100+Top Play Resources (Now 300+)
‘Just Rome’ courtesy of Pensiero at Flickr
[ This list currently has over 300 entries. I am trying to keep it updated, so please let me know what I am missing! Thanks, Carol]
There’s growing recognition that play is not just, well, child’s play. Mounting evidence shows play has a crucial role in cognitive, physiological, behavioral and social development and adaptation at all ages and stages of life.
In essence, we need to take play seriously. Play has been recognized as a right of every child by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. It is also the right of teens, adults and seniors. As we learn more about the benefits of play, it’s apparent it belongs in living rooms and boardrooms, and in sand lots and parking lots – any place there’s room to move. Play sculpts our brains, our bodies, our relationships, and our future.
Below is a wide ranging – but by no means exhaustive – list of play resources that includes organizations, resources, guidelines and reports, current news stories, books, audio and video, e-newsletters, blogs, twitter hashtags, image and design collections, programs, locations, and events.
Many of these sites offer extensive resource lists and news feeds of their own that integrate the fields of education, urban design, transportation, the environment, nature, physical activity, sports, nutrition, and obesity. While the list focuses on more recent resources that mainly center on play, there are many, many outstanding resources I’ve overlooked. Please feel free to add them in the comment section…on your way out the door to play.
Play: Organizations (alphabetical)
- Alliance for Childhood
- Alliance for Childhood (UK)
- Association of Children’s Museums
- Children and Nature Alliance (Canada)
- Children and Nature Network (C&NN)
- Empower Playgrounds (Ghana)
- Fair Play For Children (U.K.)
- Free Play Network (U.K.)
- Imagination Playground
- International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA)
- International Play Association (IPA)
- KaBOOM!
- Learning Through Landscapes (U.K.)
- National Institute for Play
- National Program for Playground Safety
- National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)
- NI at Play (Northern Ireland)
- PlayBoard (Northern Ireland)
- Play England
- Play For Peace
- Play Wales
- Playground Ideas
- Playwork Partnerships
- Pop-UP Adventure Play
- Project For Public Spaces
- Shane’s Inspiration
- SPARK
- The Association for the Study of Play (TASP)
- Ultimate Block Party
- U.S. Play Coalition
Play: Resources (alphabetical)
- Accessible Playgrounds
- Active Healthy Kids Canada
- Adventure Playgrounds
- American Journal of Play
- Atlanta Taskforce on Play
- Earthplay
- Eat Smart. Play Hard. USDA
- Green Exercise
- Hackey Play Association (London)
- Kids Outdoors
- Let’s Play (Keurig Dr Pepper)
- London Play
- National Center for Bicycling & Walking (NCBW)
- National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA)
- Natural Learning Initiative
- NFL Play 60
- Outdoors: The Ultimate Playground (Toronto, Canada)
- The Play & Playground Encyclopedia
- Playground Ideas
- Playopedia
- PlayPumps
- Playworks (formerly Sports4Kids)
- Rethinking Childhood
- Safe Routes
- Streetplay
- Thrive Outdoors (Inspiring Scotland)
- Trust for Public Lands
- Voice of Play
- Wild Zones
- YMCA of the USA
Play: Guidelines & Reports (most recent first)
- The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. Michael Yogman, Andrew Garner, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Committee On Psychosocial Aspects of Child And Family Health, Council on Communications And Media. Pediatrics, August 2018 New!
- The Power of Play: Innovations in Getting Active Summit 2011: A Science Panel. Proceedings Report From the American Heart Association. D. A. Lieberman, B. Chamberlin, E. Medina, Jr, B. A. Franklin, et al. Circulation, published online Apr 25, 2011. (PDF)
- The potential of safe, secure and accessible playgrounds to increase children’s physical activity, Research Brief, Active Living Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, February 2011. (PDF)
- The association between school based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010. (pdf)
- 2010 Shape of the nation report: Status of physical education in the USA. National Association for Sport and Physical Education, Reston, VA, 2010 (pdf)
- The crucial role of recess in schools. C.L. Ramstetter, R.Murray, and A.S. Garner. Journal of School Health, Nov;80(11), pgs 517-26. 2010.
