Advanced Notice
I have literally had people shouting out me because of not having had a History of Play Theory Course running for such a time. Soooo, I’ve decided to make an online version of parts one, two, and three available in November this year.
Each part requires a minimum number of participants to make it work so there is an ‘interest form’ [here] for you to fill in if you fancy having a go.
Why should you do these
Professionals have a habit of sticking to their lane – through our training, the books we read, courses we go on, etc. we tend to concentrate on perspectives from within our discipline. In the context of play theory this presents a problem because there are SO MANY more interesting and useful perspectives out there that we don’t usually dip into.
These courses aim to break that habit. And trust me, you will find something to amaze you in every one of these different viewpoints.
The courses
There are six parts to the whole series of ‘A History of Play Theory’ with three being made available as live online session this November.
You can take as many or as few of the various parts as you wish and in any order (although it is suggested to do part one first as that gives some context to the whole program).
Each part looks at past and present theories of play of five academic and scientific disciplines grouped into linked categories. The three available in 2026 are:
This course looks at the past and present perspectives on play from:
How do they work
Starting in November (and possibly running into early December) each course will hold six live evening sessions of 2 hours each. The sessions will be recorded and made available to participants for seven days after the live session).
All three parts will be delivered on different days each week so that people choosing to do more than one can attend (we already have people interested in doing at least two of the courses together).
The cost will be around $360 plus a small booking fee for each course. If you choose two of the courses you will receive a 10% discount, and for all three a 20% discount.
Please note, people will not be invited to pay for their chosen courses until the minimum numbers have been reached. If the numbers are not reached, the courses will not go ahead.
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So, do you fancy one or more of these?
Each course will introduce you to whole new set of names to check out and new books and papers to read. You want to build your theory base, you little theory- nerd, you … then try one of these courses.
Interest form [here]
There are two (count them TWO) Residential Gatherings going on this year - one in QLD and one in TAS. Check out the details [here] and [here].
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Would you like to present a paper at the 2026 Cinderella Dressed in Yella! Conference?
Go check out the Call for Papers [here].
Are you looking for the Play Glossary Well it's over [here].
Marc Armitage is a consultant, researcher and writer in play, playing and playwork. He has been a profesional Playworker for a looooong time and hass been freelance since 1989.
He regularly travels the world speaking to groups of professionals from a broad spectrum of work sectors in the children and young peoples workforce including playworkers, early educators, primary and secondary school teachers, out-of-school people, parks and playground designers, politicians, policy makers and many others.
He also spends a lot of time talking with children. "With" That's the key word.
“We should be aware of the words of Eloise Green (aged 10 and half, 2012) 'Play in school is work in disguise'..”
in Making Sense of Play, by Perry Else (2014)
If you can think of others that you feel I should be following please let me know.
