{"id":1374,"date":"2023-10-24T13:11:44","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T13:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/earlyyears\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:12:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:12:31","slug":"finding-spaces-and-places-for-childrens-right-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/earlyyears\/finding-spaces-and-places-for-childrens-right-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding spaces and places for children\u2019s right to play \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jo Albin-Clark, Nick Lomax, Nic Pearce, Sam Widdup.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently we shared some research about a child\u2019s right to play at an educational conference from our position as tutor and students involved in the MA Education Early Years<\/a> at Edge Hill University. This research area is close to all our hearts because it is about teachers\u2019 making time and space for young children to be autonomous and playful. It echoes many of the modules that are taught at Edge Hill, and is captured in the research network Children\u2019s Rights and Wellbeing Research Network.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jo often collaborates with Dr Nathan Archer<\/a> in this shared interest. We research and write together about how teachers and educators make things happen through acts of resistance.<\/a> Play is becoming increasingly marginalised in early childhood education where schools and settings feel the pressure of standardisation<\/a> agendas. How teachers navigate issues such as metric fixation, datafication and accountability narratives<\/a> is a growing body of research. Our recent paper connects how teachers make space for play and we positioned that as an enactment of educational justice.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because conferences can be quite formal in tone, it made sense to invite some MA students<\/a> to share how they have thought with theories about play and rights in their practice and own scholarly enquiries. Hearing about how play happens is a joyful thing to share and here are three small stories of play taking different forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nick\u2019s play story: When considering the curriculum requirement that children should be able to compose a sentence orally before writing it, we wondered if our children were actually capable of this. After some discussion, we realised that our children were not \u2018composing\u2019 their own writing but mirroring the words, phrases and perspectives that we had put upon them as teachers. We felt as though the children\u2019s own voices and opinions were not being represented in their work so we devised ways that would allow them to play with, explore and generate stories in their own way. What happened was a subversion of the formal regime of Key Stage 1 literacy with a coup of playful learning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Nic\u2019s play story: When I think of a child\u2019s right to play, I think of the right to access developmentally appropriate and neurologically stimulating methods of play, and to me that means Risky Play. Risky Play<\/a> can often be defined as characteristics of how or where children play \u2013 at heights or speed and can be defined as thrilling and exciting forms of play. It has multiple benefits and is associated with children\u2019s wellbeing, involvement, and physical activity as well as improved abilities to perceive and assess risks in day-to-day life. As children experiment with what their bodies can do, they gain confidence and intuition about what is, and isn\u2019t manageable and safe. I have found in my MA dissertation that Risky Play leads to increased social interactions, creativity, resilience, and decreased aggression.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Sam\u2019s play story: When I observe and \u2018step back\u2019 from a child, I get the privilege of just seeing them \u2018be\u2019- in their own world, with no interference or adult agenda being imposed on them. By sharing this strategy with practitioners working with children who explore the world in different ways to the conventional \u2018norm\u2019, they may also be given the privilege of entering the child\u2019s world. \u2018Listening\u2019 to children in this way teaches them that their interests are important and that their play is valued, and as a result of that, they can begin to expand their social world and build lasting connections.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So circling back to finding opportunities for play, these three stories show how the everydayness of student and classroom life can make room for children to play and for us to take play seriously<\/a> in our study. Either through telling stories, stepping back from interaction or having risky play opportunities, it is vital that we think about how the right to play has a significant role in education and in wider childhood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might just take a little resistance and subversion to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n