Play for a Change: Play, Policy and Practice: A review of contemporary perspectives.
With this document, Play England presents a comprehensive review of the evidence underpinning current thinking on play. It provides a detailed analysis of research and literature published since 2001 to support contemporary understanding of the importance of play, and how this relates to social policy and practice.
Written by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell of the University of Gloucestershire, Play for a change, is published in three formats: a 270-page full research report, a 60-page summary, and a 4-page introductory briefing paper.
All versions are available for free download here or may be purchased from NCB Books.
Due to the size of this book, it is available to download as individual chapters:
1. Background, scope and key messages [995KB PDF]
2. National and local socio-political context [1.6MB PDF]
3. The importance of play in children’s lives [5.88MB PDF]
4. Children’s play patterns [2.63MB PDF]
5. From policy and theory into practice: provision for play [5.5MB PDF]
Appendix – Sources used and search terms [864KB PDF]
This 60-page summary gives an accessible insight into the research.
Download Play for a Change: summary report [1.77MB PDF].
The 4-page briefing can be found here.