long-term mental health problems.
Unfortunately, many children today do not have the same opportunities to play in an adventurous way that children did in the past. Over the past few decades there has been a decline in the amount of time children spend playing outdoors, where adventurous play most often takes place. There are many reasons for this decline but one important reason is the increased emphasis on keeping children safe from physical harm. Of course, we all want to keep our children safe but there is concern that we may be keeping children too safe. By overly protecting children from physical harm we may increase their risk for emotional problems by denying them to opportunities to learn through adventurous play.
Problems with anxiety during childhood are very common. Almost all children experience periods of fear and anxiety during childhood and these often pass quickly without causing too much concern. However, some children feel so anxious that they cannot do some of the things they would like to do. The research planned will explore whether we may be able to decrease the likelihood of children experiences problematic anxiety by increasing their adventurous play in school.
This research is important because it may help us to design ways of increasing adventurous play and decreasing the chances of children having long-term problems with anxiety. To ensure that the research benefits society, the work is being planned and conducted together with organisations who affect play policy such as the Play Safety Forum, and those and who design children's play spaces, such as HAGS, as well as psychologists, parents and school staff. The research has the potential to dramatically affect the way that schools approach children's play and to significantly decrease anxiety problems as a consequence. This would improve the quality of life of the children across the UK and decrease the substantial societal costs associated with long-term mental health problems.
Planned Impact
Play is important for both children's physical health and emotional well-being. Adventurous play, where children are given space to take risks in their play, to explore fear, uncertainty and excitement, may decrease children's anxiety symptoms and anxiety risk (Sanseter & Kennair, 2011) but no empirical research has been conducted to examine this. The proposed program of research addresses this novel research question. In doing so the work has the potential to affect policy, practice and industry.
Anxiety is the most common emotional problem affecting primary school-aged children in the UK (Ford et al., 2003). Anxiety problems during childhood place a significant financial burden on society, with the societal cost of families with a clinically anxious child estimated to be 21 times higher than for families from the general population (Bodden et al., 2008). Furthermore, child anxiety is linked to long-term mental health problems, academic underperformance and substance abuse. The proposed project will provide outputs that directly inform how schools can affect children's play in a way that may help to decrease the proportion of children who develop clinically significant anxiety problems. This will significantly improve the quality of life of the children affected and their parents. Decreasing the number of children with anxiety problems will also decrease the burden that mental health problems place on teachers, clinical psychologists and society.
This impact will be realised through:
- influencing school policies to reduce the emphasis on risk-aversion and increase the emphasis on adventurous play and appropriate risk-taking.
- the increased use of programmes designed to increase children's adventurous play in schools.
- investment in school playground design to support opportunities for adventurous play when children are at school.
- changes to education policy to include opportunity for adventurous play as a priority for schools.
- investment in and increased provision of children's public play spaces and informed design of playgrounds to maximise opportunities for adventurous play.
- changes to national play policies (e.g. Play Wales) and government policy to highlight the benefits of allowing children to take some risks in their play and the potential costs of surplus safety, for children's mental health.
Another important potential impact is on the play sector, as follows:
Project collaborators, partners and other organisations who design and build children's play spaces will benefit from:
- having empirical research to inform the development of novel play space design
- increased demand for improvements to play spaces
- access to data on national trends in outdoor play in order to identify where there is a need for more, or better, playgrounds.
- having research that they can use in marketing campaigns
Play organisations and groups such as the Play Safety Forum who advise government and policy makers will benefit because:
- the research can be used to support their position that a balance between safety and healthy risk taking in children's play is essential.
- the findings can be used to inform their policies as well as the policy guidance they provide.
The specific activities that will be undertaken to achieve this impact are described in the Pathways to Impact attachment.
Bodden, D.H.M., et al. (2008). Societal burden of clinically anxious youth referred for treatment: A cost-of-illness study. Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology, 36, 487-497.
Ford, T., et al., (2003). The British child and adolescent mental health survey 1999: The prevalence of DSM-IV disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1203-1211.
Sandseter, E. B. H., & Kennair, L. E. O. (2011). Children's risky play from an evolutionary perspective:The anti-phobic effects of thrilling experiences. Evolutionary psychology, 9(2), 257-284.
Anxiety is the most common emotional problem affecting primary school-aged children in the UK (Ford et al., 2003). Anxiety problems during childhood place a significant financial burden on society, with the societal cost of families with a clinically anxious child estimated to be 21 times higher than for families from the general population (Bodden et al., 2008). Furthermore, child anxiety is linked to long-term mental health problems, academic underperformance and substance abuse. The proposed project will provide outputs that directly inform how schools can affect children's play in a way that may help to decrease the proportion of children who develop clinically significant anxiety problems. This will significantly improve the quality of life of the children affected and their parents. Decreasing the number of children with anxiety problems will also decrease the burden that mental health problems place on teachers, clinical psychologists and society.
This impact will be realised through:
- influencing school policies to reduce the emphasis on risk-aversion and increase the emphasis on adventurous play and appropriate risk-taking.
- the increased use of programmes designed to increase children's adventurous play in schools.
- investment in school playground design to support opportunities for adventurous play when children are at school.
- changes to education policy to include opportunity for adventurous play as a priority for schools.
- investment in and increased provision of children's public play spaces and informed design of playgrounds to maximise opportunities for adventurous play.
- changes to national play policies (e.g. Play Wales) and government policy to highlight the benefits of allowing children to take some risks in their play and the potential costs of surplus safety, for children's mental health.
