Do today's children lack embodied childhood experiences?

Graham Daniels  |  Comment
Date posted:  19 May 2026
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Do today's children lack embodied childhood experiences?

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash

When I was a boy growing up in Wales, World Cups arrived with a particular smell: the smell of a freshly opened packet of Panini stickers.

Before social media, before 24-hour football coverage, Panini albums were how many of us first discovered the wider world of football. I can still remember sitting on the floor staring at teams from countries I barely knew existed, learning flags, kits and improbable surnames long before I understood geography.

Football enlarged the imagination. Panini helped it happen. But the real joy was never simply collecting.

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