Nursery World - Here comes the summer

What is childhood? What is childhood meant to be? Never before has government invested so much time and money in trying to improve childhood, yet society has never been so confused or anxious about what childhood should be. Everyday we are confronted with mixed messages about children's lives - children are under too much pressure at school, children commit crime, children are the victims of crime, parents are too frightened to give children independence, children are bored, children are over-stimulated and the list goes on. As parents and playworkers, we are pulled every which way by the media.

Everyday we are confronted with mixed messages about children's lives - children are under too much pressure at school, children commit crime, children are the victims of crime, parents are too frightened to give children independence, children are bored, children are over-stimulated and the list goes on. As parents and playworkers, we are pulled every which way by the media.

Amid this confusion it can be difficult to think clearly. However, with the school holidays approaching, now is the time for all those working with children to return to basics to provide the best childhood experiences for the summer.

We can all get nostalgic about the magical summers of childhood, but this year hundreds of thousands of children will be doing all those things we remember so dearly at their holiday playschemes. They will be playing with friends, taking risks, learning to negotiate and get on with their peers, experimenting with new activities, learning to work together as a team or complete a project on their own, visiting new places and most of all - having fun.

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