Another important potential impact is on the play sector, as follows:
Project collaborators, partners and other organisations who design and build children's play spaces will benefit from:
- having empirical research to inform the development of novel play space design
- increased demand for improvements to play spaces
- access to data on national trends in outdoor play in order to identify where there is a need for more, or better, playgrounds.
- having research that they can use in marketing campaigns
Play organisations and groups such as the Play Safety Forum who advise government and policy makers will benefit because:
- the research can be used to support their position that a balance between safety and healthy risk taking in children's play is essential.
- the findings can be used to inform their policies as well as the policy guidance they provide.
The specific activities that will be undertaken to achieve this impact are described in the Pathways to Impact attachment.
Bodden, D.H.M., et al. (2008). Societal burden of clinically anxious youth referred for treatment: A cost-of-illness study. Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology, 36, 487-497.
Ford, T., et al., (2003). The British child and adolescent mental health survey 1999: The prevalence of DSM-IV disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1203-1211.
Sandseter, E. B. H., & Kennair, L. E. O. (2011). Children's risky play from an evolutionary perspective:The anti-phobic effects of thrilling experiences. Evolutionary psychology, 9(2), 257-284.
Organisations
- University of Reading (Lead Research Organisation)
- Museum of English Rural Life - MERL (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- Save the Children UK (Collaboration)
- University of Sussex (Collaboration)
- Play England (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Bath (Collaboration)
- HAGS UK (Project Partner)
- Association of Play Industries (Project Partner)
- Play Wales (Project Partner)
- PlayBoard Northern Ireland (Project Partner)
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Fellow)
Publications
Dodd HF
(2021)
Children's Play and Independent Mobility in 2020: Results from the British Children's Play Survey.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
Dodd HF
(2023)
Child's Play: Examining the Association Between Time Spent Playing and Child Mental Health.
in Child psychiatry and human development
Dodd HF
(2022)
Correction: Dodd et al. Children's Play and Independent Mobility in 2020: Results from the British Children's Play Survey. Int. J. Environ. Hum. Health 2021, 18, 4334.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
Dodd HF
(2021)
Adventurous Play as a Mechanism for Reducing Risk for Childhood Anxiety: A Conceptual Model.
in Clinical child and family psychology review
Dodd HF
(2021)
Development and evaluation of a new measure of children's play: the Children's Play Scale (CPS).
in BMC public health
FitzGibbon L
(2024)
A scoping review of methods and measures used to capture children's play during school breaktimes
in Educational Review
Hesketh KR
(2023)
More play and fewer screens: a way to improve preschoolers' mental health? Cross-sectional findings from the British Preschool-children's Play Survey.
in Lancet (London, England)
Morgan Fran
(2023)
Square Pegs: Inclusivity, compassion and fitting in - a guide for schools
| Description | The first aim of this award was to establish which UK children should be prioritised for school-based programmes that increase adventurous play. To evaluate this we conducted a national survey (The British Children's Play Survey) in April 2020. The survey was conducted with 1919 parents of children aged 5-11 years. Parents told us about where children play, how long they play for in different places and how adventurously they play. Our results showed that the children spending the least time playing adventurously were older children, female, children with disabilities or whose parent had a disability, children whose parent worked full time and children with older parents. Geographical region and location were not associated with adventurous play. Children spent more time playing adventurously when their parent had positive attitudes about the benefits of risk taking in play. These results tell us that for interventions we need to ensure we reach older children with older parents who are working full time. We also need to think carefully about how to ensure that children considered to have a disability, broadly defined, also have ample opportuinty for playing adventurously. The BCPS created a rich dataset that we have subsequently used to address other research questions. We have also conducted a parallel study using a smaller sample of participants from Northern Ireland. In one paper we examine the association between outdoor and adventurous play and children's mental health using data from both samples. The findings were consistent across the two samples; children who spent more time playing outside and more time playing adventurously had lower internalising symptoms (like anxiety) and had more positive mood during the first Covid-19 lockdown. These findings are consistent with our theoretical model that adventurous play can help to prevent anxiety. In addition to this follow-up study we have also analysed open response questions where parents told us what makes it harder and what makes it easier for them to support their children's adventurous play. This analysis led to the development of a framework that hightlights the range of factors that influence parents ability to support adventurous play. We then used this framework to code responses from the entire sample so that we could ascertain which are the most cited barriers and facilitators in order to inform policy and practice. We identified that there are a wide range of barriers that vary substantially across individuals. This means that programmes that aim to improve children's access to adventurous play will need to consider and target a wide range of factors, which may require a systems-level approach. |
| Exploitation Route | The main outcome so far has relevance for who to target in terms of adventurous play interventions and why it is important to ensure all children have an opportunity to play adventurously. Our work should also support guidance for local authorities and governments in terms of how to improve children's opportunities for adventurous play. |
| Sectors | Education,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| Description | There are three strands of impact in relation to my research. 1. Impact related to the sharing of theoretical ideas about how adventurous play could be used to target risk mechanisms in anxiety. These ideas have been shared formally in a theoretical paper, via presentations and in the media (see relevant sections) but also informally with a wide range of stakeholders and users. For example, I attend the quarterly meetings of the Children's Play Policy Forum and Play Safety Forum, who advocate for children's right to play and advise on children's play policy. In these forums I have been able to engage with a range of research users including play advocacy organisation such as Play England and organisations such as the National Trust who have an interest in children's play. I have dedicated significant time to visiting and building relationship with a range of partners whose insights inform the research process and who will be users of the research. These include play equipment manufacturers, not for profit organisations who work with schools to improve outdoor play and learning, charities who provide adventurous play opportunities to children and organisations who inform policy. By sharing my theoretical ideas with these users, the primary impact has been to provide a scientific basis for them to draw on to support the work that they do. As the project progresses I will be sharing my findings with these groups and monitoring how they use the results. 