The Raising the Nation Play Commission, a year-long independent inquiry into why play is critical to the wellbeing and development of children, and how it can be restored to every childhood in England, is today (Wednesday June 11th – the International Day of Play) publishing its Final Report, ‘Everything to Play For: A Plan to Ensure Every Child in England Can Play’.

• The report warns that cuts to clubs and playgrounds, busier roads, and increased fears among parents and children about safety, have left children with fewer safe places to play. As a result, children’s independence to play outside has shrunk dramatically over the last 30 years, impacting on their health and happiness and increasing screen time.
• The report calls for the Government to establish a National Play Strategy, including new investment in play that is part-funded by the sugar tax; a Minister for Play; a ban on ‘No Ball Games’ signs; raising the digital age of consent to 16; restoring play to our education system including banning phones during the school day; and a statutory Play Sufficiency Duty for local authorities.
• It urges the Government to set out a clear plan for creating playful neighbourhoods and for disrupting the addictive grip of digital devices on children’s lives.
• The report says play should also be central to the Government’s strategies for boosting opportunity and growth, tackling the crisis in children’s physical and mental health, school readiness and attendance, and the increasing numbers of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and young people Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET).

[.download-play]Download the report[.download-play]

The Raising the Nation Play Commission was launched in June 2024 and is chaired by entrepreneur and campaigner Paul Lindley OBE - founder of Ella’s Kitchen, the UK’s biggest baby food business. It has worked in partnership with former Children’s Commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank and has been advised by a panel of leading experts.

Today’s final report puts forward a positive vision of a country where children’s play is at the heart of government strategy and our public spaces, and where it is embedded across education, health, local government and beyond. It argues for the restoration of play into early learning and our schools, for communities where safe parks, playgrounds, streets, and housing developments are alive with the shouts and laughter of children, and for a broader, cultural shift in attitudes towards risk, childhood independence, and play.

Over the last year, the Commission has been struck by the evidence it has heard about the many barriers to play - from a crammed curriculum to rising traffic, from risk-averse planning to closing playgrounds and youth centres, from a growing “no-ball games” anti-play culture to the loss of school play time. The Commission also heard from parents, frustrated at the lack of safe and accessible places for their children to play, and from children who have shared their love of play and their hopes that their world can become more playful.

Outdoor play has declined by 50% in a generation, and children travel shorter and shorter distances independently. New polling commissioned by the inquiry shows over half of parents (55%) believe their youngest child plays outside less than they did when they were children. Three quarters of parents (75%) agree that society is less accepting of children playing out than it was when they were growing up.

The report shows how play is both critical to childhood development and a powerful tool for reversing the concerning trends we are seeing among many children, including the crises in obesity, mental health, school readiness, school attendance, Special Educational Needs (SEN), and young people Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET).

The report argues that one of the reasons many children are spending increasing amounts of time doom-scrolling on addictive smartphone apps is due to there being fewer opportunities to play offline. It calls for play to become a political and policy priority, underpinned by national leadership, legal protections, and cultural change.

Its main recommendations include:

• ‍A new, cross-departmental National Play Strategy for England with a 10 year vision, led by a Minister with responsibility for Play. This should be backed by an annual budget of £125 million to the end of this parliament, part-funded by measures including the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and unspent funds currently held by councils and collected from developers to mitigate the impact of new developments.‍
• A statutory Play Sufficiency Duty for local authorities, bringing England in line with Scotland and Wales.‍
• Legal protections for children’s rights, including incorporating the UNCRC into domestic law, and protecting all children against discrimination in accessing play.‍
• Child-friendly neighbourhoods as part of reviving a culture which embraces play and childhood independence and which gives parents confidence to allow their children to play again. This includes reducing the speed and volume of traffic where children play, live, and learn. It should become easier for parents and communities to organise safe play in their streets, and there should be a national ban on ‘No Ball Games’ signs. There should be greater use of play streets, play rangers, play buses, mobile play stations, and toy libraries to bring play to more communities and families, with a focus on children living with disadvantage.‍
• Schools are supported to harness the power of play for learning. Schools should be supported and required to develop their own play plans and there should be high quality training for school staff in play. Play should be embedded into the primary curriculum. There should be Government guidance protecting play at break time and lunchtime, alongside a restoration of lost play time. All primary schools should move towards adopting ‘always-active’ uniforms.‍
• The National Planning Policy Framework and related guidance should be updated to require developers and planners to adopt pro-play policies in all new developments.‍
• Parents and carers are supported and empowered to help their children to play. The Department for Education should introduce an awareness campaign for parents on the importance of play and how they can help their children to play more as part of the push to increase school readiness.
• ‍Play is made a foundation of children’s early years, including the roll out of play-focused Family Hubs with parent play champions to support and encourage play.‍
• Embed play in healthcare settings and recognise and use it as a tool to improve public health outcomes. The Department of Health should recognise the importance of play in its 10 year health plan and establish a national ‘play-on-prescription’ pilot.‍

