Staff Tool 2 The role of adults in supporting play in situations of crisis In situations of crisis children may be either reliant on adults to provide play opportunities for them or be largely unsupervised and playing in ways or places that cause concern for their safety and wellbeing. As adults, it can be difficult to understand and make sense of children’s play behaviour but it is important that we remember that playing freely is children’s way of learning about their environment, relieving stress and coping with the situation they are in. Adults affect children’s play significantly, by:
• shaping (positively or negatively) children’s experience of play • regulating time for play opportunities • impacting on how and if space is made available • providing (or denying) materials. Adults intervene in children’s play in a range of ways which can or hinder the opportunity for play. It is useful to be able to recognise examples of these to help us consider how we might support play to occur.
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