In Celebration of the UN Day of Play - "Playing and Being Well" with Dr Wendy Russell. (10 Jun 2026)

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:00:00 GMT

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UN Day of Play Eve - A celebration and reflection on the global importance of play.

"Playing and Being Well: What the research says"

Dr Wendy Russell

This webinar introduces Playing and Being Well, a review of contemporary research on children’s play, policy and practice. The review was carried out by Wendy Russell (Snr Research Fellow, University of Gloucestershire, UK) and Mike Barclay and Ben Tawil (Ludicology). It was commissioned by Play Wales and has a policy focus on Wales, but is relevant much more broadly.

The review has four sections:
· contemporary issues in childhood studies and policy studies
· the role of play in children’s wellbeing
· where children play
· practice-based examples of supporting children’s play in both the public realm and the institutions of childhood.

What much of the contemporary research – across all sorts of academic disciplines – shows is that things like play and wellbeing aren’t individual issues but instead arise through relations and the conditions of children’s lives. When those conditions are favourable, children can create their own wellbeing through playing. Our review proposes a relational capability approach to accounting for and responding to those conditions. Come to the webinar to find out what that means!

Acknowledging the work of our IPA memberPlay Wales in bringing this groundbreaking work to to the global community.

International Play Association: Promoting the Child's Right to Play upcoming events

In Celebration of the UN Day of Play - "Playing and Being Well" with Dr Wendy Russell. (10 Jun 2026)