Hasbro and Boston Children’s Hospital Find Scientific Evidence Linking Play to Positive Child Development
July 31 2019 - 12:01AM
Business Wire
Pioneering #MorePlayToday research project
links play to increased school readiness, positive social
behaviors, memory and executive functioning
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), a global play and entertainment
company, and Boston Children’s Hospital’s Center on Media and Child
Health (CMCH) today revealed initial research findings showing that
play is directly associated with positive developmental outcomes in
children.
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New Research from Hasbro and Boston
Children's Hospital Finds Scientific Evidence of the Benefits of
Play (Graphic: Business Wire)
The multi-phase research initiative, #MorePlayToday, which began
in 2016 and concluded data collection in 2018, enrolled 327
children between the ages of 2 ½ and 8-years-old in the U.S. and
Mexico, and evaluated how different types of play affected their
developmental outcomes. No other academic play research has
followed a sample for this long with such intensive measurements
with multi-country longitudinal participants.
“It’s important for parents, caregivers, physicians, and
educators to understand that play is more than just fun,” said
Michael Rich, MD, MPH, Founder and Director of CMCH. “Based on the
initial findings from our research, the CMCH prescription for
happy, school-ready kids is more letter play, more number play,
more board game play, more active play, and more play with their
parents,” said Rich, who is also Associate Professor of Pediatrics
at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Social and
Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public
Health.
Initial findings from the research include:
- Active play was associated with less
sadness:
- In both countries, active play was associated with less
sadness, anxiety and fearfulness.
- In the U.S., active play was also associated with less
aggression and fewer attention problems.
- In Mexico, there was also an association with more positive
behaviors and more school readiness.
- Letter and number play were linked to
school readiness and other positive behaviors:
- The research found that letter and number play were associated
with school readiness in both countries.
- In the U.S., both letter play and number play were associated
with less sadness.
- Additionally, in Mexico, letter and number play were associated
with more social competence (such as respect and empathy), and to a
lesser extent, less aggression.
- Board and card games were associated
with school readiness and other positive outcomes:
- The research found that board and card games were associated
with school readiness in children in both the U.S. and Mexico.
- Board and card games were also associated with a larger
vocabulary in the U.S., and with less aggression, less sadness,
fewer attention problems and more positive social behaviors (such
as being more thoughtful and considerate of others) in Mexico.
- Play with adults was associated with
better memory:
- The research found that in the U.S., the more frequently
children played with adults in the household and directed the play,
the better their memory became.
This collaboration was inspired by Hasbro’s desire to help
caregivers navigate the balance between technology and play in
their children’s lives.
“Our first priority is the well-being of children and their
families, so we felt it was our responsibility to champion research
to understand the implications of play and media use on children’s
development,” said John Frascotti, President and Chief Operating
Officer, Hasbro. “The team at CMCH developed pioneering methodology
for this research which goes far deeper than any past academic
research on play, and we hope these results will offer caregivers,
teachers and medical professionals useful guidance on which types
of play serve the developmental needs of children.”
This collaboration supports Hasbro’s purpose of making the world
a better place for children and their families, and it reinforces
CMCH's mission to educate and empower children and those who care
for them to create and consume media in ways that optimize
children's health and development.
For more information, including tips and ideas on how to make
the most of playtime, visit https://cmch.tv/moreplaytoday/.
About Hasbro Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and
entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play
Experiences. From toys and games to television, movies, digital
gaming and consumer products, Hasbro offers a variety of ways for
audiences to experience its iconic brands, including NERF, MY
LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, MAGIC:
THE GATHERING and POWER RANGERS, as well as premier partner brands.
Through its entertainment labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark
Animation, the Company is building its brands globally through
great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed
to making the world a better place for children and their families
through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro
ranked No. 13 on the 2019 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR
Magazine, and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical
Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past eight years. Learn
more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro) and
Instagram (@Hasbro).
About Boston Children’s Hospital Boston Children’s
Hospital is ranked the #1 children’s hospital in the nation by U.S.
News & World Report and is the primary pediatric teaching
affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Home to the world’s largest
research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, its
discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869.
Today, 3,000 researchers and scientific staff, including 8 members
of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 members of the National
Academy of Medicine and 12 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators
comprise Boston Children’s research community. Founded as a 20-bed
hospital for children, Boston Children’s is now a 415-bed
comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For
more, visit our Discoveries blog and follow us on social media
@BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook, Instagram and
YouTube.
About CMCH The Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) at
Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) is an academic research center
whose mission is to educate and empower children and those who care
for them to create and consume media in ways that optimize
children’s health and development. Founded in 2002 by pediatrician,
father, and former Hollywood filmmaker Michael Rich, CMCH focuses
on media as a powerful environmental health influence, like the air
we breathe and the water we drink. We seek to understand the
positive and negative health impacts media can have and find ways
of making media the most positive possible influence in children’s
lives. Lean more at www.cmch.tv, and follow on Twitter
(@cmch_boston) and Instagram (@cmch_boston).
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190730005888/en/
Katy Hendrickson Hasbro 401-727-5603 Katy.Hendrickson@Hasbro.com
Erin C. Tornatore Boston Children’s Hospital 617-919-3110
Erin.Tornatore@childrens.harvard.edu Center on Media and Child
Health Kristelle Lavallee 617-355-8371
kristelle.Lavallee@childrens.harvard.edu
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