Only since 2024 has 11th June been designated the International Day of Play by the United Nations General Assembly. It was conceived not just as a global celebration of play as a concept, but also a way to spotlight the transformative impact on a child’s engagement, knowledge, social skills and mental health.
This year’s theme of “Protect Play, Protect Childhood” is about defending a child’s right to play. UNICEF makes this plea to all bodies of government, particularly those in urban areas, amid a loss of family-centric public spaces, rising safety concerns, and unhealthy air quality. These global trends are limiting a child’s freedom to explore and have fun, in turn stunting their development.
Often when we think about education in the developing world, play is not the first thing that comes to mind. When there are more immediate problems to address, such as inadequate class sizes, poor teacher training or infrastructure damaged by conflict, it’s easy for it to become an afterthought. However, because of the proven scope that play brings for boosting a child’s development and mental wellbeing, especially in the most unstable of contexts, there’s room for discussion on whether it’s time to shift away from this framing.
READ Foundation recognises the crucial role of play-based learning (PBL) in all education programming across the world, regardless of context and need. As a result, we have leveraged it into several of our projects.
In Debre Birhan, Ethiopia, we are supporting schools affected by the ongoing civil conflict with a series of PBL-related initiatives. Teachers are undergoing a tailored training programme to support children’s reading outcomes through play-based activities, which in view of the complex emotional needs that internally displaced children have, will help to mitigate a number of psychosocial problems. This is being delivered alongside rehabilitation of learning spaces and cash support for select very vulnerable children. Combined, these activities help to foster resilience and facilitate a safe and productive learning space.
In 2025, we provided a range of support for schools in Mara, Tanzania that focused on promoting girls’ attendance and retention in school. This involved the installation of new sports equipment, and introducing engaging sensitisation sessions and games to girls’ clubs, dedicated to issues around girls’ sexual reproductive and health rights, menstrual hygiene and how to report harmful practices. And in Lebanon, our Beyond Games project enabled four schools to offer psychosocial support through sports and music. Like Ethiopia, this was delivered in an environment impacted by conflict, and the activities were shown to foster emotional resilience, promote positive coping mechanisms, and create a sense of belonging.
READ Foundation’s incorporation of play-based learning into the work we do underlines our belief in its transformative power in mitigating a number of educational shortfalls, as well as boosting positive wellbeing among children, especially in the neediest of settings.
