{"id":855,"date":"2025-06-11T08:31:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T07:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/replay\/?p=855"},"modified":"2025-07-10T11:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T10:35:00","slug":"all-play-is-not-equal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.northumbria.ac.uk\/replay\/all-play-is-not-equal\/","title":{"rendered":"All play is not equal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is the first International Day of Play<\/a>, and it’s great to see play being recognised as the vital activity it is. Highlighted by the UN as “a significant milestone in efforts to preserve, promote, and prioritize playing so that all people, especially children, can reap the rewards and thrive to their full potential”. While there is understandably a focus on children’s play, I am delighted that adults have not been forgotten altogether. It would be great to see more focus on the importance of play throughout the lifecycle as time goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More concerning is the media narrative that ‘good’ play is necessarily active, outdoors, and non-digital, as in this article by the BBC<\/a> that positions play as a way to “get kids off screens”. Don’t get me wrong, playing outside is great, but setting in false opposition to digital play is unhelpful. Natalia Kucirkova says it better than I could in this excellent article for the World Economic Forum<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we work with play, it’s always helpful to remember that everyone comes with their own preconceptions and prejudices about what types of play are worth doing and who should be doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the first International Day of Play, and it’s great to see play being recognised as the vital activity 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