In this episode, Claire speaks to the knowledgeable and inspiring play expert Ben Kingston-Hughes (Managing Director of Inspired Children Ltd) after his keynote speech at the Brilliant Boys Leading Learning event in Leeds. They discuss why play is such an important part of a child’s development and Ben gives some interesting insight into the effects of play on a child’s brain.
Ben had always dreamed of being a teacher, inspired by his mum’s teaching of history, but he had quite a rocky educational journey. He openly admits to being intelligent enough to get through primary and secondary school, however, A Levels required the ability to focus and concentrate, which is something that Ben found hard to do (he later worked with a clinical psychologist to develop training on ADHD and found that he met every single one of the criteria for a diagnosis).
Despite this, Ben ended up ‘scraping’ A Levels, and when to Liverpool Teacher Training College, where he trained in drama and biology. Unfortunately, the rules changed and so he had to drop drama as his major, thus having to solely pursue biology, which was very structured and did not suit Ben’s way of learning. Because of this, he couldn’t focus, didn’t hand in assignments and fell behind, eventually leading to him being kicked out.
Not knowing what he wanted to do next, Ben signed up for an English degree, which was against everything he had grown up knowing, given that his father had always been interested in the sciences, but Ben found it amazing. He could choose what and how he wanted to learn, and he began to thrive.
From here, Ben ended up applying to work at an inner-city play project; these serve some of the most deprived areas in the UK. Despite turning up in a suit (not the done thing in an inner-city project!), Ben was given a 6-week placement and 13 years later, with a degree and a masters in hand, he is still there as deputy manager.
In the podcast, Ben speaks passionately about the need for all children, regardless of their age, to play, and gives key insights from a neuro-scientific perspective which will help all educators, as well as parents, understand the importance of play and the benefits it can have in childhood, in adulthood and even in future generations.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

Give children the chance to express themselves in different ways.Children need safe spaces to be able to express themselves and need opportunities to do this without the activities having an ‘end product’. It is necessary to try things and see what works for the particular children in your care; that way, all play can be inclusive.
Recognise that children struggle with mental health issues.It’s not a case of getting children to ‘toughen up’; children need to be supported through mental health issues that are taken seriously, rather than just brushed aside.
Nurturing, curiosity and play are polar opposites to fear, stress and anxiety.If children have been through traumatic experiences, or are encountering fear, stress, anger and anxiety for example, nurturing interactions, fostering curiosity and playing with children can all help to reverse damage done as they release positive hormones which counteract the negative biochemical responses to stress, fear etc.
Children putting themselves in ‘danger’ practices using the systems needed for real danger.Over-protectiveness is actually doing more harm than good to children in the long run because children put themselves in ‘dangerous’ situations to practice what will happen when they’re in real danger; the biochemical systems and responses are used in this ‘safer’ way so that children are better able to deal with real danger as adults.
In order for children to heal, the sources of trauma need to be removed.By removing stress factors, children’s brains have a chance to heal from the biochemical damage done by the release of stress hormones such as cortisol, which are acidic in nature.
Imagination is key to play, and something that is unique to humans.Ex