The Play Observatory: A National Observatory of Children's Play Experiences during COVID-19

The Play Observatory (November 2020-March 2022) was an Economic and Social Research Council-funded, UKRI rapid response call project that brought together researchers from the UCL Institute of Education, the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, and the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's play.

Recognising that the coronavirus pandemic was having a huge impact on children and young people, affecting where, when, how and with whom they can socialise and play, the Play Observatory set out to learn more about their experiences during this unusual time in history. By combining what began as a nationwide (but which became, through contributions, an international) survey of children's play across a range of settings with ethnographic research, the project sought to act as an 'observatory', seeking a panoramic view of young people's play, peer cultures and social lives.
The study followed in the footsteps of Iona and Peter Opie's mass survey of schoolchildren from around Britain from the 1950s onwards, in its intention to prioritise children's voices and centre their experiences, including their feelings, during their play and leisure activities. Children were invited to act as observers and reporters of their own play by submitting examples to the Play Observatory online survey. The interdisciplinary team collected examples of indoor, outdoor and imaginary play, including digital play. Contributions were also invited from children's families, and other adults, from schools, youth groups and organisations.

The project asked

How have children been playing during the pandemic, through lockdown and social distancing to the gradual return to school and group activities?
How has the pandemic featured in play and peer culture, and what insights does this offer into children's unique experiences of it?
What continuities and discontinuities in play and children's cultures are emerging, and how are they comparable to those in the past, and between different communities?
How can interdisciplinary perspectives and scholarly approaches (such as history, folklore, multimodality, education and cultural studies) help us to better understand the role and value of play for wellbeing in times of crisis

The project outcomes include

A searchable online colllection of examples, and a multi-media archive available through open access repositories at the University of Sheffield and UCL, that will preserve a record of children's play during COVID-19 for use by future generations.
A virtual exhibition for the public of contributions to the project co-curated with the Young V&A national museum dedicated to young people.
The development of well-being toolkits in conjunction with play specialists from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Publications

1) Special issue of Global Studies on Childhood on Pandemic Play (March 2024), Volume 14, Issue 1 (open access)

Potter, J., Olusoga, Y., & Signorelli, V. (2024). The ‘pandemic play’ themed issue of global studies of childhood: An editorial. Global Studies of Childhood, 14(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241234031

Potter, J., Cannon, M., & Cowan, K. (2024). Children’s production of place and (third) space during Covid 19: Den building, filmmaking and the postdigital in the Play Observatory. Global Studies of Childhood, 14(1), 9-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241231810

Olusoga, Y., Bannister, C., & Bishop, J. C. (2024). Infection or inflection? Reflecting on constructions of children and play through the prism of the COVID-19 pandemic. Global Studies of Childhood, 14(1), 26-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241234356

Olusoga, Y. (2024). ‘I danced on the road to the Macarena song which felt a bit naughty’: Affective entanglements and the wayfaring pandemic child. Global Studies of Childhood, 14(1), 42-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241234027

Cowan, K., van Leeuwen, T., & Selander, S. (2024). Pandemic playthings: A multimodal perspective on toys and toy play in the time of COVID-19. Global Studies of Childhood, 14(1), 62-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106241233305

2) Chapters contributed to A. Beresin and J. Bishop (Eds), Play in a Covid Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity in a Time of Isolation. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers (2023), https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0326 (open access)

Bishop, J. (2023). Tag, you've got coronavirus!' Chase Games in a Covid Frame. In A Beresin and J. Bishop (Eds), Play in a Covid Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity in a Time of Isolation (pp. 3-32). Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0326.01

Cannon, M. & Potter, J. (2023). The Observatory of Children's Play Experiences during Covid-19: A Photo Essay. In A Beresin and J. Bishop (Eds), Play in a Covid Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity in a Time of Isolation (pp. 299–316). Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0326.14

Bannister, C. & Olusoga, Y. (2023). What's behind the Mask? Family, Fandoms and Playful Caring around Children's Masks during the Covid-19 Pandemic. In A Beresin and J. Bishop (Eds), Play in a Covid Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity in a Time of Isolation (pp. 395–426). Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0326.18

3) Cowan, K; Potter, J; Olusoga, Y; Bannister, C; Bishop, J C; Cannon, M; Sigorelli, V. (2021). Children's Digital Play during the COVID-19: Pandemic: insights from the Play Observatory. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 17 (3) pp. 8-17.

4) Contributions to Sage Research Methods: Doing Research Online

Cowan, K., Potter, J. & Cannon, M. (2022). Researching Children's Play Using Online Ethnographic Case Studies: Insights from the Play Observatory. SAGE Research Methods: Doing Research Online. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529603538

Olusoga, Y., Bannister, C., Bishop, J C. & Signorelli, V. (2022). Preserving the Present: Designing a Child-Centered Qualitative Survey for a National Observatory of Children's Play. In Sage Research Methods: Doing Research Online. SAGE PUblications, https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529603736

Project Team

University College London
John Potter (Principal Investigator)
Kate Cowan (Co-Investigator)
Michelle Cannon (Co-Investigator)
Valerio Signorelli (Co-Investigator)

The University of Sheffield
Yinka Olusoga (Co-Investigator)
Julia C. Bishop (Research Associate)
Catherine Bannister (Research Associate)

Archival Consultant
Steve Roud, Independent researcher

Project Partners
Young V&A
Great Ormond Street Hospital
British Library