Yinka and Catherine’s research investigates the connections between folk traditions and contemporary celebratory customs, and how children are recreating them for a digital post-pandemic world.
During the covid-19 pandemic with the closure of schools and play places during lockdowns, children pivoted towards digital play, meeting to play on digital platforms and in online worlds. Yinka and Catherine’s observations of children playing online, saw that self-initiated play places children as active problem solvers in their families rather than passive victims of the pandemic.
In this short video for the British Academy, Yinka and Catherine share examples of children’s online creativity, and discuss how children adapted custom and ritual informed practices into their online worlds, dropping elements they had no use for, and incorporating and reimagining those they found meaningful, comfortable and empowering.
