Why Intergenerational Play Builds Stronger Communities – Health Benefits Across the Lifespan

Guest Blog by Professor Abigail (Abby) Stephan

“Investing in intergenerational play is not a luxury but a strategic imperative. By embedding intergenerational spaces and activities into neighborhoods, community centers, public parks, schools, senior centers, and assisted living facilities, both local and national governments can promote healthier, more connected communities."

In a world often divided by generational stereotypes and age-segregated spaces, intergenerational play serves as a powerful tool to bring together old and young across shared interests and new areas of inquiry. Intergenerational play engages individuals from non-adjacent age groups (or “skipped generations”) in semi-structured opportunities to explore, learn, and discover through fulfilling activities. Intergenerational play can take many forms, though common activities include painting, drawing, storytelling, gardening, cooking, acting, playing games, solving puzzles, engaging in sports, and making music. Perhaps most universally accessible is music, as it has the ability to transcend time and language. Collaborative music-making, which might include using instruments, singing, or composing, embodies shared ownership and creative co-production.

Health Benefits for All Ages

Intergenerational play goes beyond shared recreation for the sake of fun by providing opportunities to enhance physical, social, emotional, and cognitive health, regardless of life stage (Eberle, 2014; Peng & Neville, 2025). It is ideal for connecting generations, because participants of different ages can bring their own experiences and skills to the activity while negotiating shared goals.

Benefits for Children

Pairing young children with older adults through intergenerational play opportunities can support children’s development in numerous ways, including the refinement of fine and gross motor skills, strengthened pro-social skills such as sharing and taking on another’s perspective, and enhanced problem-solving (Davis et al., 2002).

Benefits for Older Adults

At the same time, these interactions support the health and well-being of older adults by encouraging creative and critical thinking, combating social isolation, and providing space for reflection and an outlet for sharing life lessons (Davis et al., 2002).

In addition to individual health benefits, authentic intergenerational engagement, which can be achieved through play, encourages reciprocity, respect, shared responsibility, and resilience—all of which can act as a glue to support community cohesion (Brubaker & Brubaker, 1999). When thoughtfully structured yet open-ended, intergenerational play creates space for deep connections to be forged under the guise of purposeless fun (Eberle, 2014), thus fostering connection while encouraging participants to try on new identities and perspectives.

Given these far-reaching benefits, governments and policymakers should consider the crucial role they can play in supporting intergenerational connections, especially through the creation of spaces that promote playful engagement across the lifespan.

Early Childhood Investments

Early childhood settings offer a strategic starting point, as educational and health investments early in life have been shown to have the highest economic payoff (Heckman, 2012; Richardson et al., 2023).

Public Health Impacts

As the proportion of older adults (i.e., those 65+ years in age) in many countries continues to climb, identifying cost-effective interventions to support health in later life is essential (World Health Organization, 2024). Moreover, social connections forged by intergenerational engagement could lead to significant public health savings over time, as loneliness and social isolation have been linked to a host of costly adverse health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (Murthy, 2023).

Investing in intergenerational play is not a luxury but a strategic imperative. By embedding intergenerational spaces and activities into neighborhoods, community centers, public parks, schools, senior centers, and assisted living facilities, both local and national governments can promote healthier, more connected communities. When people of all ages have the opportunity to learn, explore, and build together through play, they weave a stronger social fabric—one grounded not in age-based differences but in our shared human experience.

Explore More:

• 🎧 Podcast: Outdoor Music Bridging Generations
• 📘 Further Learning: Senior Resources
• 🧩 Case Study: Intergenerational Music Spaces

• Brubaker, T. H., & Brubaker, E. (1999). The four Rs of intergenerational relationships: Implications for practice. Michigan Family Review, 4(1), 5–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/mfr.4919087.0004.102
• Davis, L., Larkin, E., Graves, S.B. (2002). Intergenerational learning through play. International Journal of Early Childhood, 34(2), 42–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03176766
• Eberle, S. (2014). The elements of play: Toward a philosophy and a definition of play. American Journal of Play, 6(2), 214–233.
• Heckman, J. (2012). Invest in early childhood development: Reduce deficits, strengthen the economy. The Heckman Equation. Retrieved from www.heckmanequation.org
• Murthy, V. H. (2023). The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/03/new-surgeon-general-advisory-raises-alarm-about-devastating-impact-epidemic-loneliness-isolation-united-states.html
• Peng, F., & Neville, S. (2025). Designing intergenerational play space: A scoping review. Design for Health, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2025.2506852
• Richardson, D., Harris, D., Hudson, J., & Mackinder, S. (2023). Too little, too late: An assessment of public spending on children by age in 84 countries. Innocenti Research Briefs UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/media/2836/file/UNICEF-Too-Little-Too-Late-Brief-2023.pdf
• World Health Organization. (2024). Ageing and health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health