The Play Well Podcast

In this episode of the podcast, we hear from Dr. Lorna Arnott and her research on lived experiences of children's play, specifically in technology and digital play before the age of 5.Lorna Arnott is a Reader of Early Childhood Education and former Director of Early Years at the University of Strathclyde. Her work sits close to practice around three inter-related themes: children’s lifeworlds and experiences in early childhood settings and home cultures; pedagogic innovation in Early Childhood Education; and children’s digital play.  The first two themes are brought together in her conceptualization of how the dynamics of context shape children’s experiences (see selected publications: Pedagogic Cultures). Dr Arnott’s high standing in this field led to her inclusion in the Scottish Government Strategic Approach to Participation, serving on the Children’s Rights and Participation Team. Dr Arnott is an internationally recognized expert in children’s digital play, as evidenced in her role as editor of the 2017 SAGE book Digital Technologies and Learning in the Early Years and co-editor of three special issues on this topic in the British Journal of Educational Technology, Global Studies of Childhood and The European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal. She is founder and co-convener of the EECERA Digital Childhoods, STEM and Multimodality Special Interest Group.  She is Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Early Years Education and Assistant Editor for the Journal of Early Childhood Research.  Methodologically, Dr Arnott specializes in children’s voice and creative methods for children’s participation and has co-edited two books aimed at both research and practice audiences: Research Through Play: Participatory Methods in Early Childhood (SAGE, 2021) and Theory and Practice of Voice: A Guide for the Early Years (Routledge, 2022). Underpinning all of this work is an interest in children’s experiences of learning through play.

Karen is the leading expert in playwork qualifications in Scotland. She is the curriculum manager at Glasgow Clyde College for Playwork, Childhood Practice, Additional Support Needs, Social Services, and Early Learning and Childcare. She is a qualified primary teacher and she recently completed a Masters in Education where her research focused on play deprivation. 

Dr Sarah Goldsmith has been a playworker and playwork trainer for over twenty years, after finishing a degree in Playwork. Sarah has worked in out of school clubs, adventure playgrounds and as a play ranger. The experience Sarah gained as a playworker led her to a PhD that explored children's experiences of toys and gender from a playwork perspective. Currently, Sarah works part time at Thrive Outdoors, researching children's opportunities for outdoor play in Glasgow, as well as working part time as a Childhood Practice lecture at West College Scotland. Sarah is also Chair of the International Play Association (IPA) Scotland.

Dr Stephanie Chambers is a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. She leads a masters programme in Global Health and teaches on health inequalities and programme design and evaluation. Stephanie’s research focuses on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. She is particularly interested in the ways in which intergenerational programmes might bring wellbeing benefit to both children and older adults.

Give Them Time is a grassroots movement which evolved in 2018 from parents across Scotland sharing their own, often difficult, experiences of applying for a further year of nursery funding for their child.Their campaign has been successful in changing the law so that all children with a legal right to defer their p1 start (those not age 5 by the school start date) from Aug 2023 to Aug 2024 and every year thereafter, are now automatically entitled to a further year of nursery (Early Learning and Childcare – ELC) funding. This means it is no longer up to councils to decide whether to fund this or not for mid-August to 31st Dec born children (Jan and Feb borns have had an automatic entitlement to this funding since 2000).They have created a two page information leaflet as a resource for parents, carers, ELC staff, health visitors, primary school teachers and anyone else with an interest in primary one deferral rights in Scotland.

Virginia Radcliffe is the Artistic Director & CEO of Licketyspit, a theatre and play charity focused on early years children and families.After graduating in Drama & English Virginia became an actor. In her 30's, on becoming a mother, she developed her fascination for the early years, which flourished on moving to Scotland in 2000 to become Director of Scotland's first dedicated early years theatre programme at Wee Stories. In 2004 this became Licketyspit. Virginia has written and directed 7 successful touring plays, teaching resources and children's books.In 2008 she led the development of LicketyLeap - a groundbreaking immersive theatre as early intervention. This defined the role of the actor-pedagogue and the children's rights-led Storyplay approach and methodology that now underpins Licketyspit's repertoire of participatory drama-led projects for children and families in areas of high poverty.Virginia is passionate about equality, children's rights, the early years, the way Storyplay can support children to prompt families and communities to relax and appreciate each other and remind us what matters. She seeks to share Storyplay as a trauma-informed practice that can open doors to imaginary playworlds and unlock the limitless possibilities of children.You can find our more about Virginia's work at www.Licketyspit.com Big Porridge & Play Glasgow - 5min promo; 20min documentaryHappening NowPorridge & Play Hubs - New Scot Integration Project'22 – 5min promo; 20min documentaryStories of Resilience Film 4min film showing online Storyplay with refugee families in Pandemic.Have Your Say Through Play Film demonstration and child consultation reports.·         Children’s Rights approach ·         Children & Families NetworkFamily Art Voyage – Webpage with blogs/pics about project with range of artists selected by children to lead workshops in their own practice within the Storyplay framework.

Amy Woodhouse is the Chief Executive Officer of Parenting across Scotland - speaking up for and with parents and families in Scotland. Prior to this role, she was Head of Policy, Projects and Participation for Children in Scotland, a position she held for eight years. Earlier in her career she worked as a researcher in the mental health sector and has a particular interest in how music, and the arts more widely, can be used to promote mental health and well-being. She is currently a Board Member of Scottish Ensemble, a pioneering collective of outstanding musicians.Amy recently participated in a Churchill Fellowship research project that looked at Increasing Children and Young People’s Access to Hobbies and Leisure Activities (churchillfellowship.org). Her fellowship focused on national approaches to improving children and young peoples’ access to hobbies, learning from the experiences of Finland and Iceland. In her own spare time she is a tap-dancer, sometime painter, terrible but enthusiastic guitar player and lover of long-distance walks.

The Opentree Foundation (Project: Toybank — Development Through Play) Toybank — Development Through Play is the flagship project of Mumbai-based non-profit The Opentree Foundation, which was founded in 2004. Toybank creates safe spaces for at-risk children with a focus of mainstreaming play-based learning in India. We adopt a Conscious Play™ approach to enable children from vulnerable communities to alleviate stress, build resilience and overcome probable adversity. Through the Conscious Play™ approach, the programmes focus on children's critical thinking, communication, and socio-emotional learning. We set up play centres in partnership with Nonprofit Organisations, Community-Based Organisations, government and low-income semi-government schools, and government and non-government CICs (Child in Institutional Care). Through advocating for the Right to Play, we aim to bring about a change at the policy level to make Play an integral part of children’s learning. Currently, Toybank works with 77,000+ children, across 623 play centres in seven districts of Maharashtra, India. Shweta ChariCo-founder and CEO, Toybank — Development Through PlayShweta has been a champion of children’s Right to Play for over two decades and has been working towards mainstreaming play and play-based learning in India. A creative facilitator, Shweta is an engineer by education. She was selected for the Harvard Business School — Strategic Nonprofit Management — India programme with a full scholarship. She has won prestigious accolades for spearheading Toybank in its efforts to bridge the gap between the developmental needs of at-risk children and their emotional well-being and cognitive development through Play. With The Opentree Foundation, Shweta has brought together a team of passionate changemakers and subject matter experts who have helped make learning a joyful and fun experience for underserved children.

Pete Moorhouse is an early years creative consultant, researcher, author and artist educator based in the UK.  He is an associate trainer for Early Education delivering training nationally and overseas and is also a Froebel Tutor for the Froebel Trust. His work in school is centred around nurturing children's creativity inspired by Froebelian principles and the approach in Reggio Emilia. Pete is a leading authority on woodwork in Early Years education and has written several books and journal articles, including ‘Learning Through Woodwork’ (Routledge) as well as books on outdoor learning. He is currently working on his latest book – ‘Creativity in Practice: Nurturing creative and critical thinking in early childhood education’. He was awarded an honorary research fellowship from the University of Bristol and is currently researching creative progression in early education. Pete was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake international research into best woodworking practices in education. Pete won the national award (2019) from the Creative Learning Guild for his work promoting creativity in education and is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Yvonne Young is an Early Years Officer with West Lothian Council. Her ‘Wonderful woodworking’ journey began three years ago whilst completing the Froebel in Childhood Practice course with the University of Edinburgh, sparking her interest in play through a Froebelian lens. Her project has since sparked an initiative linking West Lothian College and West Lothian STEM to offer woodworking opportunities within primary one classes, with 50 teachers embracing this. After completing CPD training with Pete Moorhouse, he awarded her the first-ever Big Bang Woodwork Award last April to celebrate her achievements in embedding woodworking across her previous ElC and School community. She continues to promote the idea that every day can be a wonderful woodworking day! Catch up with Yvonne, Pete and Fiona in this latest episode.

Dr Naomi Lott is the John Fell Research Fellow, at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, where she is Co-Investigator on the project ‘Developing a Framework for Implementing the Right to Play’. Naomi is also a Lecturer in Law at UCL.Naomi has recently completed her ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Law, where she was Principal-Investigator on the project ‘Advancing the Development and Application of the Right to Play’. Naomi completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham on the child's right to play (Article 31, UNCRC), examining the right from conception through to implementation. This research has recently been published in 'The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation' (Routledge, 2023). Naomi holds a LLM in Human Rights Law and a Masters in Socio-Legal Research Methods from the University of Nottingham, and a degree in International Politics from Aberystwyth University. Naomi has conducted research for/funded by the United Nations University, Delta 8.7, the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham,the ERC, the Walk Free Foundation, and the ILO and IOM. Here, she speaks with Play Scotland's Chief Executive, Marguerite Hunter Blair, and our Director of Projects, Cherie Morgan, about the Child's right to play.The Right of the Child to Play: From Conception to Implementation - 1s (routledge.com)Delta 8.7 | United Nations University (unu.edu)Winning research proposals: 16 Junior Researchers Awarded Fellowships and Seed Grants (ilo.org)