Play as an Occupation for Social Transformation: Creating dialogical spaces with Occupational Science

Background: The use of play to foster children’s learning skills, competencies and health have been well documented (Moore & Lynch, 2018). Nevertheless, scholars are problematizing this approach since it divides play into components, which resonates with an “instrumental” and reductionist conceptualization (Lester & Russell, 2014). From an Occupational Science perspective, a discipline that studies people’s doings, this ignores understanding “play for the sake of play” as a complex collective occupation that may entail social transformation (Fahy et al., 2021; Kantartzis & Molineux, 2017). Purpose: To explore the literature addressing the link between children’s play, communities, and social transformation. Methods: A scoping review is being conducted through research articles and grey literature (i.e. government and project reports) in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The analysis is focused in identifying which are the key features that describe play as fundamental for communities employing the Occupation-based Social Transformation lens (van Bruggen et al., 2020). Findings: This presentation articulates play as an occupation for social transformation since play involves connections among children, families and the entire community in a collective opportunity of "being together". Hence, play not only contributes to children’s lives but also enriches community’s identities, ties, attachments, belonging, and wellbeing. Besides, play is a vehicle to create safe spaces for everybody, what encourages community participation (Elsley, 2015; Gleave, 2010; Play Wales, 2012). Conclusions: Play for social transformation sheds light on the need for a holistic and community play approach, what situates Occupational Science as pivotal for navigating conceptual tensions about play “as doing” and advancing towards an inclusive conceptualization. Given that access to play opportunities is a foremost tenet to make a community child-friendly and sustainable (CFCI, 2018; Malone, 2013; UNICEF, 2022), (re)thinking what do we understand by play is key since it shapes play’s policies and practices