Considering the time children spend in schools and the impact this time has on their present and future lives, developing a better understanding of their school experiences is crucial for those interested in childhoods and children. Such understanding requires methodologies that respect children’s evolving capacities and rights, while addressing the methodological challenges arising from their marginalised position. This paper introduces ‘A School Day,’ a board game for participatory play-based research co-created with children that was used to explore children’s experiences of primary school while in Second Class (7-8 years old) in Ireland. The board game is one of the participatory methods employed in the Children’s School Lives study (CSL), a mixed-method dual-cohort longitudinal study of primary schooling in Ireland, tracking over 4,000 primary school children across 184 schools, with an in-depth qualitative case study analysis carried out in 12 schools. This paper describes the co-creation process of the game as a rights-based method for data collection and uses the evidence of its implementation to argue for the recognition of play as a valuable methodological approach in classroom-based educational research. The approach offers accessible and active opportunities for children to share ‘insider knowledge’ and articulate perspectives on sensitive and complex issues –countering more passive data collection methods, through the ‘universal language’ of play. In this paper, we simultaneously critically reflect on the power imbalances inherent in adult–child relations and the school context, emphasising the importance of reflexivity in employing play as a research tool. By detailing the co-creation, piloting, and implementation processes of the board game, this paper highlights both the methodological possibilities and ethical challenges of playful research. It demonstrates how play can foster meaningful participation, inclusion, and respect for children’s rights and capabilities in qualitative educational research.
Sainz et al. (Mon,) studied this question.