2. Impact related to advocating for children's play during Covid-19. As a result of the pandemic, children's play has been restricted in some way for a year. Throughout this time I have engaged in extensive public engagement to encourage and support parents to give their children time to play as a way of supporting their mental health. I have also given a number of talks to professionals who are working with children to provide them with evidence to support making time to play and to give practical advice on how to create a good play environment. The feedback I have received from these events suggests that attendees appreciate having the evidence to support them to feel empowered to support children's play. I also led the PlayFirstUK campaign, together with colleagues across a number of universities. We wrote twice to government and there is evidence that, at least in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the evidence that we provided and letters that we wrote influenced policy-makers decisions regarding the easing of lockdown, opening of playareas and focus for education. During spring 2021 I worked with Play England and Save the Children to launch the Summer of Play Campaign, which led to over 500 organisations and people openly signing a pledge to support children's play, over 20,000 visits to a website that we developed for the campaign and over 100,000 items donated by businesses to support children's play. 3. The impact of a historical archive. I have been collaborting with The MERL to create a digital archive of children's play during the pandemic. This archive will be desiged so that children's experiences of the pandemic are preserved for future generations. This work featured on the from page of The Sunday Times in December 2020. Whilst it is not possible to say what the impact of this archive will be I feel it is an important contribution to the historical record that may impact how future generations view and remember this period in history. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Delphi study Wales Covid-19 under 5s |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | PlayFirstUK influence on public and policy |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Description | Summer of Play Campaign |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | Launched in May 2021 with around 15 initial signatories, by the start of the summer holidays nearly 400 businesses, charities and councils had signed up to the campaign. From household names including the Lego, Arsenal and Greggs Foundations and Hasbro, to local charities and businesses, this pledge clearly tapped into a widely-held view that play is an effective way of improving children's mental and physical wellbeing. Over 500 organisations and people pledged their support to ensure the summer holidays could be a time of fun, friends and freedom for all children, running thousands of activities in communities across the country. More than 20,000 people visited the website to see resources and ideas to play with their children, and over 100,000 items were donated by businesses to local community groups to enable more children to play. It's been particularly noteworthy to see the innovation and ambition of campaigns powered by local communities - such as the growing Play Streets movement championed by Playing Out, and the use of new technology, such as how 'Beat the Street' is turning entire cities and towns into giant playgrounds filled with fun activities for children via a free-to-download app. The Scottish Government committed £20m to a Summer of Play, and the UK government cited research by Save the Children and Beano Brain when launching its 'Rediscover Summer' campaign. |
| URL | https://www.summerofplay.co.uk/ |
| Description | Adventurous play: A Randomised Control Trial examining the effects of a parental risk re-framing intervention on children's adventurous play and emoti |
| Amount | £54,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2449787 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2020 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Aurora Leadership Programme Funding for Dr Rachel Nesbit |
| Amount | £750 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2021 |
| End | 01/2022 |
| Description | COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics (Co-SPACE) |
| Amount | £285,596 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/V004034/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2020 |
| End | 05/2021 |
| Description | Global Partnership Development Award, College of Medicine and Health Sciences. |
| Amount | £2,688 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2021 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | Online parent intervention to prevent anxiety disorders in at-risk children |
| Amount | £1,016,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Kavli Foundation |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 04/2020 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Title | Children's Play Scale development and evaluation |
| Description | There is increasing recognition of the importance of children's play from a public health perspective given the links between play and children's physical and mental health. We developed and evaluated a new parent-report questionnaire that measures the time children spend playing and how adventurously children play, across a range of places. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The scale has only recently been published so there are no impacts yet beyond the use of the scale in my own research. |
| URL | https://osf.io/637rd/?view_only=e11a2e1accd843c59cecb3a54fc7767e |
| Title | British Children's Play Survey |
| Description | The British Children's Play Survey was conducted in April 2020 with 1,919 parents living in Britain who had a child aged 5 to 11 years. The sample were approximately nationally representative and the data were weighted to the national profile of all adults aged 18+, including those without internet access. The data were weighted based on age, gender, social class, region and level of education. Parents completed the Children's Play Scale, along with measures that asked about independent mobility, parent attitudes to risk in play, children's organised activities, screen time, mental health and holidays along with questions about respondent's mental health and some questions related to COVID-19. A series of questions were also asked about socio-demographic and geographic characteristics. This dataset provides most of the raw survey data. Not all data are provided within this dataset in order to protect participants' identity and because some data is still being analysed for publication by the authors. Updates will be made to the published dataset as further papers are published. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | I have been contacted by a number of people interested in using the dataset. No known additional studies have been published yet using the data. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8793 |
| Description | Pandemic Play collaboration with MERL |
| Organisation | Museum of English Rural Life - MERL |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We came up with the idea of creating an archive of children's play during the pandemic and approach The MERL to ask if they would like to collaborate. We have publicised the research and interacted with media to encourage people to submit to the archive. Our team are managing the submissions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The MERL gave detailed, expert advice about how to create a digitial archive, what information to collect and how to preserve the archive over time. They also used their social media channels to encourage submissions to the archive. |
| Impact | We are collaborating the create a digital archive of children's play during the pandemic. The archive is not yet created or publicly available but it should be completed by the end of 2021. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | PlayFirstUK |
| Organisation | University of Bath |
| Department | Department of Psychology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In May 2020 I worked closely with colleagues across these Universities to establish PlayFirstUK. Under this title we wrote to government to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown and how to prioritise children's social and emotional health. We wrote again a second time in February 2021, for similar reasons. Both campaigns attracted significant attention in the media. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Members of staff from each of these Universities worked together to write the letter and associated evidence on both occasions. The press offices worked together to ensure good media coverage of the campaign. |
| Impact | The outcomes of this collaboration are two letters to government and an accompanying evidence document, substantial media coverage and some influence on policy acrossthe UK. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | PlayFirstUK |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In May 2020 I worked closely with colleagues across these Universities to establish PlayFirstUK. Under this title we wrote to government to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown and how to prioritise children's social and emotional health. We wrote again a second time in February 2021, for similar reasons. Both campaigns attracted significant attention in the media. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Members of staff from each of these Universities worked together to write the letter and associated evidence on both occasions. The press offices worked together to ensure good media coverage of the campaign. |
