On Tuesday 19th May, we welcomed over 60 people from across 31 different settings to The Inaugural Sheffield Play Conference 2026 at Adventures!
We gathered together folks from after school and community projects, schools, early years settings, local councillors and council officers, adventure playgrounds, universities, organisations supporting children and carers with additional needs, creative practitioners, children’s hospice, educational psychology, city farms, sports providers and more – around a common cause – the importance of children’s play.
Because play isn’t just an activity among many that children might choose to take part in. Play is fundamental to children and childhood; to growing and being well. It is the way children come to know themselves and the world around them. And it was a joy to be together with people from across the children and young people’s sector who understand that it all starts with play.
In true play-fashion we aimed to provide a lot of choice at this conference so that everyone could find something to get their teeth into, whether they’re new to the sector and looking for practical tips to get their settings working better for children, or been here ages and looking to refuel their inspiration. If you came along – I hope you found something to take away with you.
We purposely named this the ‘inaugural’ (still getting used to spelling that correctly every time!) conference as we want this to become a regular feature on the Sheffield calendar but funding is by no means guaranteed. If you have ideas or are interested in sponsoring the next conference (…in 2027?) then we’d love to hear from you – drop us an email at info@sheffieldplay.org.uk.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen, who facilitated the event, and to everyone who came and contributed to all of our discussions around play in Sheffield – you are all part of this partnership – let’s keep the conversation going!
You can find all the amazing photos by Jack Owen 📸 of the event here.
