How has the pandemic affected how children play?

Children and their parents are being invited to share their experiences of play during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a project led by UCL Institute of Education (IOE). School closures and social distancing have had a huge impact on young people's opportunities to socialise over the past year and a new research project is exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has featured in children's play and related stories, language and humour. The research team, which also includes academics from the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, and The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at UCL, are looking for young people and adults to share examples of play through an online survey. The examples can include descriptions, photos, drawings, sound recordings or video clips. These submissions will help create a play observatory, documenting children and young people's experiences during the pandemic and informing future generations' understandings of young people's lives. By doing this, the team can examine how children's current play compares to the past and better understand the significance of play and expressive culture for wellbeing during times of crisis and change. As well as creating a multi-media archive, the project team will develop an online exhibition with the V&A Museum of Childhood, showcasing children's experiences of play in the pandemic through photographs, drawings, sound and video.