| Impact | The outcomes of this collaboration are two letters to government and an accompanying evidence document, substantial media coverage and some influence on policy acrossthe UK. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | PlayFirstUK |
| Organisation | University of Gloucestershire |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In May 2020 I worked closely with colleagues across these Universities to establish PlayFirstUK. Under this title we wrote to government to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown and how to prioritise children's social and emotional health. We wrote again a second time in February 2021, for similar reasons. Both campaigns attracted significant attention in the media. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Members of staff from each of these Universities worked together to write the letter and associated evidence on both occasions. The press offices worked together to ensure good media coverage of the campaign. |
| Impact | The outcomes of this collaboration are two letters to government and an accompanying evidence document, substantial media coverage and some influence on policy acrossthe UK. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | PlayFirstUK |
| Organisation | University of Sussex |
| Department | School of Psychology Sussex |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In May 2020 I worked closely with colleagues across these Universities to establish PlayFirstUK. Under this title we wrote to government to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown and how to prioritise children's social and emotional health. We wrote again a second time in February 2021, for similar reasons. Both campaigns attracted significant attention in the media. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Members of staff from each of these Universities worked together to write the letter and associated evidence on both occasions. The press offices worked together to ensure good media coverage of the campaign. |
| Impact | The outcomes of this collaboration are two letters to government and an accompanying evidence document, substantial media coverage and some influence on policy acrossthe UK. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Summer of Play collaboration 2021 onwards |
| Organisation | Play England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Myself and members of research team met with Play England in Feb 2021 to discuss a campaign highlighting the importance of play as part of children's recovery from Covid-19. Save the Children had reached out to me to discuss how they could help with the work I was doing with the PlayFirstUK group and I suggested to Play England that we meet together. We subequently met and developed a plan for a 'Summer of play' campaign. Myself and members of my team fed key ideas into the campaign on the basis of our research and our understanding of government policy regarding educational catch-up. We met regularly with the collaborators and liased with journalists to ensure good media coverage. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Play England were key to this partnership by bringing connections with other play organisations and giving credibility to the play message. Anita Grant, chair of Play England was key to driving the campaign vision and ideas. Save the Children provided resources, including web-development team and press office and were able to use their profile to get other organisations involved and supporting the campaign. Dan Paskins from Save the Children was key also in driving ideas and implementation. |
| Impact | Launched in May 2021 with around 15 initial signatories, by the start of the summer holidays nearly 400 businesses, charities and councils had signed up to the campaign. From household names including the Lego, Arsenal and Greggs Foundations and Hasbro, to local charities and businesses, this pledge clearly tapped into a widely-held view that play is an effective way of improving children's mental and physical wellbeing. Over 500 organisations and people pledged their support to ensure the summer holidays could be a time of fun, friends and freedom for all children, running thousands of activities in communities across the country. More than 20,000 people visited the website to see resources and ideas to play with their children, and over 100,000 items were donated by businesses to local community groups to enable more children to play. It's been particularly noteworthy to see the innovation and ambition of campaigns powered by local communities - such as the growing Play Streets movement championed by Playing Out, and the use of new technology, such as how 'Beat the Street' is turning entire cities and towns into giant playgrounds filled with fun activities for children via a free-to-download app. The Scottish Government committed £20m to a Summer of Play, and the UK government cited research by Save the Children and Beano Brain when launching its 'Rediscover Summer' campaign. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Summer of Play collaboration 2021 onwards |
| Organisation | Save the Children UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Myself and members of research team met with Play England in Feb 2021 to discuss a campaign highlighting the importance of play as part of children's recovery from Covid-19. Save the Children had reached out to me to discuss how they could help with the work I was doing with the PlayFirstUK group and I suggested to Play England that we meet together. We subequently met and developed a plan for a 'Summer of play' campaign. Myself and members of my team fed key ideas into the campaign on the basis of our research and our understanding of government policy regarding educational catch-up. We met regularly with the collaborators and liased with journalists to ensure good media coverage. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Play England were key to this partnership by bringing connections with other play organisations and giving credibility to the play message. Anita Grant, chair of Play England was key to driving the campaign vision and ideas. Save the Children provided resources, including web-development team and press office and were able to use their profile to get other organisations involved and supporting the campaign. Dan Paskins from Save the Children was key also in driving ideas and implementation. |
| Impact | Launched in May 2021 with around 15 initial signatories, by the start of the summer holidays nearly 400 businesses, charities and councils had signed up to the campaign. From household names including the Lego, Arsenal and Greggs Foundations and Hasbro, to local charities and businesses, this pledge clearly tapped into a widely-held view that play is an effective way of improving children's mental and physical wellbeing. Over 500 organisations and people pledged their support to ensure the summer holidays could be a time of fun, friends and freedom for all children, running thousands of activities in communities across the country. More than 20,000 people visited the website to see resources and ideas to play with their children, and over 100,000 items were donated by businesses to local community groups to enable more children to play. It's been particularly noteworthy to see the innovation and ambition of campaigns powered by local communities - such as the growing Play Streets movement championed by Playing Out, and the use of new technology, such as how 'Beat the Street' is turning entire cities and towns into giant playgrounds filled with fun activities for children via a free-to-download app. The Scottish Government committed £20m to a Summer of Play, and the UK government cited research by Save the Children and Beano Brain when launching its 'Rediscover Summer' campaign. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | A Review of the Barriers and Facilitators of Adventurous Play in Schools: Implications for policy and Practice. Play 2021, a virtual conference on children, play and space. University of Birmingham. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation on an international play conference. Research dissemination and opportunities for networking. Importantly, provided a platform to share recommendations for policy and practice to relevant stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Adventurous play in schools: What helps and hinders? The case for play in schools: an OPAL online open day. (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak at the OPAL open day about the findings of our recently published review paper. Research dissemination to relevant stakeholders (schools, parents). Our team gave two talks, one by Professor Helen Dodd and another by Dr Rachel Nesbit. The audience reported changes in their opinions and there was some evidence of behaviour change with audience members reaching out to find out more about implementing play programmes in schools themselves. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtxXw0m4y8 |
