Celebrating International Play Therapy Week: What is play therapy and why is it important?
Play is essential to the healthy development of every child. Play supports social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth and development. Play is a part of children’s lives that happens naturally and in its own right has immense value1-2. Grown-ups across many different professional fields have taken an interest in play. Play does not belong to […]
Mental Health Matters: The implications of Government scrapping the Mental Health Plan
Last summer, the Government consulted widely on a “mental health and wellbeing plan“. There was a widely welcomed commitment to “improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes, particularly for people who experience worse outcomes than the general population. This is a key part of our commitment to ‘level up’, and address unequal outcomes and life chances […]
Continuing the ‘play and health revolution’: Semana JIM® 2022
A translation of this article in Spanish is available to download here. It’s hard to be a child in hospital. There are rules, restrictions, unfamiliar noises, weird smells, and unlimited procedures to endure. Alongside doing everything they can to treat and protect the child, parents and healthcare workers will also be helping them to deal […]
Stalled social skills, ruptured learning: Ethiopian schools exemplify COVID-19’s aftershock for the world’s poorest children
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have “severely ruptured” the social and emotional development of some of the world’s poorest children, as well as their academic progress. This is according to new evidence published by PEDAL researchers Stephen Bayley and Prof Paul Ramchandani , in collaboration with the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre […]
Reflecting on the PEDAL Play Conference 2022
On 8th September 2022, we were thrilled to welcome over 100 attendees to the Donald McIntyre Building to discuss all things play at our first in-person conference since the pandemic. This event gave guests the opportunity to engage with cutting edge research & practice in the fields of play in different cultures, learning environments, and […]
Exploring ‘Encanto’ and intergenerational trauma
A new research paper published by PEDAL PhD student Sydney Conroy, entitled ‘Narrative Matters: Encanto and intergenerational trauma’, suggests that engaging with popular children’s films might be the key to unlocking conversations around intergenerational trauma with young people and their families. In her analysis of the 2021 Disney hit, Conroy highlights that the relationship between […]
PEDAL’s Dr Ciara Laverty in PlayFutures webinar
Watch the webinar about playing with infants and toddlers, featuring Dr Vicky Leong (Department of Pscyhology, University of Cambridge), Dr Ciara Laverty (Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge), and Dr Melissa Scarpate (Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge).
Depression and playfulness in fathers
A research paper has been published by Prof Paul Ramchandani entitled 'Depression in and playfulness in fathers and young infants: A matched design comparison study'. Key findings include: playful behaviours at 3-months differ between depressed and non-depressed fathers; depressed fathers use less playful excitation...
New Professor for PEDAL
We are delighted to introduce the new LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development & Learning - Professor Paul Ramchandani . Find out more about the first LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning from the University of Cambridge. BBC Article For all media enquiries please contact the University...
Play: A Window into Children’s Social Worlds
Prof Anthony Pellegrini joined a group of esteemed academics as part of Dr Jenny Gibson & Dr Vicky Leong 's two day symposium entitled 'Breaking Barriers' on 11th & 12th September 2017. Looking at how research in the field can be enriched by new technology, Prof Pellegrini talked about the difficulty of defining...