- Developing healthy kids through outdoor play: The whole child report. National Wildlife Federation, 2010.
- State Indicator Report on Physical Activity, 2010. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010. (pdf)
- The state of play: Gallup survey of elementary school principals on recess. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, February, 2010.
- The Loss of Children’s Play: A Public Health Issue. Alliance for Childhood, Policy Brief 1, November, 2009. (pdf)
- Restoring Play and Playful Learning to U.S. Kindergartens. Alliance for Childhood, Policy Brief 2, November, 2009. (pdf)
- Children’s Nature Deficit: What We Know – and Don’t Know. Cheryl Charles, Richard Louv, Children and Nature Network, September, 2009. (pdf)
- Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity. L. Parker, A.C. Burns, E. Sanchez and Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Governments. Institute of Medicine and National Research Council of the National Academies, September 1, 2009.
- The Playwork Primer, Penny Wilson, in conjunction with The Alliance for Childhood. April, 2009. (pdf)
- F as in Fat 2009. How obesity policies are failing in America. Trust for America’s Health, July, 2009.
- The built environment: Designing communities to promote physical activity in children. Pediatrics. Vol. 123 No. 6 June 2009, pgs 1591-1598. (Policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics)
- What is playwork? Fact sheet No. 14. Frazer Brown, June, 2009. The Children’s Play Information Service. (pdf)
- Creating & retrofitting play environments: best practice guidelines. PlayCore, Inc. and Natural Learning Initiative, 2009.
- Crisis in the kindergarten: why children need to play in school. Alliance for Childhood, March 2009. (pdf)
- Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces. (2.7MB PDF) Aileen Shackell, Nicola Butler, Phil Doyle and David Ball, Play England, 2008.
- Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation guide. Guide commissioned by Play England. David Ball, Tim Gill and Bernard Spiegal, The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), December 2008. (pdf)
- The Play Strategy. Department for Children, Schools and Families, U.K., December, 2008.
- 2008 Physical activity guidelines for Americans. U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Oct 2008.
- Time out: Is recess in danger? Patte Barth, The Center for Public Education, August 2008.
- Design for Play – A guide to creating successful play spaces. Guide commissioned by Play England. Aileen Shackell, Nicola Butler, Phil Doyle, David Ball, The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), August 2008.
- The VERB campaign. Not about health, all about fun: marketing physical activity to children. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Vol 34, Issue 6, Supplement, June 2008.
- Public Playground Safety Handbook, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Publication #325, April 2008. (pdf)
- Call to activity: getting kids moving in the great outdoors. President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports, DHHS, February, 2008. (pdf)
- Recess Rules. Why the undervalued playtime may be America’s best investment for healthy kids and healthy schools. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2007. (pdf)
- Building “Generation Play”: Addressing the crisis of inactivity among America’s children. A report by Stanford University, February, 2007. Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine. (pdf)
- The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics vol 119, No. 1, Jan 2007. Clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. (pdf)
- The trouble with 21st Century Kids. A special report by SPI Play in association with Peter Smith and Rachel Biggins. Richard Emmott Marketing Ltd, 2006.(pdf)
- A Guide to the ADA accessibility guidelines for play areas. U.S. Access Board, Oct 2005.
- BONUS: Crawley adventure playground. The Crawley Community Association Adventure Playground Committee, Crawley, Sussex (UK), 1955. (PDF) [An archival gem courtesy of Fair Play For Children]
Play: Books (alphabetical order)
- 50 dangerous things (you should let your children do). Gever Tulley, NAL Trade (Reprint edition), 2011.
- The ambiguity of play. Brian Sutton-Smith, Harvard University Press, 2001.
- Children at play: an American history . Howard Chudacoff, NYU Press, 2007.
- The dangerous book for boys. Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, William Morrow, 2007.
- The daring book for girls. Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, William Morrow, 2007.
- Exuberant animal: the power of health, play and joyful movement. Frank Forencich, AuthorHouse, 2006.
