Leisure Studies

Family and Early Years Leisure

The central question this special issue seeks to address is: What is the purpose and meaning of leisure for children and their families in the early years?

Leisure in the early years represents a critical yet underexplored dimension of family life, wellbeing, and child development. This period, typically from birth to five years of age, is foundational for the development of social, emotional, and physical competencies, as well as for shaping attitudes towards leisure participation, creativity, and inclusion. Families’ engagement with leisure during these years is influenced by a range of factors, including economic resources, cultural norms, gender roles, policy environments, and the accessibility of spaces and services. This special issue invites scholars to advance understanding of these dynamics.

We invite researchers to examine leisure in the lives of young children and their families across diverse global contexts. We seek to capture the breadth of leisure practices, including play, cultural and creative pursuits, outdoor and environmental engagement, enrichment leisure, adult-led structured leisure activities, digital leisure, family travel, and informal social activities. At the same time, we encourage critical interrogation of the structural conditions that shape access, participation, and meaning.

This special issue welcomes submissions grounded in a range of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, including qualitative, quantitative and critical research. Interdisciplinary contributions are particularly encouraged, especially from fields such as sociology, education, public health, psychology, geography, and childhood studies. In doing so, the issue aims to advance understanding of leisure as a social practice embedded in everyday family life, and as a domain characterised by both opportunity and inequality.

Key topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Family Practices and Motivations

• Parental values, motivations, and decision-making in leisure for young children
• Negotiation of family time, work-life balance, and leisure priorities
• Intergenerational transmission of leisure preferences and behaviours

Leisure Spaces and Access

• Availability and accessibility of leisure opportunities for early years children
• Urban/rural differences and spatial inequalities
• Role of public, private, and community spaces (parks, museums, libraries, play centres)

Inequalities and Inclusion

• Intersectional inequalities in early years leisure
• Policy and institutional factors shaping access to enrichment
• Inclusion and representation in leisure marketing, programming, and policy

Global and Cultural Perspectives

• Comparative and cross-cultural studies of early years leisure practices
• Global leisure trends and cultural transfer in early years programming
• Indigenous and alternative approaches to play and early learning through leisure

Leisure-Based Enrichment and Child Development

• The role of structured and informal enrichment activities in supporting cognitive, social, and emotional development in early childhood
• The balance between adult-led and child-led experiences.

Leisure, Wellbeing, and Development

• Links between leisure, play, and early childhood development
• Family leisure as a site for bonding, resilience, and wellbeing
• Tensions between structured enrichment and child-led play

Digital and Contemporary Trends

• The rise of digital and screen-based leisure for young children
• Parental mediation and digital inequalities
• Sustainability, environmental consciousness, and nature-based leisure in the early years

Methodological and Theoretical Innovations

• Participatory, creative, and ethnographic methods for studying early years leisure
• Conceptual frameworks connecting leisure studies with early childhood education, sociology of family, or critical policy analysis