Let’s Play London: A Ticket To Thrive
We’re launching our #TicketToThrive campaign, and we want you to join us.
Welcome to our #TicketToThrive campaign. Here at Let’s Play London, we believe wholeheartedly that doing something creative with your child will benefit you both. It can improve your mood, boost your wellbeing, decrease stress levels, lead to higher levels of self-esteem, stimulate your imagination, give you opportunities to practise problem solving, flexible thinking and empathy, create a sense of closeness, strengthen your bond, and last but certainly not least it can be a lot of fun.
We want to spend the next month helping you find creative activities to do with your kids, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, best friend’s sproglets etc, whether that is going to a cultural event, class, or getting creative together at home. We obviously already JUST KEEP GOING ON AND ON (sorry!) about plays, storytelling, dance, circus, concerts and live performance in all forms, but we also want to help you find local classes in art, music, dance, drama, cooking, gardening, and anything else creative we see. Plus we want to suggest some very simple and easy creative activities, or methods for encouraging creativity, that you can do at home for free.
Research published earlier this year by Dr Daisy Fancourt showed that even a single short session of creative activity helps with our emotional regulation, improving our mood and boosting wellbeing. The study also showed that these benefits were intensified when we took part in creative activities more regularly, and, when we did these activities with other people, as opposed to by ourselves or digitally. Finally, it showed that these benefits were not connected to skill level: you don’t have to be good at the creative activity, it really is the taking part that counts. You can read the full study here, or the findings are summarised clearly in this article from the BBC.
A further study, from Hei Wan Mak and Dr Daisy Fancourt, released this month, showed that regular participation in arts activities resulted in higher self-esteem in children, especially if they did this alongside their parent or carer. As the study says: “Children who participated in arts activities most days were significantly more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem than those who participated less often” but this boost in self-esteem was mostly observed when children did these arts activities with their parents or carers. The researchers also noted, as with the earlier study, that “it is not necessary for children to be good at arts” to get the benefit of higher self-esteem: “Engagement, not ability, seems to be the key,”. You can read the full study here, or the findings are summarised clearly in this article from Pacific Standard.
Looking at these studies, its clear that there are many scientifically proven benefits to taking part in creative activities for everyone (adult and child); that these benefits can be seen after only a short period of time, but that they are increased if you take part in creative activities regularly, and together. The really good thing is that, in the studies, simple activities like reading a book, cooking, gardening, drawing, painting, or singing, all count as a creative activity. For those of us who don’t see ourselves as creative, the really, really good news is that the benefits were not related to ability, in other words you don’t have to be good at the arts to get a lot out of it!
We know that everyone’s lives are so busy, and that it is a constant struggle to find time to fit everything in. We know that you might already be balancing work, nursery, school, housework, and all the endless emotional labour and mental load that comes with being a parent in this modern world. We know because we are struggling too. Even now, just to find the time to write this blog to encourage you to be creative with your children, our son is watching TV, our dishes are mouldering in the sink, and we are surrounded by laundry “to put away”. That is just life. We don’t want to add to the parental guilt we are all already drowning in. We just want to let you know that the five minutes you spent reading bedtime stories, or doodling with your kid, or playing pretending games, are so positive for both of you. And to suggest, that while you look for activities to keep the kids entertained this summer, why not choose something creative?
Over the next month, we hope you’ll join us in trying to do something creative with the children in your life, and use the hashtag #TicketToThrive on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to share what you get up to! Or to share a great creative show you’re putting on, a fantastic creative class you run, or a simple fun creative activity that you think that families would enjoy to do at home.
Read some ideas from our friends (this list will be updated throughout the campaign):
MUSIC:
Have a Kitchen Rave with Hannah at Big Fish Little Fish
Let Loose with Anna from Baby Broadway
Let the Kids Take The Lead with Harriet from Mrs H and the Sing-Along Band
Sing it Loud and Proud with Rosie from London Rhymes
Make Music Part of your Day with Deborah from the Humpty Dumpty Singalong
ART:
Allow Space for Creativity with Dot Kids
Create Community Art with Igor and Me
Get Inspired with Lots of Lovely Art
Make A Mess with Paint Misbehavin’
DRAMA:
Watch Your Child’s Imagination Explode with Little Supernovas & Onceupona
Encourage Empathy with Above Bounds Theatre Company
Play with Puppets with Three Feathers Theatre
Laugh and Play Together with Stickyback Theatre
Let’s Play London shines a spotlight on the best theatre and live performance for Under 5s in London. Find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
