Bookings are now open for the first in a series of free, Faculty-run lunchtime webinars during September, which will explore some of the many aspects of play research. Information and booking details can be found here.

‘The Way We Play’, starts on 10 September will consist of three, 45-minute online sessions examining the nature, impact and role of play in different contexts. The full programme will cover the changing shape and function of play during the COVID-19 pandemic; the role of play in addressing inequality; and how play can make a difference in challenging settings, such as hospitals and refugee camps.

The series has been organised by the Faculty’s Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) and will feature presentations from Centre researchers as well as an exciting range of invited guests from charities, research foundations, universities and international non-profit organisations. Each webinar will be filmed and made available online after the event.

The webinars are free to join and will run from 12.30pm to 1.15pm on Thursdays. The full programme is:

10 September: Play in Challenging Settings.

17 September: Play and Inequality.

24 September: Play in the Pandemic.

Bookings are now open for the first of these events, which will be chaired by Dr Jenny Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the Faculty. The webinar will feature contributions from Dr Krutika Pau from Starlight Children’s Foundation, a national children’s charity that exists to preserve childhood throughout serious illness; and Dr Fadi El Yamani from Right To Play, an international non-profit that uses play to help vulnerable children to overcome the effects of war, poverty and disease.

Confirmed speakers for the other webinars include members of the Lego Foundation, Dr Helen Dodd (a specialist in child anxiety at the University of Reading) and Ane Qvortrup (Professor of Education, University of Southern Denmark) – as well as Faculty members Paul Ramchandani, Sara Baker and Krishna Kulkarni.

For more details about the programme and to book places, visit the PEDAL Eventbrite pages here.