Thoughtful, caring adults who prioritize play in their settings and deeply consider the experiences of the children in their setting, the adults they work with and the parents they interact with can be prone to.... burn out. We can't let this happen! Reflective Practice is key to deepening your work and growing in your skills, responses and teamwork. It's also important to understand how the work is effecting you as a human who comes to this work from your own unique backg

Play is a right of all children. Period. And as practitioners serving all children, we must acknowledge that the experiences of children of color are different from white children because of racist beliefs that show up in inequitable policies, biases, overt actions and also many sneaky, insidious ways. When we talk about dismantling barriers to play, we don't only mean by answering material needs for children at play... There is no question that some barriers that exist for c

We advocate for play as a right for children for its own merit. Play doesn't have to be educational because of anything the grown ups are doing necessarily because in play, kids are learning exactly what their mind, bodies and hearts need in that moment. When a child is engaged in play, they're able to fully bring their inner thoughts, curiosities, interests and ideas in the world in a "safe" way at the just-right time for them. During week 5 we're going to hear from a few wo

Relating to Play as it Happens in the Body is a week where we'll think about how we use our bodies to play, how we play in our bodies and how play feels to our bodies. Relating to Play as it Happens in the Body: Case Study with Kelsey Langley of KOOP Adventure Play: Using my love language of story sharing, I'll open each week's content with a short story of play from my playwork experience that highlights the work we're about to dive into and sets the tone for where we're hea

Week 3 of the Prioritizing Play Conference: Relating to Play as a Natural Healer: Case Study example with KOOP Adventure Play: Using story sharing, we'll open each week's content with a short story of play from our own playwork experience that highlights the work we're about to dive into and sets the tone for where we're headed during the week. Olivia Gray, LCPC, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor: In this session, you will learn how to recognize play themes and trauma in c

The Prioritizing Play Conference is almost upon us an I can't wait to share all of our amazing speakers and their topics! Check out what we've cooked up for week 2: Relating to Play as a Spatial Justice Issue: Case Study with Kelsey Langley of KOOP Adventure Play: Using my love language of story sharing, I'll open each week's content with a short story of play from my playwork experience that highlights the work we're about to dive into and sets the tone for where we're head

The Prioritizing Play Conference is almost upon us an I can't wait to share all of our amazing speakers and their topics! Check out what we've cooked up for week 1: Relating to Play as Radical Self- Expression: Case Study with Kelsey Langley of KOOP Adventure Play: Using my love language of story sharing, I'll open each week's content with a short story of play from my playwork experience that highlights the work we're about to dive into and sets the tone for where we're hea