Why dads need more space at the play table

fjohnson17
Jul 16
5 min read

Blog written by Adrienne Burgess, Fatherhood Institute Head of Research

The famous quote ‘play is the child’s work’ is often attributed to psychologist Jean Piaget or the great early years educator Maria Montessori - though it isn’t clear that either actually said it! What we do know, however, is that apart from the sheer joy it brings, play is an intrinsic component of a happy, healthy childhood - building children’s confidence as well as their cognitive and physical development. The drive to play is innate in children, and enabling more play is the easiest and most natural way to improve their physical and mental health.

It is not surprising therefore to find The Department for Education’s Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage acknowledging play as ‘essential for children’s development’; while the Education Development Trust warns that “play deprivation” damages children’s development.

Unstructured play, outdoor play, and play involving the natural environment are of particular value. However, over several decades, children’s opportunities for unstructured outdoor play have been decimated – mainly by cars (both parked and moving) and also by playground closures, ‘No Ball Games’ signs, parks contaminated by needles and dog poo, perceptions of ‘stranger danger’ and – bewilderingly - shortened school break times.

Children’s ‘right to roam’ – their capacity to explore their environment independently - is now virtually non-existent. Today’s children spend far less time outdoors than previous generations, including spending less time socialising with friends - and less time playing. We all know the outcomes: 40% of children in the UK live with an unhealthy weight and more than 25% are obese. In England, children’s wellbeing and happiness are at record lows.

In recent months, the Fatherhood Institute has been involved with two key initiatives in this space.

Raising the Nation Play Commission

The year-long commission was set up to develop a National Play Strategy for England which it is hoped can eventually be steered through Parliament, requiring and recommending that communities, organisations and local government take practical steps to reverse this trend. In England, cross-party support for such a strategy is also promoted by Play England.

The commission was imagined by Paul Lindley OBE, founder of Ella’s Kitchen and author of a fine book on children and active play: Raising the Nation: How to Build a Better Future for Our Children (and Everyone Else). Lindley established the Play Commission through a partnership with Baroness Longfield, former Children’s Commissioner for England, and her thinktank, the Centre for Young Lives.

The Play Commission toured the country ‘taking evidence’ on the state of children’s play to which the Fatherhood Institute was delighted to contribute in two ways: we submitted written evidence, and subsequently appeared before the Commission in person online to provide oral evidence.

Firstly, we pointed out that research shows play to be identified with dads. A recent systematic review (Robinson et al., 2021) found that, in Western cultures, play is more characteristic of the father–child than the mother-child relationship. Fathers spend a greater proportion of parent-child time playing with their children and play more often than mothers while engaging in caregiving tasks. Father-child play tends to be more physical, spontaneous and playful than mother-child play - and makes unique contributions to their children’s academic achievement, behavioural and emotional regulation, and cognitive development. But despite these benefits and the fact that fathers are spending more time than ever before caring for their young children, we reported that fathers are rarely actively recruited into programmes supporting their development. Why not?

One reason, which we explained to the Play Commission, is that it is no good simply calling on ‘parents’ to take part in programmes such as through play, as the Commission’s call for evidence did. Because the term ‘parent’ is widely used and understood as referring to mothers, fathers are de facto excluded unless the term ‘father’ is actually included.

The bottom line, we explained to the Commission, is that fathers (including those who do not live full-time with their children) will not be encouraged to support their children’s play at home or in health, education, or childcare settings unless specific strategies to reach out to them are designed and implemented. Fatherhood Institute training helps practitioners to do just this.

We also pointed out to the Commission that fathers’ involvement in play with their children is restricted mainly by their breadwinning commitments – and invited the Commission to support us and an increasing number of organisations (including most recently the government’s own Women & Equalities Committee, as well as other campaign groups and charities such as Pregnant than Screwed) in lobbying for well paid leave for fathers in their infant’s first years – ‘Six Weeks for Dads’. This would ‘kick start’ higher levels of involvement and, as research from the Joseph Rowntee Foundation shows, establish patterns of greater father-care and household work lasting longer than the baby’s first year – and leading to cost savings to families and society due to mothers’ subsequent greater involvement in paid work.

We were therefore delighted to see, when the Commission published its final report in June that its recommendations include "giving fathers more time to play with their babies by introducing six weeks of paid leave" in their baby’s first year – and called for other specific strategies that would be effective in "supporting fathers to play”. The report also highlighted the results of a poll carried out on behalf of the Commission which found that, of all parents surveyed, young fathers were least confident about playing with their children.

National Institute for Health Research funding

The other initiative that currently gives us cause for optimism is NIHR looking to fund evaluations of interventions to increase and sustain unstructured activities (mainly active play (for children and young people). We are Co-Investigators with a consortium of academics and stakeholders bidding for this funding to ensure that their project includes a focus on fathers. This is not the first time we have been involved in such research - we have been Co-Is in NIHR and UKRI research in the past to create father-inclusiveness. Our roles include input into research design, instruments and reports; design and delivery of interventions; recruitment and retention of fathers in interventions and research; and maximising impact in policy and practice arenas - see the Fatherhood Institute’s Research Offer here.

A golden opportunity for expanding children's play?

As the Play Commission points out, encouraging play and tackling the barriers to play align with much of the Labour Government's mission-led agenda by:

Improving children's wellbeing and outcomes
Growing the economy (by ensuring we have a fit, healthy, skilled workforce in the future and cutting the cost of social and health problems)
Developing an NHS fit for the future (cutting the costs of ill-health in adulthood by addressing problems earlier in childhood and developing innovative ways of reducing waiting lists)
Creating safer streets (by providing places and opportunities for children and young people to play and be active)
Providing opportunity for all (by boosting learning through play, school-readiness, attendance and behaviour at school, skills and development)

As the PIECE (Paternal Involvement and its Effects on Children's Education) study, on which we were co-investigators, reported:

Fathers' involvement with their child (through indoor and outdoor play, reading / storytelling, and creative / music activities) had a positive association with their educational outcomes over and above the effect of the mothers' involvement and other measured influences

A national play strategy would boost the Government's chances of delivering on all these aims. We're here to make sure it includes fathers.

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