'Bring back the freedom to roam. Children are suffering without it' - @LBC lbc.co.uk/article/freedom-to… Children across the country are missing out on opportunities for independent outdoor play, writes @DrHelenDodd Many of us have fond childhood memories of playing out until the street lights came on, enjoying our first taste of freedom. Yet today’s children are missing out on those same experiences. We know that independent outdoor play is linked to better health and wellbeing, including lower anxiety, more positive emotions and more physical activity; some of the key childhood health challenges that we currently face. Children are now nearly 11 before they start playing out on their own, exploring the world for themselves, meeting up with friends and having adventures. All of it helps build independence and resilience. In contrast, parents report that they were aged nine when they first played outdoors. There are myriad reasons for this shift away from independent outdoor play. Lack of accessible, high-quality, inviting spaces for play, the pull of indoor screen-based activities, risks posed by more cars and traffic and changes in social norms are all factors. The generational play gap revealed in our new research provides more evidence that children across the country are missing out on opportunities for independent outdoor play. The Outdoor Play Research Centre is being founded on the principle that we must do better for our children. We want to see a step change for children’s independent outdoor play. We will conduct the scientific research needed to drive this change and partner with a wide range of organisations to deliver it. news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of… #ItAllStartsWithPlay!

‘Play campaigners urge Prime Minister to revive national strategy’ - @CYPNow cypnow.co.uk/content/news/pl… Nearly half of children want to spend more of their free time playing active games, research has found, leading campaigners to call for a revived national play strategy. The call from @PlayEngland and the @PlayTheirWay movement comes on @NationalPlayday, the annual national celebration of children’s right to play, backed by research finding that screens and a lack of safe outdoor spaces are limiting many children's opportunities to play as they wish. They urge Prime Minister @AndyBurnham to respond by reviving England’s play strategy, which he originally launched in 2008. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… Research carried out by @IpsosUK found 49% of children aged eight to 16 would like to spend more time playing active games for fun. Some 40% of parents polled said their children had stopped taking part in a sport because it was “not fun enough”. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… #ItAllStartsWithPlay! #NationalPlayStrategy #PlaySufficiency

Update: The Government has now responded to the @CommonsCMS 'Game On' report ahead of a forthcoming parliamentary debate. publications.parliament.uk/p… There is some progress. The Government says it shares the Committee’s ambition to remove unnecessary ‘No Ball Games’ signs and supports making public spaces more accessible for children’s play. However, it has not accepted the call for legislation, set a timetable or addressed the specific role of housing associations. The Committee also called for national funding and guidance to expand inclusive initiatives such as Play Streets. The Government has instead pointed to existing local public health funding and @Sport_England's Movement Fund, leaving decisions to local authorities without a new national programme or framework. The response confirms plans for a National Plan for Physical Activity and significant investment in school sport and facilities. However, it does not commit to doubling national spending, introducing a statutory duty on local authorities, protecting time for play in schools or developing a new National Play Strategy. These issues will be debated in the House of Commons on Tuesday 30 June, on @DCMS spending relating to sport and youth services: whatson.parliament.uk/event/… The direction of travel is welcome, but the gap between support and delivery remains. @PlayEngland will continue our call for a new National Play Strategy, underpinned by a play sufficiency approach and dedicated investment of £125m per year in play - that’s just 20p per child, per week! #ItAllStartsWithPlay #NationalPlayStrategy #PlaySufficiency #MoreBallGames #KnowBallGames #GameOn

'If you want your kids to thrive this summer, don’t just turn off their phones – open your front door, too' -@FreeRangeKids in @Guardian theguardian.com/commentisfre… Children’s worlds have been shrinking and it’s harming their mental health. It’s time for parents to be brave and allow them a little independence. It’s not that phones aren’t a real problem. But there is another crucial object that is so not charged, so unsexy that it is barely noticed at all. It is the front door. Take away the phone and open the door – that’s when childhood changes. Just taking away the phone does not do the trick. Bringing that back requires us to reverse decades of closed doors, car rides to school, organised sporting activities and calls to the police when a child is spotted walking to the shops. But there is risk, also, in restricting children’s movements in an attempt to keep them safe. Doctors now say that children in the UK will be one of the unhealthiest generations in years, with obesity and mental health disorders among the problems they will face. It doesn’t have to be this way. theguardian.com/society/2026… It is easy to rally kids, too. A Harris poll asking children themselves how they’d like to spend free time with their friends – in unsupervised, unstructured, real-world play, or in an adult-organised activity (like sports or lessons), or online – kids overwhelmingly chose in-person free play. Online came in dead last. Kids want for themselves what we want for them. Free play. Independence. theharrispoll.com/articles/w… The charged object [the phone] will continue to compel our focus – especially when, as in this case, the charged object is literally a charged object. But to change childhood requires more than taking it away. It requires us opening the door. #ItAllStartsWithPlay #FreePlay #PlayStreets #StreetPlay #MoreBallGames

