What does good look like for play in a digital world?

When we tell people that the Digital Futures Commission will begin its work by rethinking children’s play, their eyes light up. There’s something about play that seems to capture the essence of childhood, and that speaks to the child in us all. But what is it? Is it that it’s fun, or child-led, or experimental or creative? Yet play can be serious, adult-guided, rule-governed, repetitive. Whatever it is, and play turns out to be difficult to define, the qualities of play make it so valuable that play is endlessly harnessed to other purposes – education most often, but also behaviour change, therapy and more – by all kinds of actors and organisations.