Play Safety Forum publishes review of Covid risks and play

The Play Safety Forum and the UK’s four national play bodies have jointly published a report by risk and play specialists Professor David Ball, Tim Gill, and Andy Yates, about Covid-19 and children’s play.

After surveying the current evidence, the report concludes that current UK policy ‘is much more harmful to children than beneficial’ and ‘should be urgently reviewed, because:

• the benefits to children of playing outside bring a host of social, emotional, and physical rewards. These have long been undervalued and at this time appear to have been completely ignored. Consequently, children are suffering harm;

• the evidence is that the risks posed by COVID-19 to children playing in outdoor spaces is very low;

• proportionate decisionmaking requires that trade-offs between the risks and benefits of safety interventions are part of the decision process’.

A full copy of report can be downloaded here