| Description | BBC Radio 4 PM |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview with Eva Davis on BBC Radio 4 PM programme. In the interview we discuss our recent findings from the British Children's Play Survey including changes in independent mobility. We also discuss the importance of play for children's recovery from the Covid19 pandemic. This was part of a wider media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of play and to bring this to the public consciousness. No direct impacts were recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Berkshire |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview with Phil Kennedy on the BBC Radio Berkshire drivetime radio programme. In the interview we discussed the importance of play for children's recovery from the pandemic. This was part of a wider campaign to raise awareness of the importance of play and to bring this to the public consciousness. No direct impacts were recorded. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Berkshire |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I have been a regular guest on Radio Berkshire who often invite me to interview on air about topics around children's mental health and play. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Birmingham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak on BBC Radio Birmingham discussing children's the findings from the British Children's Play survey and children's recovery from the pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak on BBC Radio Scotland to discuss the findings of the British Children's Play Survey. Conversing with parents regarding children's safety and independent mobility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak on BBC Radio Scotland discussing children's recovery from the pandemic and the need for play (related to the Summer of Play campaign). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BPS Summer of Play Piece |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Contacted the BPS regarding supporting the Summer of Play Campaign and requesting their support. Decision to publish a piece regarding the campaign and the BPS confirmed support. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-supports-summerofplay-campaign |
| Description | Barriers and facilitators of adventurous play in schools. SEED Group, University of Sussex (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to a research group interested in child development and mental health. Opportunity for research dissemination and networking. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | CPPF meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I join the Children's Play Policy Forum meetings every quarter. These meetings are attended by the leads for the play organisations of the four nations and a range of other organisations invested in children's play such as the National Trust, the Landscape Institue, Learning through Landscapes etc. This allows me to discuss my research plans with the forum and present initial findings for feedback. These meetings have been vital for supporting me to think about how to influence policy and to ens |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020,2021 |
| URL | https://childrensplaypolicyforum.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | Children and Adolescent's Recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic. Citi Bank Children and Families Network (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to parents employed by Citi bank about understanding and supporting their child's recovery from the pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Children and Adolescent's Recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic. Citi Bank Children and Families Network (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to parents employed by Citi bank about understanding and supporting their child's recovery from the pandemic (delivered with Rachel Nesbit). Parents reported a change in attitude towards outdoor and adventurous play. Remembering their own childhood freedoms allowed them to reflect on the importance of freedoms for their children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Children and Young People Now Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I wrote an article together with two colleagues for the Children and Young People Now news website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.cypnow.co.uk/analysis/article/how-play-can-help-children-transition-back-to-school |
| Description | Children's street play in Britain - presentation at Play21 conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation presenting results from the Great British Play Survey, a nationally representative survey of play in Britain in 2020. The talk focused on street play. There was good engagement in the discussion afterwards including making plans to discuss these results and other, related datasets with the organisation Ludicology (meeting occurred on 22nd September 2021). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.playfulplanet.org.uk/play2021 |
| Description | Children's street play in Britain: Results of a nationally representative survey. The British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation presenting results from the Great British Play Survey, a nationally representative survey of play in Britain in 2020. The talk focused on street play. There was good engagement in the discussion afterwards reflection on generational changes in street play and the impact of local-level features such as speed limits and urban design. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.delegate-reg.co.uk/dev2021/programme |
| Description | Co-SPYCE reports |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We have produced reports detailing how young children's mental health has been affected by lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic. These reports are publicly available and have been covered in a range of media outlets. They are also shared with a range of policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | http://cospaceoxford.org/ |
| Description | Defining adventurous play. Presentation at the International Step by Step Association (SSA) Joint Learning Lab Meeting (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to speak with international colleagues about defining adventurous play. Opportunity for international networking and raising profile of teams ongoing work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | E-ACT ideads conference - capitalising on non-structured time in the school day to improve wellbeing. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to speak at an event hosted by E-ACT and TES focused on mental health in schools. I delivered a presentation about how playtimes might be used to support children's mental health and gave practical tips on what schools could do. I know that a number of audience members immediately made changes to their school practice or contacted OPAL about a playtime programme. I have consistently had very positive feedback on the talk and I have had several invitations to do more presentations from audience members and their organisations as well. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://hopin.com/events/e-act-ideas-conference-2021 |
| Description | ECEO now working group webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Policymakers, practitioners, researchers and families were invited to Advancing Early Childhood Education Outdoors Now webinars to bring into focus visions of licensed early childhood education outdoors tailored to British Columbia, Canada, and identify next steps toward their manifestations. I was invited to be a panel member for their first event. Audience members were primarily practitioners but also include policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://eceonow.pwias.ubc.ca/ |
