Anna Granath and Maria Törn – Why Play is Serious Stuff

Media Evolution

The Conference's partner IKEA hosted a talk during Wednesday’s Getting Grounded session focusing on IKEA most recent findings on play, design and why it all matters more than we think.

Why is play important? And why is IKEA so obsessed with playfulness? Anna Granath and Maria Törn are ready to answer those questions, freshly armed with insight from IKEA’s recent children’s play report.

Simplicity, Inclusivity, and Playfulness. Those three words guide IKEA’s design philosophy.
Play is seen as the ticket to learn better, to improve psychological safety, and subconsciously acquire maths, physics, and social skills. But the clearest answer is the one we hear from children. It’s fun to play. We get to imagine. It makes us happy.

Adult concerns affect children’s play. Global worries about the pandemic, war, climate, and economy have created stress for children. And play is not fun anymore. Struggles with money, space, and even playful capacity, mean that not all children have the same kind of play. Reassuringly, the best cure is play itself. IKEA’s report reveals that families are prioritising play and spending more time playing together.

“There’s a little bit of a play revolution out there”

What can we do? Embrace the diversity of play, from imagination to exploring outside, playing sport and being creative. Adopt play as a mindset. Imbue everyday situations with the possibility of playfulness.

So, maybe we should all be obsessed with playfulness and for good reason.