DECP welcomes calls for MPs to prioritise outdoor play for children
Educational and child psychologists have welcomed a new inquiry into urban planning, urging action to promote play to help improve children's social, emotional and mental health.
25 January 2024
The inquiry 'Children, young people and the built environment' is looking at how 'better planning and building and urban design in England could enhance the health and well-being of children and young people'. It is examining how children can use outside public spaces in their neighbourhoods, and the government's role improving the built environment.
Experts from the DECP have stressed the importance of play on children's development and expressed concern about decreasing daily opportunities for play in children's lives in recent years, and limited spaces for children to access which promote play.
They highlight that additional factors, such as poverty and limited outdoor play spaces further reduce opportunities for play for children from disadvantaged and deprived backgrounds, which has a significant impact on development.
Dr Melernie Meheux, a member of DECP's committee and an expert on play, said:
"Play is a critical part of children's development. It helps them to develop relationships, social skills, physical skills and to have fun and regulate their emotions, which reduces the impact of the everyday pressures to which children are increasingly exposed.
"Play is also crucial for cognition and learning, attention and concentration and the development of language, and provides children with rich and essential opportunities to problem solve. All these skills are then used in the classroom and lead to better educational outcomes. Most importantly, children themselves report the positive impact that play has on them.
"We have been concerned in recent times that children's opportunities for play have been significantly impacted by factors such as reduced playtime in school, increased traffic, closure of play facilities and parental anxieties about safety, as well as developments in technology. Play inequalities were highlighted more clearly during the Covid 19 pandemic with many children and families reporting that they had nowhere to play.
"Our recent campaign 'Time to Play' highlighted these concerns, arguing that 'All children and young people should have access to free, high quality, local opportunities for play. This is particularly important for children who have additional factors that exclude them and limit their play opportunities, e.g. children who are disabled, have special educational needs, are living in poverty or are from minority communities.'
"We welcome this inquiry and the focus on the importance of the impact of urban planning on children and young people's health and will monitor the outcomes and recommendations closely."