| Description | Early Years Scotland Talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I ran a CPD webinar for Early Years Scotland. This was attended by 91 practitioners and members of Early Years Scotland, who are primarily early years practitioners. The focus of the talk was on the importance of play for children's emotional wellbeing. I also shared findings from the national survey study. Feedback was that event was really helpful for giving tips to take back to professional practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Emerging Minds Advice for covid-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Toogether with colleagues, we produced evidence-based advice for parents and caregivers about how to support children's mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was shared widely and has been translated into 15 languages. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://emergingminds.org.uk/advice-for-parents-carers-supporting-children-young-people-with-worries... |
| Description | Emerging minds webinar about anxiety during Covid-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I recorded a webinar for the Emerging Minds network about evidence-based recommendations for supporting children's mental health during Covid-19. It was a live event and also recorded and currently available on YouTube. The YouTube video has had around 500 views. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://emergingminds.org.uk/podcast-how-can-we-best-support-children-and-young-people-with-their-wo... |
| Description | Emerging minds webinar about play |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I recorded a webinar for the Emerging Minds network regarding the evidence for supporting children's mental health through play. The webinar was recorded and is available on YouTube. It has been watched by over 200 people as well as those how attended the live event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://emergingminds.org.uk/podcast-let-us-play-childrens-mental-health-during-covid-19/ |
| Description | FST Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I wrote a blog for the Foundation for Science and Technology and lockdown during Covid-19 and children's mental health. The Foundation for Science and Technology is a UK charity, providing an impartial platform for debate of policy issues that have a science, research, technology or innovation element. Established in 1977, the Foundation brings together Parliamentarians, civil servants, industrialists, researchers, learned societies, charities and others. The blog is therefore read by a wide-range of research users. FST reported that this was their most-read blog and had attracted significant traffic to their webpage. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.foundation.org.uk/Blog/2020/Is-lockdown-bad-for-children-s-mental-health |
| Description | Facilitating Adventurous Play in Schools (Invited researcher of the month, podcast for Tooled Up Education). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Invited as researcher of the month for Tooled Up Education, speaking about our work on adventurous play in schools and what might help and hinder. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.tooledupeducation.com/research/facilitating-adventurous-play-in-schools/ |
| Description | Get a Grip Parenting podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I recorded a podcast with Dr Kathy Weston who runs the Get a Grip Parenting podcast. We discussed children's mental health and play during the Covid-19 pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.drkathyweston.com/podcast |
| Description | How to Play: National Maritime Museum public engagement event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The National Maritime Museum invited me to present at a webinar as part of their public engagement work. The webinar focused on 'How to play' and supporting parent, families and museums to be more playful in their approach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/online/webinar-how-create-playful-spaces-places-people |
| Description | International Surf Therapy Organisation Keynote Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | The International Surf Therapy Organisation invited me to be their keynote speaker at their international conference. I shared with them the conceptual work that I have published within my fellowship. The audience were primarily practitioners who use surf therapy to support children's mental health and they reported that my talk gave them a scientific basis to support the work they do and gave them a focus on terms of the experiences they wish to create for children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.waveproject.co.uk/isto-2021/ |
| Description | Interview with Guardian - children being school ready |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed for The Guardian about young children's school readiness following lockdown and Covid-19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/18/fewer-uk-children-school-ready-after-covid-nursery... |
| Description | Interview with Guardian Weekend - homeschool - young children |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed for an article in The Guardian about how homeschooling might be affecting young children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/feb/06/they-are-scared-to-try-new-things-how-is-home-s... |
| Description | Meeting to discuss monitoring of low traffic schemes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with representatives from Islington Local Authority working on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood and School Streets schemes to discuss the value of monitoring the impact of these schemes on children. The Islington Team agreed to ensure that children's voices were heard in future monitoring programmes (decision made). We also agreed to continue to work together on the monitoring of impact on children (planned future activity). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting to discuss monitoring of low traffic schemes (evaluation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with representatives from Islington Local Authority working on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood and School Streets schemes to discuss the evaluation of monitoring and consultation for the School Streets Scheme. The Islington Team shared their planned strategy for monitoring the scheme and Lily consulted on best practice for collecting and analysing data from children. Audience reported incorporating the feedback from this consultation on into their plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting to discuss the impact of school streets and low traffic neighbourhoods on children's outdoor play and independent mobility |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with Caroline Russell (Green Party London Assembly Member) and Anita Grant (Chair of Play England and the Islington Play Association) to discuss low traffic neighbourhood and school streets policies and how monitoring the effects on children's outdoor play and independent mobility could provide positive evidence for the impact of these schemes. All parties agreed to prioritise monitoring of effects on children's play, independent mobility, and wellbeing in policy relating to future schemes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Mental Elf Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I wrote an article for The Mental Elf Blog summarising and evaluating a piece of research about children's play and how the pandemic is likely to affect children's play. The Mental Elf is followed by over 87,000 people on twitter and the blog was promoted via his social media accounts. The blogs are typically read by practioners and researchers involved in children's mental health as well as the general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.nationalelfservice.net/education/wellbeing/play-pandemic/ |
| Description | NCB NI reimagining education event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | National Children's Bureau and PlayBoard NI hosted a webinar focused on restarting education in Northern Ireland. As COVID19 continues to challenge our whole-system capacity to nurture children through education and play, the webinar focused on asking: "Can we respond with curiosity, courage and compassion?" I was invited to present at the webinar to provide evidence on children's play and mental health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-education-in-northern-ireland-webinar-registration-108106... |
| Description | NEU Research to reflect on |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The National Educators Union (NEU) asked us to write a piece for their 'Research to Reflect on' series, which they share with members to help them use evidence to inform their practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://neu.org.uk/media/11301/view |
