The power of play in promoting children’s mental health, and the urgent need for childhood to become a defining ‘lens’ for policy-making, were central themes at this year’s PEDAL Conference at the University of Cambridge.

PEDAL, the Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning, is based at the University’s Faculty of Education. Its annual conference involves policy-makers, practitioners, educators and academics who discuss research and practice relating to childhood and play. The 2023 event, on 7 September, attracted more than 150 attendees from around the world, and representatives from a mix of charities, public bodies, research organisations and government departments.

The conference focused on Play and Mental Health, and the role of play in protecting and enhancing the mental health of children and babies.

Discussions spanned subjects such as how best to provide targeted support to families who need it most, how to help neurodivergent children through play, and public health strategies to encourage playful parenting.

In addition, many speakers stressed that if we want to enhance children’s well-being, we need to reimagine the way children are considered and positioned in policy-making and society in general.

That imperative was stressed in the opening keynote by Professor Mark Tomlinson of Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who characterised the convergence of challenges like climate change, the pandemic and rapid urban growth in developing countries as a “Polycrisis” dramatically reshaping the prospects of younger generations.

“This is an emergency and a paradigm shift is utterly vital,” he said. “Children should be put at the centre not only of children’s policies, but all policies.” He also argued for a shift away from limited conceptions of education that emphasise narrow ideas about academic attainment, and towards the development of skills like problem-solving, creativity and co-operation. Play, he pointed out, is essential to the  development of these vital skills.

Tomlinson argued for radical changes in how society engages with children to value and protect childhood and play. He challenged the audience to entertain bold steps like lowering the voting age to 12; which, he said, would compel adults to address children’s concerns differently by recognising them as enfranchised citizens. “When you put children at the centre of everything, you see them as more than just people who are waiting to become economically productive,” Tomlinson said. “Where they are right now is really important. The Polycrisis is forcing a rethink. This is a moment to act, and do things differently.”

A need for joined-up policy-making regarding children was echoed by Helen Hayes, Shadow Children’s Minister and the Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood. Her keynote stressed the range of issues affecting children that extend far beyond what would typically be covered by children’s services; such as housing policy, air quality, road safety and the provision of sports facilities. “Children should be seen, heard, listened to and known in all of the contexts in which decisions are taken, or services provided, which affect them; and they must be prioritised,” she said.
On young people’s mental health, Hayes advocated measures such as the allocation of funding for mental health professionals in every school and community-based mental health ‘hubs’. She also identified the importance of rooting service improvements for children in communities, stating that “when we deliver places which are good for children, we deliver places which are good for everyone.”

Other keynote speakers included Siobhán Prendiville, Course Leader for the MA in Creative Psychotherapy at the Children’s Therapy Centre in Ireland, who provided insights into the “therapeutic powers of play”. Play therapy leverages the role of play as a means through which children communicate, process and understand experiences – especially trauma. Prendeville argued that: “If we want to be developmentally appropriate in our mental health treatment, we need to use play”. She introduced audiences to a well-established list of play’s 20 therapeutic ‘powers’; built around its capacity to facilitate communication, foster emotional wellness, enhance social relationships and increase personal strengths. Prendeville described these as “the enzymes that bring about change for children when mental health professionals use play therapy”.

Dr James Biddulph and Aimee Durning, from the University of Cambridge Primary School (UCPS), showed how play has shaped and improved the learning and lives of their pupils.

The school opened in 2015 and is linked to the Faculty both through involvement in its Initial Teacher Education Programmes, and as a centre for research-informed practice. Biddulph and Durning identified three principal causes of the current crisis in young people’s mental health: concern about the planet’s future, fractured communities, and uncertainties about self and purpose.

The role of play to address this and cultivate compassionate citizens is a thread that runs through the school’s self-conception and curricular planning, even though UCPS operates – as Biddulph put it – “in a context where Ofsted doesn’t really go for this kind of thing”.

Play is championed in the school through activities like daily singing, artist-led sessions, and ubiquitous “moments of playfulness” throughout the school day. Staff use playful methods in both their practice with children, but also as adults to support their own  professional development.

Playful approaches  have supported learning since the school first opened, and  proved invaluable after the COVID-19 lockdowns when many children had been deprived of opportunities to play. In her presentation, Durning stressed that “children can only learn well when they feel well”. Amid calls for ‘catch-up learning’, UCPS therefore emphasised catch-up play, through measures like extra playtime, additional PE and games lessons, and social events including a school disco. These proved a vital component of the support they provided to children and families as in-person education resumed.

Amid many other subjects and case studies, the PEDAL conference explored the role of video in supporting playful interactions and positive relationships in the early years; public health initiatives to support infant mental health through play; and the recent publication of a toolkit, co-developed by PEDAL researchers and UNICEF, to support local areas in a shared understanding of mental health in infancy and early childhood.

Professor Paul Ramchandani, Director of the PEDAL Centre, underlined the need for mental health support for babies and children to extend beyond simply providing services for those in difficulty. “It is equally important to think about how we can prevent and intervene early where difficulties might arise,” he said. “That is perhaps particularly where play can have an important role, by facilitating opportunities for a wide range of children to engage socially, by helping them to process the difficulties that they are experiencing, and by improving other aspects of their health.”

Read more about the conference.
Find out more about PEDAL.