The power of child-led play

Play is a right for every child, as recognised in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.  

In this episode, occupational therapist Sarah Seekamp explores why play is essential for children’s mental health and their social, emotional and physical development. She shares practical insights for practitioners about partnering with children and parents to create playful, connected experiences that support healthy growth and development. Sarah also speaks about how child-led play builds resilience, supports meaning-making, strengthens relationships and nurtures self-worth. 

• Listen to the episode to discover how child-led play helps children make sense of the world around them. 

• Learn how to start meaningful conversations with parents about the importance of play using the Parent–child play: Practice resource. 

• Deepen your understanding of how play nurtures infant and toddler mental health with the webinar Building parents’ understanding of play to nurture infant and toddler mental health. 

• Share Nurtured by nature: Outdoor play for children’s mental health, a podcast episode from Emerging Minds Families, with parents and carers you work with. 

In this episode you will learn about: 

• Why child-led play is necessary for healthy development [03:04] 

• How parents can support child-led play [05:49] 

• How practitioners can use play to support parent––child relationships [12:57] 

• Why parents can find it hard to let children lead [17:32] 

Further information and resources 

• Keeping the infant and toddler in mind (online course) 

• Engaging with parents about children’s mental health (online course) 

• Parent–child play: A mental health promotion strategy for all children (resource)