Literature review
Playing and being well
A review of recent research into children’s play, social policy and practice, with a focus on Wales.
Authors
Dr Wendy Russell
Mike Barclay
Ben Tawil
Wendy has a long involvement, through Play Wales, with the Play Sufficiency Duty, in its development, carrying out four research projects and co-delivering professional development programmes for local authorities.
Since the commencement of the Play Sufficiency Duty, Ben and Mike have been researching and developing approaches to ‘doing’ play sufficiency at neighbourhood, local authority and national levels.
Literature review
The literature review investigates the connections between play sufficiency and children’s wellbeing. It focuses on the role of play in children’s wellbeing, children’s play patterns, and adult support for children’s play. The review, 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.
Summary
The summary includes information about the scope and approach of the literature review, and an overview and findings from each of the chapters in the review. It also introduces the authors’ proposal of a relational capability approach to children’s wellbeing through actions to create conditions that support playing.
Briefing
The briefing introduces the literature review and includes information about recent developments in childhood and play research, policy developments, how playing contributed to wellbeing, as well as children’s play today. It doesn’t include a comprehensive summary of findings from the review.
Background
Commissioned by Play Wales, the literature review was carried out 10 years after the commencement of the Play Sufficiency Duty and while the Welsh Government was undertaking the Ministerial Review of Play. The evidence gathered in the literature review will inform this ongoing work.
Most of the research for the review was carried out between April 2021 and January 2023 and reflects what was available at that time.
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.’