Intergenerational Play: Connection, Wellbeing, and Emerging Theorisation
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Play is a fundamental human practice that shapes how people make sense of their worlds. Recognised as a right for all children under the UNCRC and increasingly linked to wellbeing in older adulthood, play offers a powerful lens for understanding how relationships, identities, and communities are formed across the lifespan. This presentation introduces BRIDGES to Play for Wellbeing – a four‑year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship – which investigates the nature, value, and cultural grounding of intergenerational play across diverse global sites: Australia, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Canada, and the Republic of South Korea. Drawing on interdisciplinary expertise across education, psychology, philosophy, and public health, the project examines how playful encounters between children and adults emerge, are sustained, and are shaped by local histories, expressive culture, and social structures. Early insights from Expert Advisors and initial focus groups reveal culturally distinct logics of intergenerational relating, challenging dominant models such as the intergenerational playgroup and expanding conceptualisations of play as a mode of community formation. The presentation shares emerging constructs for understanding intergenerational play through early examples from the ethnographic cases.
Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/32548464379048?p=mGgNuGjdrrZWLDlqlp
Bio
Professor Lisa Kervin AM is a leading Australian scholar whose work spans literacy, play, children’s museums, and children’s digital practices. Based at Monash University, she investigates how young children engage with literacies and technologies across home, community, and educational settings, with a particular focus on intergenerational play. Her research has significantly shaped national understandings of early childhood digital literacy, informing policy, practice, and cross sector collaboration. She works extensively with partners across academia, industry, and community organisations.
Professor Kervin is the sole Education recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship in her funding round, underscoring the national significance and originality of her program of research. In recognition of her contributions to early childhood research and her leadership across the sector, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2024.