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The Children’s Play Policy Forum (CPPF) has found that children’s physical and mental health, as well as their emotional well-being was improved with play.
In a report by Tim Gill called ‘The Play Return : A Review of the wider impact of play initiatives’, the CCPF concentrated on children of school age. They looked primarily at their free play which took place outdoors. They considered four types of play intervention, all which involve providing children with time and space to play. These were providing opportunities for free play during school break times, unstaffed public play facilities, supervised out-of-school play provision and street play initiatives.
The findings backed up the common thought that play encourages language development, problem solving, risk management and independent learning skills. Play was linked to a range of improvements in academic skills, attitudes and behaviour, and to improved social skills, improved relations between different ethnic groups, and better adjustment to school life.
Robin Sutcliffe, Chairman of the Children’s Play Policy Forum fully supported the report saying ‘This report provides a valuable insight into the fundamental importance of play to the lives of children, not only in terms of their development and wellbeing but also their enjoyment of childhood.’
‘At a government policy level it is our belief that this report provides compelling evidence of the impact play can have across a range of policy areas including health and education’.
We can see this reflected in the NHS Choices recommendations. Children aged between 5 and 18 are recommended to have at least one hour of aerobic exercise each day and this should include activities which strengthen their muscles and bones. For those of you with children under 5 who can walk unaided, the recommendation is that they are physically active for at least 3 hours of each day. This can be indoor or outdoor activity.
Play is good – and there is evidence to back this up. Do you have children who like to play and be active? Should we encourage them to play more?