Restricting social media companies’ access to children is only half the answer. We also need to restore the conditions for a play-based childhood. @JonHaidt, author of The Anxious Generation, makes that case powerfully in this interview with @Channel4News. Children need less exposure to addictive social media platforms, but they also need more time playing. More freedom. More independence. More opportunities to be outside, with friends, exploring, creating, taking risks and learning about themselves and the places where they live. That is why this moment represents such an important opportunity for play. @PlayEngland‘s bold, rights-based 10-year strategy - It All Starts With Play! has a clear objective: to restore a play-based childhood for all children in England by 2035. playengland.org.uk/strategy To achieve that, we continue to call on Government for a new National Play Strategy, underpinned by play sufficiency and backed by dedicated investment of £125m per year - that’s just 20p per child, per week! And there is a legitimate question about who should help fund it. If social media companies have profited from the growth of a phone-based childhood, should they now contribute to reestoring a play-based childhood? This national debate should not only be about what children do less of. It must also be about restoring their time, space, opportunity and freedom to do something better . . . Play! If we are serious about giving children their childhood back, then #ItAllStartsWithPlay! #NationalPlayStrategy #BringItBackAndy #PlaySufficiency #Childhood #SocialMedia

‘Giving children their childhood back.’ Those words appeared in today’s Government announcement on a social media ban for under-16s. gov.uk/government/news/socia… For us at @PlayEngland, they are particularly significant. Since 2024, we have been calling on government to give children their childhood back. That same ambition sits at the heart of our 10-year strategy - It All Starts with Play! playengland.org.uk/strategy It is therefore encouraging to see play explicitly recognised in the Government’s announcement, with a commitment to “less time for scrolling and more time for play”, alongside references from the Prime Minister to children “playing with their friends outside”. gov.uk/government/speeches/p… That matters because it signals an important shift in how childhood and play are being discussed nationally. Additionally, the £132.5m ‘Every Child Can’ enrichment programme represents a major investment in music, culture, arts and sport — but not play. gov.uk/government/news/every… Yet this highlights an even bigger opportunity. Music, culture, arts and sport (and lots more) - they all start with play! Play is where children first explore, create, imagine, move, connect and belong. It is the foundation of so much that enriches childhood and shapes healthy, happy and resilient lives. That is why we continue to call for a new National Play Strategy, a play sufficiency approach and dedicated investment of £125m per year in play - that’s about 20p per child, per week. If we are serious about giving children their childhood back, then #ItAllStartsWithPlay

‘Lose 'no ball games' signs to get nation moving - MPs’ - @BBCNews bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cje… The Culture, Media and Sport Committee 'Game On' report, urges the government to legislate to require local authorities and housing associations to remove unnecessary 'no ball games' signs, "to make public spaces more usable for children's play." committees.parliament.uk/pub… It calls for a cross-government strategy to deliver a healthier nation, and an increase in funding to boost participation in local communities. The MPs want spending on sport and recreation to go from the current 0.3% of total government expenditure to at least 0.6% over the next 10 years, claiming that "funding for school and community sport is insufficient and increasingly unstable". They also recommend that PE is granted the same status as English, mathematics and science in schools. Following a year-long inquiry, the MPs' conclude that despite strong demand, committed volunteers, and many successful local initiatives, sport and physical activity "remain under-recognised within national health policy, and that a statutory duty must be placed on local authorities to provide sporting and leisure facilities in their communities". #ItAllStartsWithPlay #NationalPlayStrategy #PlaySufficiency #MoreBallGames #ActiveWellbeing

‘The hidden cost of “deplaytion”’ - @NewStatesman Ban social media all you like – but don’t ignore their crap playgrounds newstatesman.com/politics/so… Councils have long struggled to maintain their playgrounds or open new ones since budget cuts were imposed more than a decade and a half ago. In the UK, nearly 800 playgrounds closed between 2013 and 2023, and we’re still seeing the effects. From Leicester to Greenwich in south London, children are on the brink of losing beloved local adventure playgrounds because of council funding pressures. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… Poorer play areas are part of this picture, as are overprotective parents, traffic, digital life and the more intensive school day. The [play] commission recommends a national play strategy from the government to address the problem. The last one was 18 years ago, before most adults owned a smartphone, let alone their kids. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… In the most recent Budget, Rachel Reeves announced £18m to refurbish play areas. And for the first time, proposed revisions to national planning policy include the need to consider children in street and space design. playengland.org.uk/newsblog/… #ItAllStartsWithPlay! #EvrythingToPlayFor #PlaySufficiency #NationalPlayStrategy

One of those unexpected, but meaningful moments! While at Parliament today for the Westminster Hall debate on play in the Key Stage 1 curriculum, I bumped into @JonHaidt author of The Anxious Generation and The Amazing Generation. His work has informed @PlayEngland’s bold, new 10-year strategy - It All Starts with Play! which seeks to restore a play-based childhood for all children by 2035. playengland.org.uk/strategy Grateful for the chance to speak with him, however briefly, about why giving children their childhood back matters - and to thank him for his work. His thinking aligns powerfully with our mission to make play a normal, accepted and visible part of everyday life again. #ItAllStartsWithPlay #PlaySufficiency #TheAnxiousGeneration