- From ritual to record: The nature of modern sports. Allen Guttmann, Columbia University Press, 1979.**
- The genesis of animal play: testing the limits. Gordon Burghardt, The MIT Press, 2005.
- The genius of play: Celebrating the spirit of childhood. Sally Jenkinson, Hawthorn Press Ltd, 2001.
- Homo Ludens – A study of the play element in culture. Johan Huizinga, Beacon Press, 1971.
- KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. Darell Hammond, Rodale Books, 2011.
- Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Richard Louv, Algonquin Books, 2008.
- Man, play and games. Roger Caillois, University of Illinois Press , 1961. **
- Play = learning: how play motivates and enhances children’s cognitive and social-emotional growth. Dorothy G. Singer, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (eds). Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Play as if your life depends on it: functional exercise and living for Homo sapiens. Frank Forencich, Go Animal, 2003.
- Play dreams and imitation in childhood. Jean Piaget, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1962.**
- Play. How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. Stuart Brown, with Christopher Vaughan. Avery, New York, 2009.
- Playing and learning outdoors: Making provision for high quality experiences in the outdoor environment. Jan White, Routledge, 2007.
- Play reconsidered: sociological perspectives on human expression. Thomas S. Henricks, University of Illinois Press, 2006.
- The Games We Played: A Celebration of Childhood and Imagination . Steven A. Cohen, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
- The play ethic: A manifesto for a different way of living. Pat Kane, Macmillan UK, 2005.
- The power of play. David Elkind, Da Capo Press, 2007.
- The theory of the leisure class. Thorstein Veblen, Penguin Classics, 1991.**
- Under the sky: Playing, working and enjoying adventures in the open air – a handbook for parents, carers and teachers. Sally Schweizer, Rudolf Steiner Press, April 2009.
** Recommended by Dr. Jack Berryman, noted sports historian, Professor, Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Play: Audio & videos (Most recent first)
- Prescription for Play. (KaBOOM! and Alliance for Childhood) June, 2011
- Evolution’s gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans. Isabel Behncke, TED, March 2011.
- Chicago Blackhawks and the National Hockey League, Let’s Move, March 2011.
- From The Horse’s Mouth vol 13: Sir Ken Robinson. Goose Educational Media inc., Nov 2010
- Play Again. A documentary by Ground Productions, 2010.
- A new kind of play. Adam Ragusea, Radio Boston, July 13, 2010.
- The neuroscience of play: What play does for you and your brain, and what happens to you if you don’t play. Stuart Brown, Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2010.
- Why is play important: Crusade for health. Ezekiel Emanuel and Darell Hammond, Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2010.
- Imagination and play. David Rockwell and Patricia Sellers. Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2010.
- New York Street Games. A documentary by Matthew Levy, narrated by Hector Elizondo, 2010.
- Living in Communities: Now Press Play. Jill Vialet, TEDx SF, November, 2009.
- The importance of play. Scott Eberle, TEDx Rochester, November, 2009.
- Keeping the “Inner Child” in Exercise: How Adults Can Play. Carol Torgan, The Sports Medicine & Fitness Show, Health Radio, August 18, 2009.
- Videos from The Summit on the Value of Play, June 2009.
- Recess Rules. Fox News, Jan 26, 2009.
- The science of play. Radiolab, WNYC, May 30, 2008.
- Play is more than fun. Stuart Brown, TED talk, May 2008 from the 2008 Serious Play conference.
- Creativity and play. Tim Brown, TED talk, May 2008 from the 2008 Serious Play conference.
- Playgrounds for the elderly. ABC news, March 18, 2008.
- Where do the children play? Documentary, Michigan Television, 2008.
- 5 dangerous things for kids. Gever Tulley, TED talk, March 2007.
- Adventure playgrounds’ a dying breed in the U.S. Kristin Wiederholt, NPR, Day to Day, March 9, 2006.
Playful popular videos
- Dolphin play bubble rings, chiajungchi
- Piano Staircase, Thefuntheory.com
- Polar bears and dogs playing, FirstScience TV
- Sesame Street: Outdoors with Jason Mraz
- Seven Up! Excerpt – London Adventure Playground, 1964 New!
- The Elk Dance, QuietBuck (originally from David Neils)
- Where Do The Children Play, muppetmeatloaf
- Your ball needs you, Let’s Move
Play: Image and design collections (alphabetical order)
- 10 unusual playgrounds from around the world (photos), Mental_Floss
- 100 days of summer (photos) “A selection of hydrants in Brooklyn and in the Bronx. Street play at its finest!” By Charles le Brigand, Flickr set.
- Bodies in Urban Spaces. Photo Journal, Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2010.
- Children at play (photos), University of California, Irvine
- KaBOOM! Videos and photos
- Places for Play: Exhibition
- Playable10 International design competition. The annual global search for inspiring play design.
- Playscapes (Playground design blog)
- Playtimes: A Century of Children’s Games and Rhymes, British Library
- The Streetplay Galleries (play images from around the world by professional artists)
- Also see Flickr groups such as Childs Play, Jumping Project, and World @ Play
Play: e-Newsletters (alphabetical order)
- CATCH (Coordinated Approach To Child Health) News
- Centerlines (National Center for Bicycling & Walking)
- Green Hour (National Wildlife Federation)
- The National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD)
- National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity (NCPPA) News
- NCPPA Activity Advocate
- Parks and Recreation Weekly News Brief (NRPA)
- P.E.4LIFE Newsletter
- Prevention Research Center Notes (University of South Carolina)
Play: Blogs (alphabetical)
- Active Kids Club
- Adventuroo
- The Asset Edge
- Backyard Mama
- Caro & Co
- Childhood 101
- Creative Play Plus
- Deep Fun
- Design With Play
- Dr. Kwame Brown – Move Theory New!
- Eco Child’s Play
- Experimental Play
- Field notes from the future
- Free-Range Kids
- Fun Neighborhoods
- Fun Orange County Parks
- Games We Played
- Go Explore Nature
- The Grass Stain Guru
- Green Hour (NWF)
- I’m a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!
- KaBOOM! Blog
- Kindling
- Learning for Life New!
- Learn with Play @ home New!
- Let Kids Play!!
- Let the children play
- Marghanita
- Moving Smart
- Nature for Kids
- Outdoor Afro
- Parklover
- Peaceful Playgrounds
- Peekabooplay
- PhD in Parenting (see Carnival of Play posts)
- Play Activities
- Play At Home Mom New!
- Playborhood
- Playdate Planet New!
- Play Everything
- Playground Chronicles
- PlayGroundology
- Play In Nature New!
- Play Outdoors: The Campfire
- Play Parks Central: Play, Pretend, Play
- Playscapes
- Playtime
- Playward
- Playworks
- Rusty’s Blog
- Slow Family Online
- The Body Smart Blog
- Your Wild Child
- What’s out there?
Play: Twitter http://twitter.com/
Hashtags #playoutdoors #playoutside #recessrevolution #goplay #parks
(These streams are a great way to find play-centric individuals and organizations to follow)
Play: Programs (alphabetical order)
- Boston Schoolyard Initiative
- Empower Me
- Green Hour, National Wildlife Federation
- Let’s Just Play, Nickelodeon
- Let’s Move!
- New York City Playgrounds Program, The Trust for Public Land
- National Recess Week, Cartoon Network
- Out2Play
- Project Adventure, Peaceable Playgrounds
- Recess Revolution, Keen
- The Fun Fed
- We Can! Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
- YMCA Healthy Kids Day
Play: Locations
- Accessible playgrounds (US and Canada)
- AZ Active Kids
- City Museum (Saint Louis, MO)
- KaBoom! Find a play space in the U.S.
- Let’s Go Outdoors (Lancaster & Philadelphia, PA areas)
- Melbourne Playgrounds (Australia)
- Mission:Explore (U.K.)
