We’ll hear from leading international researchers, policy makers and practitioners who’ll share what they’ve learned about play and early development over the last decade, what we still need to learn, and how we can put this into practice.
Keynote Presentations
Find out more about our keynote presentation topics and speakers below.
Click the drop down box to learn more about each speaker.
2025 David Whitebread Memorial Lecture:
Children’s risky play: Thrilling experiences and developmental benefits
A natural part of children’s physically active play involves engaging in play that is a bit scary and somewhat risky (i.e., risky play). Children actively seek this thrilling kind of play, and nearly all children love the quivering feeling of butterflies in their tummy when they encounter something they do not know if they can manage or what the consequences of their actions will be.
This presentation will focus on what risky play is, and why it is important for children’s experiences, development, and learning. Through risky play, children build self-confidence, physical/motor competence, social skills, psychological resilience, and risk management skills. Nevertheless, within an increasingly safety-focused society, our desire to protect children has invaded their daily lives. The presentation will also discuss how this has resulted in a culture of caution among educators, teachers, and parents, as well as restrictive rules and laws on children’s play environments.
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter is Professor at the Department of Physical Education and Health at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Trondheim, Norway.
Her primary research focus is on children’s physical play, outdoor play, and risky/thrilling play among children in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions, as well as how to develop physical environments for children’s play, development, and learning. She is also involved in research on Norwegian children’s experiences of participation and well-being in Norwegian ECEC institutions, and projects about safety work, child injuries and injury prevention in ECEC.
Currently, she is the project manager of a project exploring the effects of childhood risk experiences on children’s risk assessment and risk management skills using Virtual Reality (VR) technology as well as eye-tracking and motion capturing.
Early childhood development and the ‘next 1000 days’: Research and implementation insights from South Africa
This presentation will introduce the concept of ‘the next 1000 days’ (2-5 years) which was the focus of a recent series on early childhood development in The Lancet, led by Dr Draper. She will then outline her research in this age group in low-income South African communities, including both measurement and implementation science. This includes work on executive function and early learning, as well as the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative Bukhali trial, and Mazi Umntanakho (‘know your child’), a digital tool for social emotional development and mental health of 3-5y children.
Dr Catherine Draper is an Associate Professor in the SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. She has a background in psychology, public health, and qualitative research. Dr Draper’s research interests include the development and evaluation of community-based interventions, and she is particularly interested in early childhood health and development. She led the 2023 Lancet series on early childhood development and the next 1,000 days.
Dr Draper is currently leading an intervention study on social emotional development and mental health in young children in vulnerable settings in South Africa. She also works on the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) where she leads the early childhood and implementation science components of the HeLTI South Africa Bukhali trial.
Leveraging alternative systems to support children’s development amid crisis
There are numerous challenges facing young children in Haiti, including political upheaval, gang violence, civil unrest, shortages of necessities, and natural disasters. This fragility has had a detrimental impact on the learning and development of young children. To address these multifaceted risk factors, Dr D’Sa and his team focused on leveraging the assets of the primary settings—lakay, lekol, legliz (home, school, and church)—where young children learn and develop daily. Over four years and spread across six of the 10 departments in Haiti, they worked to activate this lakay-lekol-legliz (L3) system through interventions and approaches that were need-based, developed in partnership with communities, iteratively tested and improved, and gradually scaled.
In this talk, Dr D’Sa will share lessons from four years of research with communities in Haiti. He will summarise how they worked with community partners to activate the L3 system, the evidence and impact of this activation, and lessons for similar initiatives in other contexts around the world.
Dr Nikhit D’Sa is a developmental psychologist and applied education researcher. He studies how children learn and develop when faced with acute and chronic risk factors in humanitarian contexts. In collaboration with Ministries of Education, multilateral donors, foundations, non-governmental organizations, higher-education institutions, faith-based communities, and schools, Dr. D’Sa has worked to identify modifiable patterns and routines within relationships and settings that can be directly targeted through practitioner-led interventions.
Dr. D’Sa has also pioneered innovative approaches to incorporating the perspective of children, parents, and teachers into context-relevant assessments of children’s social-emotional development and teachers’ well-being.
Play, access and opportunity: Game-changing action for children
Julian will draw on his experience of working in early education and care for more than three decades to consider:
- The importance of play in early education and care
- Why play matters in under-served neighbourhoods, and what educators might do
- How we might rethink play so it’s more inclusive
Dr Julian Grenier is the Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years at the Education Endowment Foundation.
