Listening to children's perspectives on play across the lifespan: children's right to inform adults' discussions of contemporary play

Abstract

For over a decade, researchers, practitioners, and play advocates have documented a decline in children's opportunities to engage in unstructured and outdoor play, a discussion that has been represented through the discourse and perspectives of adults. Given the increasing recognition that children's voices, their perspectives, deserve a more intentional and prominent inclusion in activities and decisions designed to influence them, the current study was designed to interview 98 children (ages 3–17) about their perspectives on children's and adults' play to examine how children's ideas could expand the dialogue on the changing sociocultural contexts of play. Children's emic conceptualizations of the characteristics defining play were consistent with previous research. Children's ideas of fun play and plans for spending a whole day playing emphasized relationships, outdoor play, and interacting with toys, but rarely digital play. The majority of children believed that adults play – with their children, sports, games, and digitally – although most children reported that adults do not play enough, a phenomenon they critiqued. The findings are discussed in relationship to literature describing children's perspectives on play and children's rights. The study reveals novel information concerning children's perspectives on play and suggests the importance of including children's narratives in research and advocacy describing the changing landscape of contemporary children's play.