Sensory Integration Education

In her latest Thoughts from a Therapist blog, Anna Willis celebrates five years of sharing her reflections by exploring a topic that has shaped her career as an occupational therapist: play.

Drawing on research, professional experience and current education policy, Anna questions why the word play seems to disappear once children enter primary school, despite overwhelming evidence of its importance for learning, development and wellbeing. She encourages us to challenge perceptions of play in education and start meaningful conversations about its place in Key Stage 1.

Wow, opening my laptop to write this post, my historical Thoughts from a Therapist popped up. Apparently, I started writing these in July 2021, so this marks my 5-year milestone! 

I couldn't think of a more perfect topic than play to mark the occasion. Play has always been integral to my life and practice as an OT. I wrote my dissertation on play therapy (for my occupational therapy degree. I justified it in the first sentence: play is a key childhood occupation and off I went). My interest in play is longstanding. I named my company Active Play Therapies and have explored the subject from multiple angles.  

Around 2013, I attended a talk put on by SIE with Anita Bundy focusing on play. It was brilliant and has stuck with me thus far! She highlighted how trying to define play makes it feel far less fun and how it is hard to be a good play partner as an adult - we often do things that pop the play bubble, like congratulating a child on their performance.  

Bundy’s Test of Playfulness sets out 3 components that make something play:  

• Internal perception of control 

• Intrinsically motivating  

• Suspension of reality

It is hard as a therapist to join a child as a true play partner, as we will have our therapeutic goals in mind and be trying to skilfully lead play towards meeting these. However, even if we aren’t managing ‘true play’, we can certainly be playful in our approach to therapy and attempt to share control with children wherever safe, as well as creating individualised experiences for children that are intrinsically motivating. Rarely do children need any rewards or reinforcers for coming to our therapy sessions! 

As Albert Einstein said, ‘play is the highest form of research’. Surely then, schools are naturally play-based, with children allowed to be in control of their learning, find self-motivating topics and be able to suspend reality freely for large parts of their day. Hmm. And herein lies this month’s mild frustration. Are schools allergic to the word ‘play’? Explore. Golden Time. Choosing Time. Break time. Continuous provision. What’s wrong with using the word 'play'?  

I wonder if somehow, embedded deep in the psyche of old-school pedagogy, is that play is the opposite of learning. Something children do for a break from their learning. But that’s diametrically opposed to what we know about child development. 

In the UK, it is a legal requirement that learning is play-based up to age 5. However, extending this through Key Stage 1 was brought to parliament for debate through a petition led by Ruth Lue-Quee in January 2026. The debate concluded teachers needed flexibility to deliver the curriculum how they thought best and that it wouldn’t be right to legislate statutory play-based provisions for Key Stage 1.  

Even if play was purely just for fun, did you know children have a right to play (Article 31 of the Convention on the rights of the child)? Thankfully, there are some schools who are adapting their curriculums to allow for a play-based curriculum (or ‘continuous provision’ if you must). 

In September, if you’re going into schools, why not ask about their thoughts on a play-based Key Stage 1 curriculum? It’s good to get a discussion going!  

Yours playfully,  

Anna 

References: 

Bundy, A.C., Lane, S.J. and Murray, E.A. (2002) Play in occupational therapy for children. 2nd edn. St. Louis: Mosby. 

HC Deb (26 January 2026) vol. 764, col. 45WH-68WH. Available at: https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/play-curriculum/index.html (Accessed: 21 July 2026). 

UN General Assembly (1989) 'Convention on the Rights of the Child', United Nations Treaty Series, 1577, p. 3. Available at: https://ohchr.org (Accessed: 21 July 2026). 

Thoughts From a Therapist is a regular series written by Advanced SI Practitioner Anna Willis about something that piqued her professional interest or inspired her in some way over the last month. Anna, an occupational therapist and owner of Active Play Therapies.