Have we forgotten how to play?

Creative Solutions to a National Play Shortage

The National Institute for Play has declared a play shortage. We’re not playing enough! Insight into why we are in a deficit of play strongly correlates with increasingly limited access to art. Art and play are both critically undervalued. Like art, playtime is limited to make more time for academic learning. Why is it always one or the other? Art and play offer ways to help enrich learning and sustain a more productive way of working into adulthood.

“By the time children are in the classroom, they’ve been taught to suppress their natural play-based curiosity. Schools reinforce this when they eliminate recess and the arts to make more time for academics.” [1]

- Dr Stuart Brown

Human Play Researcher

Play is far from serious, but it should be taken seriously. Our instinct to play begins in the midbrain, the same as feelings like hunger and fear. [2] As fear and hunger are innate to our daily lives, play is too. We need to play, yet we’re taught to suppress the instinct by the time we reach school age.

It’s concerning that a decline in play time correlates with the lack of prioritisation of arts subjects in schools. Yet it’s hardly surprising! As play expert Dr Brown states, school timetables have shifted to create more space for academic subjects.[3] This decision, to minimise play and art time, is telling of the fact that they are not deemed to be as important as English or maths or within day-to-day learning.

That sparked a thought: Does this form an early understanding that there is no time for art or play?

When we leave the classroom, we face the same work-play balance in the working world. Just as schools sacrifice time for art and play, the structure of a working week is much the same for adults. It’s not just children, adults are not playing enough either! It appears we are socialised to separate play time from work – as though one distracts from the other!

We ask: How can art provide a way for people (of all ages) to gain more work-play balance?

Art and play are not distractions from work and school, they are critical for our personal development:

The LEGO Play Well report, published in 2018, found 93% of children aged 5-12 feel happier when they have the opportunity to play. Children who are allowed to play are also shown to be more creative, faster learners. Whilst adults who play experience less stress and more optimism and well-being.[4] However, statistics collected from recent news reports reveal that the decline of space, and time to play is getting serious.

The severity of the UK’s play shortage:

A report showed that Key Stage 1 children today play for 23 minutes less during a school day than their parents in the 1990s. This equates to almost two hours a week.[5]

Many councils have had to cut their park budgets by more than 40%, with some places needing to cut back by more than 80%.[6] This means there are less places to play.

That’s perhaps why 67% of parents worry about children’s screen time activities, with a 52% increase in children’s screen time since 2020.[7] It’s not just children, the average screen time stands at 6 hours and 40 minutes per day in 2025.[8]

We spend an average of 40% of our waking hours dedicated to screen-based activities.[8] And, whilst some of our time on screens may be spent playing on apps, the definition of play is not being sufficiently met.

The definition of play:

Play is a state of mind, one that we experience when absorbed in an activity that we enjoy. Dr S. Brown refers to play as a suspension of sense of time.[2] So, when people say: “time flies when you’re having fun”, they’re referring to the play state.

That definition could include online play, however, Dr. Brown reserve the word “play” for an activity that includes all five elements of play: [2]

Self-chosen and self-directed
Intrinsically motivated
Structured or ordered
Imaginative or creative aspect
A playful state of mind – meaning the player is very engaged but not stressed about the activity.

Note number 4 on the list – creativity and play are innately connected. That’s why art can be used as a very important form of play.

Art as Play

Play is seen as an early form of creativity – as children are using their imagination to fabricate games. On the other hand, creativity is said to be to adults what play is to children, as it offers us the opportunity to easily enter the play state.[9] Art can be defined as play as it enlivens our imaginations. In this sense, artists of all kinds are, in essence, players. [10]

By these associations, art and play are incredibly intertwined. This raises an important point about the potential of art to help adults to play more. After all, adults are playing even less than children!

Art offers a creative solution to the play shortage

Art as play offers us a way to enrich learning and sustain a more productive way of working into adulthood. With the decline of outdoor spaces to play, the National Institute for Play makes the case for indoor play. As part of this, they call for people (of all ages) to dedicate more time to creativity. [11]

Art, and other creative hobbies, are identified as important ways to introduce play into our lives as they often require little space or time. It’s something that adults, teenagers, and children can do. The creative flow could be considered a play state – one we all need to tap into!

From childhood to adulthood: How we grow out of play (and art)

Before considering how to encourage adults to play, it’s important to consider why they don’t. After all, children as young as 10 begin thinking of play as childish.[12] Linking back to the start of this blog, we are taught as early as school age that art and play get in the way of “serious” academic learning. “All work, no play” is a phrase born out of that very idea.

As we grow up, workload increases and social pressures mount. Those pressures show that we prioritise play less and less. That’s why pure play, defined as a state of being 100% fully submerged in an activity, is much more common in children than adults. In fact, it’s rare that adults enter that state at all. [13]

There appears to be a pattern: It seems we are socialised to pause play time in order to concentrate on work.

Why is it a choice between play and “serious” work?

We need to stop seeing play and learning as enemies. One report by Schools Week calls for more “playful learning”.[14] So, to expand on this, adults also need to make time for play during the working week too.

It doesn’t have to be all or none. 10 mins of creativity with 100% absorption is play and that’s doable – it doesn’t have to be 2 hours a day! As adults, we can find ways to be more momentarily playful in our day-to-day lives: pausing momentarily within the working week.

The benefit of creative play is balance

Balance benefits us through:

Stress reduction – Time spent in a play state increases our resilience – it activates neural pathways in the brain that mitigate the effects of stress.[2]

Problem solving – Playful adults are more likely to have creative and reliable coping strategies in stressful situations.[11]

Social connections – Play strengthens connections between the “players” and creates a sense of belonging.

You can also discover play though:

Sport (whether that’s as part of a team or on your own)
Cooking
Reading
Going on a walk somewhere new
Playing board games and engaging in more traditional forms of play

The list goes on! What feels like play for one person, may feel like work for another. So long as you feel you are absorbed in an activity that provides you with enjoyment and a suspension of sense of time then you are playing. What’s important is that we begin to prioritise play time and see it as productive. After all, it is a vital tool for well-being, creativity, and resilience.[11]

So, how will you play and when can you start? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

If you are inspired by the topic of play, here are some suggestions for further reading: