Parents recognise the link between emotional wellbeing & play

Last week I wrote a little bit about Professor Amy Chua (the self styled tiger mum) and her dismissive approach to the value of play and its link to emotional wellbeing. I wrote the post after watching a feature on Newsnight about the differing parenting styles of Asian and Western parents.

The programme pre-supposed that in the West parents place greater importance on play in early childhood. This was backed up by anecdotal evidence and with a discussion between Professor Chua and Justine Roberts, co-founder of mumsnet.

After the programme I did a bit of digging around to see if I could find any empirical evidence of parenting attitudes towards play here in the UK. In doing so I stumbled upon a rather interesting survey conducted by the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) and Play England.

Of the 2000 parents who took part 74% thought a lack of play could have serious effects on a child’s future. More specifically 56% of parents believe that a lack of play can damage their children’s confidence, 64% of believe it can have a negative effect on their children’s communication skills, 57% on their ability to make friends, and 51% believe it can stifle their imagination.

Drawing on these findings an expert panel led by the BTHA and Play England warned that a lack of play can have long-term effects on a child’s health and wellbeing including poor social skills, obesity, less resilience to cope with pressure, an inability to make friends, and the inability to have fun and enjoy childhood. They expressed concern that if children are not given the opportunity to play on a regular basis they could develop in to a sedentary ‘Robot Generation’ lacking interpersonal and creative skills. According to one panel member, Cath Prisk (Play England’s Co-Director): “Play affects long term development but is also the “here and now”; it is an innate human need which we need to protect for our children”.

In response, the BTHA and Play England have launched the ‘Make time to play’ campaign to raise awareness of the importance of play in childhood. They have set up a dedicated Facebook page at facebook.com/maketimetoplay where parents can receive help and ideas to encourage positive play.

Photo courtesy of Jenni From the block on Flickr (CC license)