- NJ Playgrounds
- North San Diego County Playgrounds
- Playable Art Park (Sandy Springs, GA)
- Playground Chronicles: Greater Halifax, Nova Scotia playground spaces
- Playground finder: Australia
- Point Wilderness
- Spaces to Play (Maricopa County, Arizona)
- Strong National Museum of Play (Rochester, NY)
- Swings and Roundabouts: playground reviews in Victoria and Vancouver, Canada
- Venturepax.com (Cincinnati)
Play: Conferences
- 2018 Power of Play Conference: Your Move, March 20-22, 2018 New!
- 2018 Conference on the Value of Play: The Many Faces of Play, US Play Coalition, April 8-11, 2018 New!
- 2017 Conference on the Value of Play: Where Design Meets Play, US Play Coalition, 2017 New!
- The Conference on the Value of Play: Multi-Generational Actions and Strategies, Feb 26-29, 2012
- IPA World Conference 2011, Wales, July 4-7, 2011
- Sandbox Summit: Game changers. Cambridge, Mass, April 28-29, 2011
- Play for life. Exploring the lifelong benefits of inclusive play. October 23-24, 2010
- Meaningful Play 2010, Michigan State University, Oct 21-23, 2010
- Play On Conference October, 2010
- Serious Play, Art Center Design Conference, Pasadena, CA 2008
Play: Events
- PARK(ing) Day
- Worldwide Day of Play (Nickelodeon)
- Hide & Seek (NWF)
- Hide & Seek (UK)
- Invisible Playground (Berlin, Germany)
- Larkin’ About (Manchester, UK)
- Obscure Games Pittsburgh
- recess.to (Toronto)
- Come Out and Play Festival (NYC)
- London Play: Street Play
- Sunday Streets: San Francisco
- Play Day (KaBoom!)
- Playday. The annual celebration of children’s right to play. (UK)
- Take a Child Outside Week
Play: Current News Stories (most recent first)
- Rethinking recess. Sandra Swanson, The Rotarian, November 2011.
- Schools face new challenge: Return of recess. Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago Tribune, October 25, 2011.
- Study: Young children play like scientists work. Katie Scott, Wired.Co.UK, July 27, 2011.
Can a Playground Be Too Safe? John Tierney, The New York Times, July 18, 2011. - ‘Dig This’ Offers New Kind Of Sandbox Experience. Ted Robbins, NPR, July 7, 2011.
- Mobilizing the Playground Movement. David Bornstein, Opinionator, The New York Times, June 13, 2011.
- Science and secrets in New York City playgrounds. Laurel Graeber, The New York Times, April 14, 2011.
The great outdoors are just that for kids. Liz Szabo, USA Today, April 13, 2011.
- The power of the playground. David Bornstein, Opinionator, The New York Times, April 7, 2011.
- Hard times for recess. David Bornstein, Opinionator, The New York Times, April 4, 2011.
- Classroom and playground, all rolled into one. The New York Times, John Schwartz, March 16, 2011.
- The case for play. How a handful of researchers are trying to save childhood. Tom Bartlett, The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 20, 2011.
- Effort to restore children’s play gains momentum. Hilary Stout, The New York Times, January 5, 2011.
- Want to get your kids into college? Let them play. Erika Christakis and Nicholas Christakis, CNN Opinion, December 29, 2010.
- Taking back the playground. Mary Frances Hill, The Vancouver Sun, December 14, 2010.
- Play school. Taryn Plumb, The Boston Globe, October 14, 2010.
- Play harder: Can children’s researchers quantify fun? Tripp Underwood, Thrive, September 23, 2010.
- Shaping Up PE: The rise in childhood obesity prompts a gym class makeover. Daniele Seiss, The Washington Post, August 8, 2010.
- How to restore American creativity: Bring imagination back to play. Darell Hammond, The Huffington Post, July 28, 2010.
- Dr. Koop: Kick the kids outside to play. C. Everett Koop, CNN Opinion, July 23, 2010.
- The creativity crisis. Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, Newsweek, July 10, 2010.
- State of play. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, July 5, 2010.
(Need subscription for access) - Why your kids need recess. Jill Vialet, Forbes.com, June 22, 2010.
