State of Play in Australia

New research commissioned by IKEA Australia shows that despite 97% of parents saying they would like to spend more time engaged in offline play with their children, 4 in 10 are falling short of the minimum three hours a day.

In the IKEA Time to Play Report, findings from Aussie parents reveal that the amount of play their children engaged in reduced as their children grew older. This is consistent with other research that shows that Australian children’s enjoyment of play and participation in active play reduces with age, whilst sitting and standing and screen time behaviours increase.

It is concerning that parents have reported the amount of play their kids engage in drops by over one hour per day by the time they reached 9-12 years old from early childhood. Parents also admit to spending half as long playing with their kids in the 9-12 years age group compared with early childhood and this is despite key insights that parents (i) want their kids to play more offline, (ii) believe their child is not too old to play; and (iii) want to play more with their kids.

Why are children falling short of the minimum of three hours of play per day?

In some of my research, we have found that as children age, they can have reduced enjoyment for a range of play aspects such as using imagination and being creative. There is also a lot of research that shows reduced levels of active play as children move towards adolescence.

There is a sense today that children are under pressure to grow up very quickly. National data suggests that the incidences of mental distress in young people has also increased over the past seven years, which has commonly been attributed to the saturation of digital technologies.

We need to continue to make the environment surrounding kids exciting with different play areas and ideas as they grow and develop. The physical environment is now competing with the digital more than ever and can be seen as more challenging to change the physical play options or ideas around kids in a specific space over time compared to mobile and digital solutions.

The challenge we face with electronic platforms is that they can very quickly be adapted to a child’s needs. With a click of the button their senses are engaged with lights, noise, digital topics, games and activities of interest.

With the greater immersion of digital channels including tv, gaming, social media and the internet, there has also been many increases in anxiety, depression, social challenges and inadequate sleep in children. Within the survey findings, many of the parents believed that disconnecting from such digital platforms and engaging in play would generate mental, social and physical benefits that would oppose such health difficulties.

What can we do to build more play in each day?

Parents are obviously spending more time with younger children prior to school when these children are more reliant and dependent on adults for playing and resources. Yet something that could help with the dramatic drop in adults playing with their children from early years (0-4 years more adult reliant) to later childhood, would be for parents to become more of a ‘play buddy’ in which the child can direct more and more play ideas with, whilst having that regular play company.

We can look at ways parents can play more with their older kids after school times, around homework, around busy schedules, and begin to create more meaningful engagement in play. The older children were reported by the parents to engage in more play in the afternoon and evening and this aligns with greater availability for the working parents and kids going to school.

My recommendation to increase current play levels is broken down into three parts. The first is for schools to provide at least one hour of recess time (separate from eating) each day, as active as possible should be mandated. The second is for families to set aside at least one hour in the afternoons or evenings with devices switched off, dedicated to quality ‘play time’ (all three dimensions of physical, social & creative/imaginative should be the goal). And the third is to consider how we can make more processes, activities and tasks during more ‘orderly activities’ during the day more playful (lessons, chores, homework).

Dr Brendon Hyndman, Child development expert and Senior Lecturer in Personal Development, Health & Physical Education at Charles Sturt University.