| Description | Nature Magazine Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to record a podcast for Nature Magazine's Coronapod, which focused on news and discussion around the impact of Covid-19. They interviewed me about children's mental health and play. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02093-y |
| Description | On adventurous play in school-aged children, with Rachel Nesbit. Invited podcast PsychologiCALL. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak about our recent systematic review. Podcast available on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Aimed at Psychology students/researchers and the general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://psychologicall.buzzsprout.com/1270745/9937274-on-adventurous-play-in-school-aged-children-wi... |
| Description | Outdoor Play Canada Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I wrote a blog for Outdoor Play Canada summarising the new conceptual model that I had proposed and that had recently been published. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/2021/02/03/adventurous-play-as-an-antidote-to-anxiety-an-opportunit... |
| Description | Pandemic Play Sunday Times |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Sunday Times wrote a new article about the pandemic play archive project I am working on, which aims to capture children's play during the pandemic. The story featured on the front cover and was also the focus of an editorial comment in addition to the written article. Following the article, I received a number of follow-up requests for media interviews and engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-let-off-steam-with-covid-games-nkwnlccg9 |
| Description | Parent Perceived Barriers and Facilitators of Children's Adventurous Play in Britain. The British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Brooke Oliver conference presentation disseminating the findings from her first PhD study examining parents barriers and facilitators of adventurous play using findings from the British Children's Play survey. Opportunity for personal development and research dissemination. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Perceived Barriers and Facilitators of Adventurous Play In Schools: A qualitative systematic review. The British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation to a developmental psychology audience. Opportunity to disseminate the work of the team and raise the profile of our work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Play Observatory conference talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | I shared my observations and reflections on the pandemic play archive as part of a play observatory event. This event attracted not only academics working on play research but also practitioners using play to support children's development and wellbeing and members of the public and media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pandemic-play-experiences-practices-activities-objects-texts-tickets-... |
| Description | Play Wales Book Club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Play Wales chose to use my conceptual article about children's adventurous play and anxiety as the basis for their book club in Feburary 2021. As part of the book club event they invited me to join to discuss the article with them and to help them consider the implications for their professional practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Play and mental health in Britain's children. Play and Fun in Child Mental Health Interventions Conference, hosted by the Child Oriented Mental Health Intervention Centre (COMIC) and the University of Sheffield Clinical Trials Research Unit (CTRU). (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk to speak of our teams proposed work on changing play in schools and the potential impact of interventions on children's mental health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | PlayBoardNI presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I delivered a keynote presentation at the PlayboardNI annual conference. The audience included >100 participants who came from a range of settings including school, early years childcare, playwork, social work, government, planning, architecture and advocacy. The talk was well received and led to some interesting conversations afterwards about the need for an evidence base aligned with the goals of my fellowship and that audience members were pleased to have a theoretical basis to support their work on play with children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | PlayFirstUK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I led the #playfirst campaign together with colleagues from Sussex to write recommendations for government regarding children's mental health and need for play during and after lockdown. We first wrote to ministers in May 2020 and again in February 2021. Both open letters were reported on as exclusives in The Guardian and then covered extensively in the press nationally and internationally including for example The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, Radio 4, Sky News and BBC news. Our call for children's play to be prioritised has been supported by organisations internationally and there is evidence it affected decision making at least in Wales, Scotland and NI. This work has included liaising with SAGE subcommittee and Teachers Unions amongst others. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/article/51954-ministers-told-children-must-be-free-to-play-with-friend... |
| Description | Playgrounds webinar for Play England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Play England invited me to speak at a webinar about the importance of playgrounds during Covid-19. The webinar was attended by local authorities and park officers primarily, who were considering whether to open or close their play areas. My talk focused on the role of playgrounds in children's play and the relationship between play and mental health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Playing Out Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to write a blog for the group 'Playing Out' about my new conceptual model that had recently been published. The feedback was that it supported people to feel about to encourage and supporta adventurous play in their practice and with their own children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://playingout.net/blog/adventurous-play-as-an-antidote-to-anxiety/ |
| Description | Podcast recorded for Black Dog Institue Expert Insights podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to record a podcast for the Black Dog Institute Expert Insights series. The podcast focused on the role of play to support children's mental health during Covid-19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://podbay.fm/p/expert-insights-black-dog-institute-podcasts/e/1589329942 |
| Description | Presentations given as part of a symposium Children's outdoor, risky play: potential benefits and factors affecting engagement. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation as part of a larger international conference on Child Development. Opportunity for research dissemination and presenting alongside leading experts in children's outdoor risky play. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Providing evidence for policy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was contacted to provide expert evidence for a SAGE report on the impact of school closures on children and to support decision making regarding play policy in Scotland. I responded to these requests twice for SAGE and once for Scotland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| Description | Radio 4 All in the Mind |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to be a guest speaker on the Christmas edition of All in the Mind on Radio 4. The focus of the show was children's play and I agreed to participate with a view to encouraging the general public to think about the importance of children's play, in particular how much time children spend playing and the extent to which they're allowed to take risks when they play, and how this might be related to their mental health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Radio Berkshire |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to talk about my research programme on BBC Radio Berkshire. The purpose was to encourage the general public to think about children's play, in particular how much time children spend playing and the extent to which they're allowed to take risks when they play, and how this might be related to their anxiety. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | ReachWell |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to join the ReachWell group during the Covid-19 pandemic. ReachWell is a group of UK academics who work with children and adolescents and who are concerned about the lack of focus on the needs of this age group, from tots to teens, in policy making during the pandemic. Our aim is to provide scientific evidence that might help to redress this imbalance. As part of my involvement in this group I have written a blog, signed letters to government and taken part in media interviews. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://reachwell.org/ |