Before joining the EEF, he was the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Newham, East London. During that time, he was a National Leader of Education and was also the Director of East London Research School.
Julian was awarded a CBE for services to Early Years Education in 2022.
Play: The future of learning and thriving
Play is the driving force behind human evolution, a critical mechanism for thriving in today’s world, and what equips children and young people with the skills to create a better tomorrow. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the PEDAL Centre on the International Day of Play, this keynote will explore why play is more critical than ever.
From research to real-world impact, play fuels creativity, resilience, and well-being, helping us navigate uncertainty and develop new ways of thinking, learning, and innovating. The PEDAL Centre has been a pioneering force in uncovering the science of play and translating it into policy and practice. As we look to the future, how can play be more deeply integrated into education, work, and society? What opportunities lie ahead for scaling playful approaches to address global challenges?
As the PEDAL Centre continues its critical mission, we must reaffirm play as the foundation of human potential – and a necessity for building a more caring, creative, and compassionate world, even in the face of rapid digital change.
Bo Stjerne Thomsen is the Head of Educational Impact at LEGO Education, leading global research, learning design, and content development. Previously, he served as Vice-President, Chair of Learning through Play, and Global Head of Research at the LEGO Foundation, leading the international research and learning agenda.
He has developed innovative education programs for schools, universities, and companies across 30+ countries, built expert communities, and advised governments in more than 10 countries, as well as organisations such as the World Economic Forum, OECD, and United Nations.
A recognised researcher, educator, and advisor, he has collaborated with institutions including MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, EPFL, and Tsinghua University. Trained as an engineer and architect, he has designed learning spaces, cultural institutions, and urban environments across three continents. He has authored over 20 publications on creativity, play, and their role in education, technology, and learning innovation.
Workshops & Panel Discussions
Find out more about our workshop and panel discussion topics and speakers below.
Click the drop down box to learn more about each speaker.
Building a community for policy change
Sally is Associate Director for Programmes and Impact at the Centre for Early Childhood, which is part of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Sally is a specialist in early childhood and a passionate advocate for babies, young children and their families.
Sally has had a varied career in academia, charities, national and local governments, leading teams to develop and implement interventions for families in the early years, translating science into action, and campaigning successfully to drive policy change. Sally was a Policy Fellow in PEDAL from 2022-2024.
Eleanor Ireland leads the development and management of the Nuffield Foundation’s research portfolio in early years and was the chair of the Early Years Funders Group between 2023-25.
Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as a Research Director at NatCen Social Research, where she designed and managed research projects in the areas of early years education, parental separation and family policy; and NFER where she worked on a range of mixed methods educational evaluations.
Details to follow
Neurodiversity-affirming play
Dr Samantha Friedman is a Lecturer in Applied Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She is a member of the Developmental Psychology in Education Research Group within Moray House School of Education and Sport.
Samantha’s research focuses on critical perspectives on autism, nature, wellbeing, and the intersection of these topics. She is particularly interested in supporting autistic and otherwise neurodivergent young people through nature-based learning and play.
Details to follow
Emma is a Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, working with Dr Will Farr and Professor Jenny Gibson on the ‘Operationalising Neurodiversity in the Classroom’ project. This project aims to make neurodiversity-affirming practice an everyday reality in all schools.
Emma completed her PhD at PEDAL under the supervision of Professor Jenny Gibson. Her PhD focused on autism diagnostic assessments and autistic play from a strengths-based, neurodiversity-informed perspective.
Emma is committed to conducting research that aligns with the goals of autistic people through collaborative, participatory approaches.
AI, toys, and the future
Rosie Flewitt is Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her work over the past 25 years has focused on how young children communicate through their bodies as well as through spoken and written language, using their senses, movement and touch.
Recent externally funded studies include Early Childhood Care and Education settings’ use of digital documentation to record children’s play, young children’s storytelling and story acting, young children’s engagement with artefacts in science museums and participatory research with children living with profound disadvantage.
Prof Flewitt’s most recent large-scale study investigated birth to 3-year-old children’s language and literacy play with digital media at home in diverse communities across the four UK nations, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Details to follow
Connecting our play networks
Join us for an interactive networking session bringing together play practitioners, teachers, policy makers, and third sector workers passionate about the power of play. Connect with like-minded colleagues, exchange ideas, and explore collaborations in a relaxed, playful setting. You’ll also have the chance to hear from members of the PEDAL research team, who will share insights from the cutting edge of play research. Whether you’re shaping policy or creating playful learning experiences, this is a space to spark new ideas and partnerships.