After a decade in the wilderness, play is about to rocket up the political and policy agenda in England

From suburban streets, parks and city centres to Whitehall roundtables, a social movement is rapidly gaining momentum. The signs are visible in the chalk markings left on pavements, plaques inviting playfulness in unexpected civic spaces, and - now - a high-profile commission to develop a national play plan to inform government policy is due in 2025. Play is back, and this time it’s serious.

Grassroots organisations, social entrepreneurs, academics and artists have been beating the drum for a renewed recognition of the importance of play in a good childhood - and a good adulthood, too.

Playing Out is reclaiming residential streets so children can play safely. Boromi provides a network of peer-to-peer libraries of playthings to widen access to play. The creative collective Playful Anywhere is transforming the public realm into people-focused play landscapes. These distributed efforts collectively amount to a clarion call that is gradually generating attention in Westminster.

Over recent decades, a slow-motion crisis has been unfolding as opportunities for children to play outside have decreased. Sustained funding cuts have seen hundreds of playgrounds closed across the UK. An absence of policy leadership has worsened this, with England’s first and only Play Strategy abandoned in 2010, just two years after it was launched (play has thankfully remained on the political agenda in Wales and Scotland). As a result, 2.3 million children (31%) now live more than a ten-minute walk from a playground.

The scope of a child’s independent social world has also become smaller - at least outside the online environment - due to a sustained growth in parental fears about child safety and disapproving neighbours. In 2008, a child’s right to roam was found to have shrunk from 10 miles in the 1960s to just 300 yards. Children today are 53% less likely to play out on their street than their baby-boomer grandparents.

In recent years, we’ve also seen the ever-stronger gravitational pull of digital technology. Those parents who are glued to smartphones have less time to engage in playful interactions with their children, while the increasing dominance of screens in society crowds out a child’s opportunities for a “Balanced Play Diet”. Conceived by child development expert Dr Gummer, the Balanced Play Diet works like a good nutrition plan, including all the beneficial ‘superfoods’ of play that children should get plenty of (social, imaginative, active, child-led free play). Crucially, it does not forbid screen time but encourages consumption with intention and moderation. Yet, for the reasons above, not all children today experience the full variety of a balanced play diet.

Despite these worrying trends, the growing social play movement represents a vital turning of this tide.

It’s not incidental that a play renaissance coincides with the new government’s calls for a period of national renewal. Play is good for cognitive and emotional development, physical and mental health, and social connectedness. It helps children, and adults, build vital skills in creative innovation, critical thinking and the confidence needed to thrive in a rapidly shifting world. Against a backdrop of declining child mental health, adventurous and outdoor play is a powerful antidote with positive effects on wellbeing.

The benefits of play extend far beyond the individual. Play helps families: from joyful everyday encounters to promoting parent-child attachment. Play is society and community. It is a place-maker in the public realm. Nesta's joint project with Leeds City Council to introduce play to a Family Hub in Harehills is just one such example. Play Together, Talk Together is a series of playful learning prompts for caregivers and children developed with the organisations Playful Anywhere and Play Explore Art, as well as play-based consultation with local families. Notably, Leeds Council has a Play Sufficiency duty, which makes it fertile ground for this approach.

The Raising the Nation commission on play will report in summer 2025. This should offer an ambitious policy vision that supports and further galvanises a multiagency approach from practitioners, campaigners and communities. This could pave the way for more opportunities for children to play. We might see play become more prominent in educational curricula, more embedding of play within the public realm for everyday experiences for adults and children alike, and promotion of play by a wider array of actors such as supermarkets or public transport providers.

There will also inevitably be significant barriers to overcome: limited public funding, parental fears over safety, and the powerfully addictive lure of screens are an imposing set of hurdles. There’s a risk of further widening of the gulf between play opportunities for well-off kids and others, who could find themselves crowded out or cut adrift. Any new policy related to play must recognise - as many grassroots organisations already do - that intention is required to reduce inequalities for children.

As play enters its renaissance era, an optimistic path beckons. The hope is that careful policy design, combined with strategic support and concerted effort across the social and private sectors, will ensure fair play for all.