"Exploring the Evolution of Play: Journeying from the Opies to the Digital Realm, Orchestrated by Burn, Potter, Cowan, and Bishop"
In 2025, "Playing the Archive: From the Opies to the Digital Playground" will be released, shedding light on the evolutions and adaptations in children's play and games. Drawing inspiration from the work of folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, this comprehensive study delves into play experiences captured in the 1950s and 1960s and compares them with contemporary play cultures.
At the heart of this investigation lies the Opies' extensive collection of games, stories, and playground lore, which is now housed in the Bodleian Libraries. To gather data, the project collected new stories and games from modern children and drew comparisons between play experiences across time.
The book discusses various aspects of the study, including the project's ethnographic strands and the role of technology in contemporary play. Through digital images, innovative cataloguing, and playful digital media interfaces, the Opie Archive was made publicly available online. One unique feature was the installation of a red telephone kiosk at the Young V&A.
Chapters within the book analyze the intergenerational dialogue about play, as well as the experiences and participation of children in their play cultures. The study highlights the agency and creativity of children in shaping and adapting play traditions in the face of new technological and social contexts.
Another crucial aspect of the book is the proposal of new concepts for understanding changes and adaptations to play and games. Topics like the workings of interfaces, repertoires, and archives are theorized, providing insights into the dynamic nature of play over time.
"Playing the Archive" offers invaluable research evidence and theory that challenge the reductive public discourse about children's play and digital media. By positioning children as active and engaged participants in their play cultures, the book enriches our understanding of the evolution and adaptations in play and games across generations.
Available as open access PDF, this edited volume invites readers to explore the continuity and change in play practices while emphasizing the role of children in crafting their play cultures. By learning from the experiences of previous generations, we can better appreciate the creativity and adaptability of children in the digital age.
- The Opies' archives, consisting of games, stories, and playground lore, have been made freely available online, allowing modern folklorists and researchers to delve into and compare the play experiences captured in the 1950s and 1960s with contemporary play cultures.
- The book "Playing the Archive: From the Opies to the Digital Playground" includes chapters that analyze the role of technology in contemporary play and the creative agency of children in shaping and adapting play traditions in the digital age, offering insights into the dynamic nature of play over time.
- To gather data, the project behind "Playing the Archive" collected new stories and games from modern children and compared their play experiences with those of previous generations, shedding light on the evolutions and adaptations in children's play and games in home-and-garden, lifestyle, education-and-self-development, and folklore contexts.
- The study within "Playing the Archive" not only offers real-world evidence and theory that challenge reductive public discourse about children's play and digital media but also enriches our understanding of play practices by positioning children as active and engaged participants in their play cultures, stressing the importance of intergenerational dialogue.
