Everyday Play, Meaningful Growth - A practical family play guide for children aged 3 to 7

Fung, Wing Kai and Carmen Ka Man, Wong Everyday Play, Meaningful Growth - A practical family play guide for children aged 3 to 7. Liverpool Hope University.

Text E-Version_Practical Family Play Guide for Children Aged 3 to 7.pdf - Published Version Download (120MB)

Abstract

"Everyday Play, Meaningful Growth" is a practical family play guide designed to translate current early childhood playfulness research into accessible, evidence‑informed activities for families with children aged 3 to 7.

Developed as part of the international project "Promoting playful learning in early childhood education – supporting holistic development and creativity in early years", the guide provides a structured set of household play ideas aligned with five dimensions of playfulness: physical spontaneity, social spontaneity, cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy, and sense of humour.

Grounded in recent empirical findings on parental play beliefs, home play environments, and children’s social‑emotional, cognitive, and creative development, the guide aims to widen access to meaningful, low‑cost play opportunities. As stated in the guide, “play can support children’s communication, creativity, confidence, social interaction, and flexible thinking, especially when it is shared with a responsive adult.” It offers adaptable activities, everyday strategies, and reflective tools to help families embed playful interaction into daily routines.

Supported by Liverpool Hope University’s PVC REFine Impact Fund and FESS Impact Fund, the guide functions as a knowledge‑mobilisation output within the project’s impact pathway. It has been designed for distribution to families and community partners, contributing to enhanced parental confidence, enriched home play environments, and strengthened child holistic development.

Item Type:	Other
Additional Information and Comments:	This play guide is underpinned by a coherent programme of research examining children’s playfulness, parental play support, and the home play environment. Across eight empirical studies, this line of work demonstrates that children’s playfulness and supportive parent–child interaction consistently nurture young children’s creativity, social competence, executive functioning, and early academic learning. Together, the findings show that playful interactions at home and in kindergarten strengthen creative thinking processes, prosocial skills, flexible cognition, early literacy, and numeracy. Overall, the evidence positions play as a powerful developmental pathway supporting children’s wellbeing, school readiness, and holistic development. This programme of research directly informed the design, structure, and developmental rationale of the play guide. Each activity aligns with empirically validated pathways that support children’s creativity, social participation, executive functions, and early learning through everyday playful interaction. Key underpinning publications (DOIs): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2025.101877 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101907 https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70074 https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.654 https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2023.2297251 https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000633 https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2023.2200018 http://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12603
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
SWORD Depositor:	RISE Symplectic
Depositing User:	RISE Symplectic
Date Deposited:	07 Aug 2026 14:54
Last Modified:	07 Aug 2026 14:54
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4961

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