(From BC Early Years Community Developers)

Children’s Right to Play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide
Bernard van Leer Foundation

This working paper discusses  why play is fundamental to the health and well-being of children and argues that both state signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 31 of which enshrines the right to play) and adults generally should take seriously the importance of providing suitable conditions for children to play. In the words of Gordon Burghardt, quoted in the working paper, “The problem of defining play and its role is one of the greatest challenges facing neuroscience, behavioural biology, psychology, education and the social sciences…”  Download the report here.