June 5, 2020
Serving children of all races, backgrounds, upbringings and histories, KOOP adamently stands up, stands with and supports the rights of BIPOC children (and adults).
Right now, the focus of the world is on creating real change to end systemic police brutality against the black and brown communities. With far too many examples nationally and locally, I want to say clearly: KOOP is built on the principles of playwork which seeks t...
June 5, 2020
At KOOP's beginning, I remember the passion I felt from watching my own child discover her world through self- directed play opportunities. I was able to uphold this environment for her and couldn't shake the feeling that I wished more kids got to do this. I wanted this opportunity for discovery and creation supported by a caring person for every child in every community.
Starting with my own community of Champaign-Urbana, my...
April 7, 2020
I'm writing about my current thoughts and hopes for summer 2020. With the unprecedented changes happening to prevent the spread of Covid-19, so many things are up in the air and if/when things change, I will keep updating this post. Please bear with me and know that my #1 goal is to provide meaningful play opportunities for children and that I'm doing my best to make that happen despite circumstances completely beyond my contr...
March 24, 2020
Have you started seeing encouraging notes, pictures or jokes on your sidewalks? Social distancing is keeping us apart, but we can still encourage our neighbors and bring a smile to their faces by leaving our mark!
We're joining Chambanamoms, Urbana Arts & Culture Program and Museum of the Grand Prairie to bring you Chalk Your Walk Chambana events every Friday! Don't worry, you can do it any day you feel like it too!
Hear Kelse...
March 23, 2020
We're joining together with Chambanamoms, Urbana Public Arts & Museum of the Grand Prairie to bring another fun community play initiative: a teddy bear scavenger hunt on World Bear Day!
All you do is put your teddy bear in the window (or a drawing!) and then, while practicing safe social distancing, walk around your neighborhood trying to spot as many bears as possible!
March 19, 2020
My most recent PechaKucha talk is all about play which, as I've come to know it, is transformative for us all. PK's are a unique presentation tool used all around the globe to tell stories and share projects or ideas using 20 slides and only 20 seconds per slide.
As we navigate this unprecedented time amid a global pandemic, play might feel too simple to pursue. It might feel like cleaning the closet, suddenly being taske...
March 15, 2020
Last spring, when our community saw tornadoes, we saw children playing out that theme inside our sandbox, creating their version of swirling chaos and squashing constructed homes before starting over to do it again.
Recently, as our University of Illinois basketball team was on a roll, we saw children playing out that theme by having multiple basketball games happening at once that included more kids suddenly int...
March 12, 2020
UPDATE: As of 4pm on March 13, Illinois Governor Pritzker closed all public and private schools through March 30th. We are tremendously proud to have been ahead of this decision, seeing clearly through our careful Playwork practice that this was the right call to make on March 12. We are glad our communities and families will remain safe and encourage social distancing practiced as solidarity spacing. More from us soon.
ORIGIN...
February 15, 2020
KOOP is looking for a special, magical person interested in working with children using a particular philosophy called playwork this spring, summer and beyond. We'll train you in playwork, don't worry! For now, scroll through KOOP Adventure Play's Facebook of Instagram to get a peek at what we're doing here!
Here's a job description, a day in the life series of photos and at the very end, instructions on how to apply. We're a s...
November 27, 2019
KOOP's Board of Directors, Executive Director and Playworkers are beyond excited to be recognized by the Junior League of CU and to receive the Community Impact Award for our work in Champaign- Urbana & beyond. You'll find KOOP hosting its own camps and after school programs, partnering with public parks and libraries, working with public schools and activating public spaces in the name of child- directed play. We've worked ti...
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