Playtime could be a solution to the mental health crisis among children, according to a primary school headteacher from Oxford.
Speaking to Stone Barrell, Tina Farr, headteacher at St Ebbe's School, said: "Something that I was taught right at the start of my career was that small children need to be bored, and I was quite shocked by that.
“I think parents can feel like they're bad parents if their children say they're bored.
"And actually, it's one of the better things that you can do, because it allows children to go to a space of having to work out what they are passionate about, and if they've got items around them that are really inexpensive, den building items, and cardboard, and Sellotape, and paint, and glue, they will create if they're given the space to do it.”
Tina Farr (Image: Supplied)
With the summer holidays starting for state schools throughout Oxfordshire, Ms Farr emphasized the importance of play and outdoor activities for the healthy mental development of children.
“The children's mental health crisis is hugely complex, but play is the place to start.
"Play develops children's social skills.
"It develops turn taking, it develops concentration.
"But the most important thing that it does is it builds their resilience.
“When children play, when they make a mistake in their play, they naturally problem solve.
"They have to pick themselves up and try again.
"If you set up classrooms, if you set up playtimes in a way that enables children to play, that enables them to come up against challenges in a safe enough environment where they can problem solve themselves – we've got one solution to the mental health crisis.
"Because while their brains are developing, they are laying down patterns that will stay.
"And I think, if we can get play right in schools, if we can get play right after schools, we could start to reverse some of the mental health crisis that we're seeing."
St Ebbe's School has now embedded play into the school's Key Stage 1 classrooms.
In addition, under a partnership with OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning), playtimes at the school now include building, swinging and creative activities.
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