About exhibition

PLAY is an interdisciplinary exhibition celebrating the enduring culture of children’s play. It foregrounds play for play’s sake, while also exploring how play has changed across generations and how it operates within educational and therapeutic settings.

Drawing on the legacy of eminent writer, scholar and folklorist Dr June Factor (1936–2024), and her influential research into playlore, the songs, rhymes, rules and rituals passed between children over time, the exhibition invites audiences into the middle primary school years through objects, images, text, sound and participatory games. Material from June Factor’s private folk toy collection sits alongside contemporary Deakin University research in children’s play therapy and early childhood education.

Historic children’s books and related material from Deakin Library Special Collections reveal how play was depicted and described in the past. Presented with scholarship from children’s literature, these works show how stories, puzzles and games once blended entertainment with instruction, shaping ideas about childhood, learning and what was considered “appropriate” play.

At its heart, PLAY asks a simple question: why do we play? Bringing together folklore, cultural heritage, education, literature and child play therapy, the exhibition presents play as both delight and discipline. It offers visitors a space to pause, participate and play again.