Play deprivation: the causes and consequences for child development, and the potential of playwork

Author: Emeritus Professor Fraser Brown
Date: February 2024

This information sheet is about play deprivation and the potential of playwork to overcome the consequences. It is aimed at play providers, play researchers and those with an interest in children’s play, health and wellbeing.

It explores research on the links between a decline in children’s opportunities to play and rising mental health and social issues. It examines:

• the concept of play deprivation and its meaning
• the relationship between play and children’s mental wellbeing and social development
• the consequences of play deprivation
• the positive impact of using a playwork approach.

Originally published in 2013, one of the most useful additions to the updated version is a table in which Fraser provides a thorough summary of the benefits of play and the dangers of play deprivation.

The information sheet deals with the spectrum of play deprivation – from cases of extreme child neglect to the influences impacting children’s play in today’s culture. Drawing on Fraser’s own research and other evidence across this spectrum, it discusses how a playwork approach can address the negative outcomes of play deprivation.