Childhood, Youth, Play and Creativity
This cluster explores children and young people’s relationships with people, places, materials, and everyday experiences. We study play and creativity as central to learning, experimentation and meaning making. Our work advances equity, inclusion, and sustainability across diverse contexts.
About our work
The Cluster brings together a diverse community of researchers and scholars who explore the ethical, ecological, cultural, educational, and emotional dimensions of childhood, youth, play, and creativity. Our interdisciplinary work addresses issues of power, inequity, and social justice across a wide range of topics, approaches, and contexts, including early childhood education policy and practice; children and young people’s digital lives; historical perspectives on childhood and youth; play in educational, family, and community settings; participatory and arts-based research with children, young people, and families; makerspace research; and work on multimodality and multilingualism. Through public engagement and collaboration with families, communities, schools, and other partners, our research aims to advance equity, inclusion, and meaningful social change.
Our activities
- Research seminars and reading groups to facilitate discussion and reflection on childhood, youth, play, and creativity.
- Interdisciplinary workshops to share and explore research methods, ideas, and practices.
- Participatory events with children, young people, families, communities, and practitioners.
- Makerspace sessions linked to Maker{Futures} with schools, libraries, museums and community spaces
- Public engagement activities to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Get involved with our work
The Childhood, Youth, Play and Creativity cluster is led by Dr Liz Chesworth. If you are a member of the School of Education and wish to join the cluster, or you work in a related field and wish to collaborate, please get in touch with e.a.chesworth@sheffield.ac.uk.
