Archive records seriousness of playtime

The impact of the digital age on children’s songs and games, and how such rhymes have changed over the past 50 years, was the focus of a lively session led by Barnsley Bard Ian McMillan.

The poet and Yorkshire Post columnist was at Sheffield’s Showroom cinema with South Yorkshire schoolchildren, to mark the end of a research project being conducted by academics from Sheffield University.

Researchers have been looking into updating and analysing the British Library National Sound Archive’s recordings of children’s games and songs, gathered through research which was carried out in the 1960s and 70s.

A spokesman for Sheffield University said that a study was also conducted into current playground trends, to “explore how games and songs continue to be a part of the lives of children in the age of computer games and the internet.”

They added: “During yesterday’s event, schoolchildren from partner primary schools who were involved in the research shared their findings with children from other local schools through hands-on workshops.

“School pupils were also able to watch films from the project, share their experiences of recording play and games, try out the British Library playground games and rhymes website, and try their hand at the Wii game based on a playground game.

“There were also poetry workshops during the event, assisted by Ian McMillan, to explore children’s own playground games and rhymes.”

The British Library Sound Archive holds a huge number of sound and video recordings, with more than a million discs and thousands of tapes.

Its collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature to wildlife sounds.