Multistakeholder perspectives on children’s play and the systemic factors that influence it across 12 low- and middle-income countries

Children’s play in early childhood is not purely natural and inherent, but shaped by interpersonal, sociocultural, political, and economic factors. Drawing on qualitative data from 74 co-design workshops conducted across 12 low- and middle-income countries, this paper focuses on understanding how children’s play is conceptualised by parents and caregivers and the systems that shape it across diverse settings. Using thematic analysis, two themes, Promoting social connection through creative, physical, and functional play activities and Play does not occur in a bubble: appreciating the familial, socioeconomic, and technological systems of influence, as well as three sub-themes, were developed. The first theme examines the characteristics of the varied activities parents and caregivers perceived as play, including storytelling, singing, physical activities, cooking, and chores. The second theme identifies key systems that influence children’s play. The first is the family, with caregivers serving as mediating agents in children’s play, facilitating access to play environments and materials, modelling actions and engaging with children during play based on cultural norms of child rearing. The second is the socio-economic system that impacts the places and instruments of children’s play, while the third sub-theme explores the dual influence of technology as a system that both hinders and enables children’s play. The findings highlight that the inherent ambiguity of play may undermine the use of play as learning, as parents frequently seek specific tasks or activities that are known to lead to future successes. Therefore, to promote play and, in turn, realise its benefits for children, early childhood practitioners may need to work backwards with parents, first identifying the desired childhood outcome and then linking that goal to different possible play activities. This approach is likely to help rebrand play from being viewed as fun but directionless to being more clearly recognised as purposeful and future-focused.