- The war on children’s playgrounds. Lenore Skenazy, Salon, May 17, 2010.
- Recess coaches help kids play, and that helps them to learn. Dafney Tales, Philadelphia Daily News, May 7, 2010.
- Playtime is over. David Elkin, Op-Ed, The New York Times, March 26, 2010.
- Playgrounds a must in all housing areas. Mahendra Kumar Singh, The Times of India, Feb 12, 2010.
- Playing to learn. Susan Engel, The New York Times, Feb 1, 2010.
- Get corpulent Canadian kids outside to play. Andrew Hanon, Edmonton Sun, Jan 13, 2010.
- Play: Electric slide. Marc Kristal, Dwell, Dec/Jan 10.
- The power of magical thinking. Research shows the importance of imagination in children’s cognitive development. Shirley S. Wang, The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2009.
- The 3 R’s? A fourth is crucial, too: Recess. Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times, December 4, 2009.
- The science of fun part 1: The fun advantage. Albert Nerenberg, Montreal Gazette, December 12, 2009.
- The science of fun part 2: We’re all party animals. Albert Nerenberg, Montreal Gazette, December 12, 2009.
- The answer sheet, parental anxiety is ruining playtime. Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, November 9, 2009.
- Council bans parents from play areas. Tom Whitehead, Telegraph (U.K.), Oct 28, 2009.
- Can the right kinds of play teach self-control? The New York Times, Paul Tough, September 25, 2009.
- Not enough recess. Erin Marcus, The Miami Herald, September 16, 2009.
- Let the kids play! Derrick Z. Jackson, The Boston Globe, September 12, 2009.
- Making up a sport helps folks regain their mojo. Anjali Athavaley, Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2009.
- Make time for play, schools urged. BBC News, Sept 3, 2009.
- Make fitness fun. Michael O’Shea, Parade, July 19, 2009.
- Let the children play (some more). Stuart Brown, in the Opinionator, New York Times, September 2, 2009.
- Play deprivation: 5 solutions to a weighty problem. Darell Hammond, Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.
- With parkour, the whole world’s a playground. Jacqueline Stenson, MSNBC, July 21, 2009.
- In summer, kids need real play time. Nanci Hellmich, USA Today, June 24, 2009.
- 10 reasons play can make you healthy, happy, and more productive. Nancy Shute, U.S. News and World Report, March 9, 2009.
- Deskercise: Staying jazzed and focused at school. Allison Aubrey, NPR, Morning Edition, February 26, 2009.
- The serious need for play. Melinda Wenner, Scientific American, January 2009.
- The new playground: bye, jungle gym. Kathleen Kingsbury, Time, Jan. 28, 2009.
- Old-fashioned play builds serious skills. Alex Spiegel, NPR, Morning Edition, February 21, 2008.
- Taking play seriously. Robin Marantz Henig, The New York Times (magazine), Feb 17, 2008.
- No outdoor play ‘hurts children.’ BBC News, September 10, 2007.
- Putting the skinned knees back into playtime. Alex Williams, The New York Times, May 20, 2007.
- A classroom of monkey bars and slides. Jane E. Brody, The New York Times, April 3, 2007.
Related posts on play
Melitsa – Thanks for your comment. You have a great site, Play Activities (http://www.play-activities.com/), and I love the Wordless Wednesday photos!
So impressed with this list! I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to compile, link and bookmark. Great job.
Michele – Thanks so much. I’m thrilled to share so many outstanding play resources, including Play Parks Central.
Thanks for including Your Wild Child in your list. It’s nice to be in such great company!
Melynda and Morgan – you are 2 folks I would love to climb trees with! (Melynda celebrates the Wild Child in all of us and Morgan is a Go To for information on playwork. )
Here’s another program that celebrates play: ‘Empower ME’ http://empowerme2b.org/ which is a “by kids for kids” movement inspiring all kids to make healthy behavior changes.
http://www.thefunfed.com is a London based organisation which offers twice weekly play sessions specifically for adults. Physical, creative, craft-related, subversive, occasionally performative, diverse and delightful.
http://playingaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/ is our blog that tracks the findings of our fun explorer in residence who is travelling the world to find out where great play is happening, what it feels like, how to bring more of it home and why we lost so much of it in our society in the first place.