The report also calls for the reimagining and better regulation of the digital lives of children. Digital play can be both beneficial and hugely enjoyable for children and parents. However, the report argues the Government’s National Play Strategy should include a specific commitment to a step-change in the quantity and quality of children’s use of digital devices through a combination of stronger regulation, public engagement and information, and addressing addictive ‘push’ factors that have driven children online and indoors. It recommends:

• The Government should commit to raising the digital age of consent to 16.
• The Government should introduce a ban on smartphones in schools during the school day facilitated by ‘smartphone pouches’ or similar. Those children who require access to a smartphone for health or wellbeing reasons can still do so at the discretion of headteachers.
• Digital products and services that are marketed to children, and which don’t require digital consent, should not include ‘addictive-by-design’ features such as ‘streaks’ or endless scrolls. Any products and applications featuring these should carry health warnings on their packaging or in the app-store and should only be available to adults.
• The Government should develop and regularly update evidence-based guidance to schools, nurseries, and childminders about the appropriate use of digital devices.
• The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport should promote a national digital detox campaign to raise awareness among parents and young people about the adverse effects of excessive and unhealthy use of digital devices and services, with a particular focus on social media risks.

Over 1,000 GPs and health workers, headteachers, experts in the built environment, creative industries, physical activity and sports, and early years, charity leaders, academics, and local government leaders have written open letters to the Secretaries of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Education, and Housing, Communities, and Local Government, to emphasise how critical play is to children’s wellbeing and development and to support the call for a national play strategy to be established. Such breadth of support for a new strategy reflects the urgent need felt across the spectrum of society for play to return to the heart of childhood and for leadership from Government to break down the barriers to play.

Paul Lindley, Chair of the Raising the Nation Play Commission, said:

“Play is a crucial and innate part of childhood. Play is how children explore who they are, how they relate to others, and how they make sense of the world. It is one of the most powerful tools we have to boost children’s physical activity, wellbeing, and confidence. Yet as this report shows, in England we’ve made it incredibly hard for children to play.

“We have visited countries where children’s play is at the heart of government strategy – embedded across education, health, local government and beyond - because it is seen as the central fabric of life. All of this is within our grasp in this country, but England needs a National Play Strategy to make it happen.

“Creating truly playful communities is not just about better street design, traffic management, and reduced crime, but also about a reversal of the growing culture of intolerance towards children playing.

“This will also encourage more parents to have confidence they can let their children play out more freely, in the knowledge that their children will be both having a great time and are also safe.

“We need to give our children back the time, space, opportunity, freedom - and the right - to play again. ’Everything to Play For’ sets out a bold and necessary vision and framework to restore play to the heart of childhood in England. We urge this mission-led Government to act upon it.”

Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said:

“Too many of our children are spending their most precious years sedentary, doom scrolling on their phones and often alone, while their health and wellbeing deteriorates. It is no coincidence that the least happy generation, the generation with the highest rates of obesity and rising ill health, is the generation that plays less and less.

“As we have heard from a swathe of experts and professionals working with children over the last year, play is being squeezed out of childhoods, with drastic implications for children, our economy and public services. With so much at stake children really have everything to play for: their health, wellbeing, happiness, learning, and development depends on our ability to reignite the role of play.

“This report provides a blueprint for how we can get children playing again and also tackle the scourge of addictive doom-scrolling, so we can prevent future generations from becoming glued to screens.”

The Play Commission’s call for a National Play Strategy has also received the backing of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, launched the last National Play Strategy in 2008. He said:

“I was proud to launch the then Government’s Play Strategy in 2008 as Culture Secretary. It was a huge mistake for it to be side-lined after 2010, and we have seen over recent years how play has become squeezed out of many children’s lives. Play is vital for children’s development, their health, and wellbeing.

“We have to break down the barriers that are preventing so many of our children from playing.

“The Raising the Nation Play Commission’s report is a very timely and vitally important call to action, and its central message is clear: we need a new National Play Strategy to get our children playing again.”

ENDS

[.download-play]Download the report[.download-play]

For further information and media interview requests, please contact Jo Green (WhatsApp: 07715105415 or jo.green@centreforyounglives.org)

Notes to editors

1. Everything to Play For: A Plan to Ensure Every Child in England Can Play’ is available here. The report will be launched on Wednesday 11^th June at an event in Parliament.

2. The Raising the Nation Play Commission commissioned a poll of 2,000 parents across England between 24^th January and 4^th February 2025 by Stack Data Strategy to understand more about their views of play, including its barriers and its benefits. Its full findings are included in the report. Half of parents told us they play with their youngest child every day while a further third (35%) say they play with them “most days”. Three quarters (76%) of parents agreed that people are generally less accepting of children playing outside on the street than when they were a child. Over half (55%) of parents say that their youngest child plays outside less than they did as a child. This is even more the case with parents aged over 45 (69%).