Children set to quiz international experts on their right to play

A global conference exploring the positive impact of play on children’s lives will be held at Glasgow Caledonian University this week (June 6-9).

The International Play Association (IPA World) will host 550 delegates from almost 40 countries and will be attended by international experts in play and children, and young people from across Scotland.

Globally, the IPA World Conference is the only conference of its kind, bringing people together to help create a world where all children have the right to play. IPA believes it is more important than ever as children’s lives are impacted by global economic trends, environmental change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has long-term aftereffects for children’s wellbeing worldwide.

The conference will also explore how play reduces pressure and increases resilience in children’s lives, supporting their positive mental health and wellbeing. Children's experience will be woven through the conference, with presentations of visual media, papers, projects and research.

Chair of Conference Programming, Glasgow Caledonian’s Professor John McKendrick said: “Our childhood memories tend to revolve around play, much of this is free play beyond the gaze of adults.  We seem to have forgotten that play enriches the lives of children.  Of course, play can help children learn, but it is much more important than that.  This gathering of international experts is an opportunity for us to think about how we can facilitate more play and richer play. We need to recover what we have lost.”

Conference Steering Group Chair, Tam Baillie said: “We have a great opportunity to really push the case for better a realisation of children’s right to play in Scotland and across the globe.  Play is fundamental to children’s development – often described as a biological imperative. We all have a responsibility to ensure that we purposely build play opportunities into all aspects of children’s experiences of growing up.”