| Description | Scotland Play Council Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the annual Play Council meeting in Scotland. The meeting was attended by practitioners working with children in childcare and education as well as playworkers and policy makers. I presented evidence around the mental health benefits of children's play and the effects of Covid-19 on children's play. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Scotland Play Council Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Play Scotland invited me to present at the Scottish Play Council's annual meeting and Play Scotland's AGM. I shared findings from the British Children's Play Survey and also aspects of the research I have been conducted within my UKRI FLF. The talk sparked discussion around the effects of Covid on children's play and led to an invitation to present at a Four Nations event with ministers and officials from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Summer of Play (campaign) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | #SummerOfPlay was a campaign created as a collaboration between our research team, representing PlayFirst UK, Save the Children, and the National Play Organisations. The aim of the campaign was to give children the space, time, and freedom to play in the summer of 2021 as the Covid-19 restrictions were eased. More than 500 organisations pledged their support of children's play, the website had more and 20,000 unique viewers, and more than 100,000 items were donated to support local community groups to enable more children to play. In this way, the campaign influenced the decision making of a considerable number of organisations working with children in the summer of 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/summerofplay |
| Description | Summer of Play (social media campaign) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Social media campaign on Twitter to generate support for the Summer of Play campaign. The profile page generated 45k Twitter impressions in the the lead-up to the Summer holidays (May/June 2021) . Followers include organisations such as outdoor equipment suppliers and museums; community activism groups; practitioners including teachers, playworkers, and children's mental health specialists. Many organisations used the social media campaign to publicly pledge their support for children's right to play in the Summer of 2021. For example, The Beano pledged their support for the campaign on Twitter: Happy #Playday2021! The @summerofplay is all about creating opportunities for kids to play - something we are fully behind with our own Summer of Adventure. We've got loads of outdoors-inspired tips, quizzes, games and more. This campaign was instrumental in organisations' decision making about summer activities with children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.summerofplay.co.uk/ |
| Description | Sutcliffe Play Home Show presentation to local authorities and playground designers/manufacturers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Sutcliffe Play hold a 'Home Show' annually and they invited me to be their keynote presenter in 2021. I gave a talk focused on the importance of play for children's mental health and the role of play in Covid-19 recovery. The audience members were staff of Sutcliffe Play who work on playground design, playground manufacter and sales as well as representatives from local authorities from across the country. These audience members are important to communicate with as they make decisions about budgets for play in local authorities and also about how to make decisions regarding the quality of play offerings in their area. The audience reported changes in their views and told me that they would change some of their behaviours regarding how they evaluate playground and how they prioritise play in their work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.sutcliffeplay.co.uk/home-show-2021/ |
| Description | TES Interview: Play in schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to be interviewed by a print journalist on children's play in schools and the need for adventure. Opportunity to raise profile of the work of the UKRI fellowship and engage with schools. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/general/why-school-shouldnt-be-all-work-and-no-play |
| Description | The Conversation piece on home schooling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I wrote an article for The Conversation about children needing time to play to help them to cope with the Covid-19 lockdown following UK school closures. This article has been read by over 40,000 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-just-letting-children-play-will-help-them-and-their-parents-... |
| Description | The Conversation piece on play first |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I wrote a piece for The Conversation about why children's need to play should be prioritised as the first UK Covid-19 lockdown was eased. This has been read by almost 30,000 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/why-children-need-to-play-with-their-friends-as-soon-as-they-can-138066 |
| Description | The Times article about children returning to school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed for an article in The Times about children returning to school and their mental health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to-prepare-your-child-for-their-return-to-school-lqcg58fdh |
| Description | The Times article about children returning to school after lockdown 3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed for an article in The Times about children returning to school after the third UK lockdown and second round of school closures. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/back-to-secondary-school-dont-jump-in-with-solutions-g0kxk60m5 |
| Description | The importance of play for children's mental health and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive Playtime Party. (Invited talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Invited to speak about the importance of children's play. The event was live streamed on various platforms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH3DCamadrc |
| Description | Timbernook practitioner talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a talk to Timbernook who support nature-based, child-led play experiences that challenge the senses and inspire creativity, independence, and imagination in the nature. They reached out to me after hearing me speak at another event and asked if I would deliver a talk to support the professional development of their staff who are employed across the US, Canada and the UK. The audience reported that the talk provided evidence to support their approach and the work that they do. This is useful for them in terms of confidence in delivery but also for communicating with the public and with funders about the importance of their work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.timbernook.com/ |
| Description | Video for Play Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Play Scotland asked me to record a short video for them as part of series providing advice about the benefits of free play for children. The video has had more than 4,500 views on facebook and 11,500 views on Twitter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/PlayScotland/status/1257658468967866368?s=20 |
| Description | Webinar for LTL Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited by Learning through Landscapes Scotland to co-present a webinar about the importance of play for children's mental health and to talk about play in the context of recovery from Covid-19 lockdown. The session was attended primarily by practitioners, including teachers and early years educators looking to make decisions about how to support children as they transitioned back to school after lockdown. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |