A National Observatory of Children's Play Experiences During COVID-19

The devastating health impacts of COVID-19 have resulted in major restrictions on where, when and how children can play. Play is strongly connected to children's wellbeing and social development and is a crucial means through which children express concerns about, and responses to, the world around them. A collaboration between the UCL Institute of Education, the University of Sheffield, V&A Museum of Childhood, British Library, and Great Ormond Street Hospital, will establish a 'National Observatory of Play' to capture children's experiences of the pandemic. Via social media, national press and our collaborating organisations' networks, we will invite children, their parents and carers, to share stories, thoughts and ephemera connected to play in the pandemic by uploading text, image, sound or video files. With children as observers and reporters of their experiences, the Observatory will document indoor, outdoor and imaginary play, including digital play, from onscreen games to social media. It will illuminate our understanding of the social, material, linguistic, spatial and temporal worlds of children, throughout lockdown and beyond. With our partners, we will develop an online exhibition, a public archive, a radio documentary, and 'Play Wellbeing Toolkits' for talking and listening to children in times of anxiety. We are interdisciplinary academics, archivists and practitioners, experienced in exploring forms of contemporary and historical play, working with children, parents and carers as co-producers of research. Our findings will offer insights into the often-overlooked worlds of play and peer cultures, informing policy and practice during the pandemic and the 'new normals' beyond.