Hansard

It is too easy to dismiss play as a trivial activity for children. The reality is that play is about much more than just having fun. Like many other members, as a parent, I recognise how important play is to the health and wellbeing of not only my daughter but Scotland’s children and young people.

The minister spoke of the Scottish Government’s ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world for a child to grow up, and I share her view that the development of Scotland’s first national play strategy and action plan will bring us another step closer to achieving that ambition. A strong evidence base and international research demonstrate that play is essential to enabling a child’s healthy development through to adolescence and into adulthood.

I recommend that members spend some time reviewing Play Scotland’s report “The Power of Play”, which provides an excellent overview of research and expert opinion and which shows that supporting play from an early age can give children the best possible start in life. For example, page 10 of the report says:

“Because playing includes such a wide variety of experiences it contributes in many different ways to children’s enjoyment and well-being. Imaginative and constructive play is thought to be particularly important for cognitive development whilst play involving art, craft and design helps children develop the fine motor skills needed for handwriting. A range of play experiences contribute to, for example, language development, problem-solving, memory and creativity and the exercise involved in physically active play helps increase fitness.”

That illustrates the range of benefits to children’s development when they are given the opportunity to participate in play. Play throughout childhood is a key part of learning physical, intellectual, emotional and social skills. It plays a crucial role in helping children to grow up to be healthy and productive members of society.

I have been fascinated by members’ anecdotes about children’s games and games from long ago—by which I mean 1960. I recommend that members look at the Bruegel painting entitled “Children’s Games”, which was painted not in 1960 but in 1560. I saw it two weeks ago in the Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna. It shows dozens of children playing dozens and dozens of games, nearly all of which are instantly recognisable, probably to every person in the chamber.

However, things have changed in the past 20 years. That is why it is essential that we have a national play strategy. We know that children are spending more of their time indoors and have an increasingly inactive and sedentary lifestyle. Recent research led by the University of Strathclyde into the physical activity of Scotland’s young people found that only 19 per cent of adolescent boys and 11 per cent of girls aged 11 to 15 do the recommended 60 minutes of moderate exercise per day. It was also found that 76 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds watch more than two hours of television each day. That demonstrates the challenge that Scotland faces, with almost a third of Scottish children being categorised as overweight or obese.

However, the study also recognised the positive steps that the Scottish Government has taken to bring forward national policies, strategies and investment to improve opportunities for young people to participate in healthy activities. The Scottish Government’s on-going commitment to developing play opportunities for children can be seen in a variety of funding streams, including the £3 million go2play programme, which is managed by Inspiring Scotland. That builds on the progress of the go play fund, which has helped to benefit a number of play initiatives in communities throughout the country.

One of the projects that has benefited from that support is based in my region in West Dunbartonshire, where the Environment Trust has been working to develop new spaces for play in local schools, parks and streets. Pupils at St Mary’s primary school in Alexandria worked in conjunction with the trust to design and create a new Scandinavian-style free play space in the school playground to better facilitate outdoor play and learning.

The national play strategy focuses on strengthening the play infrastructure in Scotland to ensure that children and young people have better opportunities to participate in play. The latest Scottish household survey found that around nine out of 10 households with children aged six to 12 typically have access to at least one form of play area in their neighbourhood, such as a park, playground, field or open space. That is encouraging, but there is certainly much more that we can do to ensure that children and young people have access to suitable play areas in their community settings and public spaces. Members have made clear some of the pressures that are brought to bear on those open spaces through the desire of some to build on them and remove the opportunities for children to use them as open recreational areas.

A number of alternative funding routes are available to help to develop better play provision for young people, such as the cashback for communities initiative and Big Lottery Fund funding. The action plan highlights the need to showcase the positive impact of play to potential funding bodies. I know that the Big Lottery Fund in particular has facilitated a number of fantastic community projects for children and young people across Scotland.

In East Renfrewshire, Cosgrove Care, which is a local charity that specialises in providing support for people with learning disabilities, was recently awarded a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s young start fund for a project to enable children from eight to 12 with differing learning disabilities to take part in horse-riding activities.

Teachers at the Isobel Mair school, which is a school for children with special needs and is also based in East Renfrewshire, successfully applied to the awards for all fund to establish a sports and drama programme for pupils at the school who have additional support needs.

Those are two worthwhile local projects to highlight in particular, as they cater for young people with disabilities who have been shown to face barriers to play opportunities due to inadequate provision in mainstream play facilities. I particularly welcome the Conservative amendment, which highlights that particular point.

I know that Capability Scotland has been a key stakeholder in the development of the national play strategy, and I am certain that it has emphasised the need to take into account the challenges that young disabled people face in accessing the same play opportunities that non-disabled children access.

I pay tribute to the range of stakeholders across the children’s sector, including Play Scotland, Inspiring Scotland and Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, whom Christian Allard mentioned earlier, that have all worked together to bring forward Scotland’s first national play strategy. I know that a wide range of views and opinions have gone into making that possible. Everyone—teachers, parents, health workers, volunteers, carers, youth workers and, indeed, young people—has a role to play in taking forward the action plan, promoting the positive benefits of play, and enabling quality play opportunities for all Scotland’s children and young people, irrespective of their ability or, indeed, disability.

15:53