Dr. Amanda Gummer Credits Play for Her Success

Fall 2020 • Spotlight

Dr. Amanda Gummer, founder of Good Play Guide, is the go-to expert on child development, toys and play. But the secret to her success may surprise you.

By Alana Blumenstein

Growing up in a playful household, Dr. Amanda Gummer, founder of Dr. Gummer’s Good Play Guide, never felt pressured to be perfect. Her family viewed learning for what it was: an opportunity for growth – and fun.

“I was very lucky to have a very playful childhood,” Dr. Gummer shares. “My dad used to sell toys and my mom made everything into a game.”

Today, she is widely known as the go-to expert on child development, toys, and play. When it comes to education, she hopes parents and children will foster the same joyous experience.

“I love watching kids play,” Dr. Gummer says. “I like the fact that it's not stigmatized. Kids do it at their own pace in their own way.” Though she’s been researching and working with families for nearly 20 years, she adds that play still excites her. “I never cease to be amazed with how imaginative kids can be.”

With a PhD in psychology from The University of Sheffield, she has founded three organizations, including Good Toy Guide Ltd and FUNdamentals. In September 2014, she combined the two into Fundamentally Children, now known as Dr. Gummer’s Good Play Guide. Today they are the UK’s leading source of expert, independent advice on child development and play. She is also the author of Play: Fun ways to help your children develop in the first five years, published in May 2015.

But Dr. Gummer wasn’t always a child development expert. Originally, her studies focused on neuropsychology and how the brain works. After receiving her PhD in 2000, Dr. Gummer spent time working for a charity for vulnerable families and later, lived in Hong Kong. There, she worked for an educational organization that followed a learning through play approach.

Those few years passed quickly, and before she knew it, she had two daughters. In that moment, her fascination with child development was born. “I realized that I was just fascinated,” Dr. Gummer says.

“On paper, I should have found parenting really easy,” she notes, regarding her expansive experience. “And for a number of reasons I didn't. And that really piqued my interest because I was like, Well, you know, why am I not finding it easy? What are they doing? Why are they doing it?”

So, Dr. Gummer returned to her books and got up to date with her research. With her two young kids, she moved back to the UK. She began lecturing for the Open University in 2003, using her newfound background in child development.

“I was wondering what I was going to do with my life,” Dr. Gummer shares. She says she turned to her father, John Nicholas, for inspiration. Nicholas worked in the toy industry as a sales agent. His company had a product that was succeeding in Japan and they wondered about the UK. They planned to test a focus group, and Nicholas turned to his daughter for help.

Looking back, Dr. Gummer credits that experience for her career now. “I did that just as almost a favor, and really enjoyed it and found it really interesting,” she says.

Though Dr. Gummer is active in the Toy industry, she emphasizes that her primary passion lies with more than toys. “I think good toys are important,” she clarifies. “But it's the playfulness that they bring rather than the toys themselves.”

For Dr. Gummer, the best part of her job is demonstrating the power of play. She says she’s happiest seeing that “penny dropping moment” when people discover that play is good. “For me, I know that when that happens, that's going to change a child's life,” she says. “That's the bit that makes my heart sing.”

On a personal note, Dr. Gummer’s biggest inspirations are close to home. “My inspirations definitely come from my family,” she says. “My grandparents were always good for a game.” Dr. Gummer hopes to keep play in her family for future generations – starting with her two daughters. “My kids, I just want to have a playful life and certainly a playful childhood.”

Dr. Gummer’s greatest strengths come from her biggest struggles. In addition to making anything into a game, she says her real-life superpower came from overcoming her natural introversion and fear of public speaking. “People seem to like listening to some of the stuff I have to say now, and I've had to get over my natural introversion,” she says.

At first, she found herself looking down towards the ground and struggling to speak. Though it was a difficult process, Dr. Gummer says it’s worth it. “I've done it because I really believe in what I'm saying,” she tells KidsRead2Kids, adding that she grew empowered from the experience. “That is probably … one of the things I'm proudest of, because it definitely didn't come easy.”

Dr. Gummer tells KidsRead2Kids she shares the same favorite novel: L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. “I just think she's brilliant,” she gushes. “It was all just lovely.” She says her favorite reading spot is in her parent’s holiday chalet by the sea. “You just sit on the sofa and [there’s] just nothing between you and … the sea.”

Currently, her reading list includes The Power by Naomi Alderman, Becoming by Michelle Obama, and I am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai. In her free time, Dr. Gummer enjoys swimming and water sports, travel, gardening, and being with friends and family.

Dr. Gummer’s mission is to make the world a more playful place. In the future, she hopes more parents and teachers will follow in her footsteps. “I’m living proof that it’s a good thing,” she says. “If you've got two ways to do things, choose the fun way because, why wouldn't you?”