Explore Play Wales
Today we are publishing Playing and being well, a comprehensive literature review focusing on the importance of children’s play and wellbeing. Undertaken by Dr Wendy Russell, with Mike Barclay and Ben Tawil from Ludicology, it is a review of recent research into children’s play, social policy and practice, with a focus on Wales.
Commissioned by Play Wales, the literature review investigates the connections between play sufficiency and children’s wellbeing. It draws mainly on academic research, across a range of disciplines, but also draws on professional, advocacy and practitioner literature where appropriate. The review focuses on the role of play in children’s wellbeing, children’s play patterns, and adult support for children’s play.
Divided into five chapters, it includes information about:
- the background, scope and approach of the literature review
- contextualising and framing the review
- the role of play in children’s wellbeing
- children’s play today
- supporting children’s play.
This review has been carried out 10 years after the commencement of the Play Sufficiency Duty and while the Welsh Government was undertaking its Ministerial Review of Play. The evidence gathered in the literature review will inform this ongoing work. Most of the research for the literature review was carried out between April 2021 and January 2023 and reflects what was available at that time.
Playing and being well follows the publication of a briefing and summary to introduce the literature review.
Welcoming the publication of Playing and being well, Play Wales says:
‘We all know playing is crucial for children’s wellbeing – we can thank the authors Wendy, Mike and Ben for producing the most detailed and comprehensive review of the current evidence of the importance of play, focusing on the policy context here in Wales. Given the history of the Welsh Government in adopting the first ever national play policy, and more recently enacting the world’s first legal duty for play, it is only fitting that it has provided funding to enable this research to take place.
The review draws together salient research findings and illustrates the complexity of play and the challenge we face to meaningfully embrace it within a policy perspective. The emerging concept of a relational capability approach has the potential to provide a model to better enable us move beyond the well established principle of children’s right to play towards an effective societal response that will tangibly increase children’s opportunities for play and playing. We are in no doubt that Playing and being well will inform our ongoing work in respect of the Play Sufficiency Duty and current developments identified in the Ministerial Review of Play.’