Should 'no ball games' signs be banned? New report says kids need more time to play
Experts say a national play strategy is needed to protect playtime and cut screen use
A new national report is urging the government to scrap "no ball games" signs and prioritise children’s play – warning that kids in England are spending too much time indoors and on screens, with too few safe places to let loose.
The Raising the Nation Play Commission, which has spent a year looking into the state of play in England, says playtime has shrunk by 50% in a generation – and it's calling time on what it describes as an "anti-play culture".
The group, which includes experts from across education and early years, is pushing for a £125m national play strategy, a ban on phones in schools, and stronger protection for breaktime play.
“We’ve made it incredibly hard for children to play,” said Paul Lindley, chair of the commission. “It’s not just about traffic or crime – it’s about reversing a culture that sees children’s play as a nuisance.”
Thousands of signs, but nowhere to play
The commission’s report highlights the impact of limiting signs and closed-off spaces. In London alone, there are more than 7,000 "no ball games" signs, affecting over half a million children.
These signs, while often unenforceable in law, send a strong message that play isn’t welcome – even in public spaces.
Some councils have already started removing them. The report calls for a national ban on what it calls “legally baseless” signage, arguing that play should be protected in the same way as school learning.
Parents say local, free play matters more than ever
For mums like Samantha in Blackpool, access to safe, local play spaces isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential.
“It’s free,” she told the BBC, talking about her local park where her four-year-old son Chester can play. “And it’s somewhere he can play without having to worry about someone coming to tell him he can’t.”
Her story is echoed across the UK, where more than 400 playgrounds closed between 2012 and 2022, and local park budgets have been cut year-on-year.
“Families identify with the park,” says Clare Law, director of Blackpool Better Start. “They feel a sense of ownership and like it belongs to them.”
Calls to protect play at school, too
The report also focuses on schools, warning that children today get significantly less breaktime than they did just 30 years ago.
In 1995, younger pupils had on average 23 minutes more breaktime than they do now. The commission is calling on the government to ringfence playtime at school, and stop practices like taking it away as punishment.
One school already making this a priority is St Ambrose Catholic Academy in Liverpool. There, children get a full hour of “quality play” every day – and headteacher Tracy Moorcroft says it’s more than just downtime.
“If they are building, we see them as future architects,” she explains. “If they’re in the kitchen, maybe they’re a future chef. We try to link their play with aspirations for later in life.”
Not everyone agrees on how to promote play
While there’s widespread support for protecting playtime, not every school agrees on how far to go. Ms Moorcroft, for instance, isn’t sold on the idea of switching to “always-active uniforms” – a growing trend in some schools.
“We have very high standards for uniform,” she says, explaining that St Ambrose children do wear wellies and coats to play outdoors, but their uniform is still seen as part of preparing for life after primary school.
Pepe Di’Iasio from the Association of School and College Leaders added a note of caution, warning against “an overly prescriptive approach to play” that could risk squeezing out other parts of the curriculum.
So what happens next?
The commission wants England to follow the lead of Scotland and Wales, which already require local authorities to ensure children have enough opportunities to play. It's also calling for children to be consulted on new developments, and for school playgrounds to be opened to the community outside school hours.
Baroness Anne Longfield from the Centre for Young Lives, who helped lead the report, called it a “blueprint for how we can get children playing again and tackle the scourge of addictive doom-scrolling”.
The government has said it’s investing in grassroots sport, greener school spaces, and that new online safety rules will help protect kids from harmful content from July.
But for the commission, it’s simple: kids need space, time and freedom to play – and they need it now.
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Ruairidh is the Digital Lead on MadeForMums. He works with a team of fantastically talented content creators and subject-matter experts on MadeForMums.