Call to revive the game in UK schools to tackle ‘escalating crisis’ in child health

Campaigners who study play and childhood are calling for a major focus on reviving play in schools to tackle an “escalating crisis” in children’s mental and physical health.

The ‘play plan’ launched on Tuesday sets out a vision for the Department for Education to require every school to have a play plan subject to Ofsted inspection. Under the proposals, teachers would be taught how to learn through play for children of all ages, not just the early years.

Michael Follett, chief executive of Opal Play, an organization dedicated to improving play times at school, said children’s poor health could be tackled by emphasizing play in all aspects of their lives – but especially in schools.

“There is a current and escalating crisis in childhood. Children are less fit and less active. They are increasingly suffering from mental health problems on a scale we have never seen before.

“Schools are now a kind of nature reserve for childhood – they could be the space that preserves something of what is special for children. Even if this is the only play they ever experience, it can make a big difference in their lives – and for some children it really is the only play they get.”

Opal helps UK primary schools improve playtime through training in different types of play and a focus on mess materials such as tyres, rope and sand, as well as fancy dress.

One of the big challenges for schools is the pressure on the curriculum, which reduces playing times. A 2019 report from the University College London Institute of Education found that break times in England have shrunk over the past two decades, with older students losing more than an hour a week.

Follett says play should be part of the curriculum.

“Schools focus on math and literacy – why not prioritize play too?” he said. “Good play leads to better social skills, to happier and healthier children. I’ve been on the Play England board, I’ve been a council officer – nothing gets through to children better than playing in schools. This is where you reach the most number of children.

“At least at school, kids have some time called nominal play time. Our playtimes are a whirlwind chaos of footballs, scooters and hoops, den building, dressing up and sand. Over the rest of their lives it is taken away from them more and more.”

British children spend 20% – or 1.4 years of their entire time at school – on play time and Opal says this shows that more money should be spent on play.

Labor MP Kim Leadbeater released a report last year calling for a broader understanding of wellbeing to keep people healthy.

She said the call to play was a key part of that: “We know that with our current limited curriculum we are not getting the best out of children and young people. Playing and the broader agenda around physical activity respond to this.

“I work a lot on well-being and wonder how we can measure this. If we want to have happy, healthy children, we must look beyond exams and exams. Right now we are suffocating children.”

The report also calls for better protection of play in all areas of children’s lives, recommends more dedicated funding for playgrounds at local authority level, and suggests that the need for play in the Equality Act 2010 must be embedded as a protected characteristic.

The argument that children suffer from loss of time and space to play is also the subject of an investigation by the committee overseeing the Department for Levels, Housing and Communities.

The research gathered evidence from psychologists, campaigners, developers and architects, hearing arguments that children are not properly protected when new houses are built or when they are forced to share space with traffic on residential streets.

Leadbeater said: “We need to look at how we build homes to ensure the development provides space for children to play and socialize. This is why the fight to protect the common areas is also important – the libraries, the sports hall. This is where political choices come into play – as we fight for space and time for children to play and express themselves.”