The Duchess of Cambridge has been in Denmark, whizzing down slides at the Lego Foundation in Denmark and discovering the importance of play as part of her work with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. The Duchess is passionate about child mental health, and in Copenhagen she met a team leading a national programme training students to help children use play to develop skills for life.

Play is crucial to a child’s development, and yet it is being eroded by screen time and rigorous testing. In 2019, it was found that school break times were often as much as an hour shorter than they were two decades ago, meaning children are missing out on valuable opportunities to make friends, develop social skills and exercise.

Michael Rosen, the former Children’s Laureate, believes that it isn’t just children who need more play in their lives… it’s adults, too. “Play isn’t an extra, it isn’t an add on,” he said in 2020, after the publication of his Book of Play, which shows us how being silly can build resilience. “Play is a fundamental human right. Whoever you are, maybe you’re a mum, a dad, an auntie, an uncle or a grandparent, a child, a teenager, a teacher, whoever you are, let’s get out there and play.”

In our house, dancing madly to the soundtrack of Encanto is our latest favourite way to play, even if the eight-year-old finds it deeply embarrassing at first. But I wondered, how do you bring more silliness into your life? I would love to hear from you, and find out other ways of getting every generation of the family to play together.

If you have any tales of silliness, or questions or issues you’d like me to look into, email me at bryony.gordon@telegraph.co.uk

Listen to Bryony Gordon’s Mad World podcast for intimate conversations about mental health here, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app