Hannah –
Thank you so much for sharing your great resources. Your blog, Playtime, may have one of the best taglines around, “I’ve been hired to find the best fun in the world.”
Congratulations for this post! It is so extremely valuable. I will be sharing this with everyone. We can not promote play enough. A focus of my work is to create the awareness that play is a critical aspect to optimally developing brains. Children need loving interaction, sleep, nutrition …. and play. Hopefully all of this will soon be included in EVERY child’s day!
Thanks again.
WOWEEZOWEE! This is amazing. Thank you so much! I am the instructor/director of a cooperative preschool and will share this with my membership! Thanks again!
Thanks for listing my blog! This is quite an amazing list you have here- I’m bookmarking it, tweeting it, facebooking it and stumbling it. 🙂
Great list – thanks so much.
A couple of additions:
London Play – great resources and advice http://www.londonplay.org.uk/
Tim Gill’s website Rethinking Childhood http://www.rethinkingchildhood.com/ He co-authored “Managing Risk in Play Provision” and does awesome presentations.
“The Play Ethic” by Pat Kane. Quite an academic book but well-respected in the UK
Go Play – 25 inspirational and pioneering play projects in Scotland. This is a website to watch. The organisations involved are doing fantastic work and this also involved engaging schools in free play
WOW! That is amazing. So glad that play is back!
Deborah, Judy and Melissa –
Thanks for your nice comments. As a reminder, many of the organizations listed also have wonderful lists of resources on their sites. You might want to take a look at a brand new study that just came out that I added to the list, ‘The crucial role of recess in schools.’ In this comprehensive review, the authors conclude, “Recess is a complement to, not a replacement for, physical education. Both promote activity and a healthy lifestyle; however, recess–particularly unstructured recess and free play–provides a unique contribution to a child’s creative, social, and emotional development. From the perspective of children’s health and well-being, recess time should be considered a child’s personal time and should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons.” See; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21039550
Oops! I see you have London Play listed. My apologies.
Thank you so much for including me on the list – thrilled to bits 🙂 And thank you for putting together such an impressive list. It is such a handy resource for us all to have.
Love this wonderful, growing list. Great work! Thank you for including Playworks. We also feature a blog (http://www.playworks.org/blog) and an event–Play On conference ).
Juliet, Abbie, Jenny, and Beth – Thank you all for your kind comments and for all you do to promote play. I have added all your great suggestions to the list, as well as several other new items.
– Carol
This was a very informative site for getting ideas as to how to help kids play outside and to get active outside and not just sit infront a TV all day. thank you..
What a complete and informative web site! Quite often I find myself defending “learning through play.” I hope to recommend this site to parents look at at their leisure and make informed decisions about how their children are spending their time.
Sheri and Kathy – Thanks so much for your input. Please let me know if you have additions, or if you have ideas of other categories that should be added. Sheri – perhaps the best category for parents (or anyone) to start with is the popular videos. Once you see others play, you can’t help but want to go outside and play!
Hi there,
I watched a TV special on creative play in the school yard a few years ago and I’m trying to find information on that. Does anyone have a title or website for me? The research showed that by putting different objects in the schoolyard, kids were more creative and results were better in the classroom
Thanks
Hi there: I am not sure of the exact program you are referring to, but there is a lot of research out there for the use of loose parts in playgrounds.
You can find a webinar we did on loose parts here: http://www.aahperd.org/headstartbodystart/toolbox/webinarsAndPodcasts/archivedwebinars.cfm
Also, I suggest reading the Playwork Primer, which covers many topics that should be of interest:
Cheers- Bethe
Hi Michelle – I don’t know the answer to your question but have queried some play gurus for you to see what we can find out.
This is a fantastic list of play resources. I wanted to mention a website our family has created, http://melbourneplaygrounds.com.au, which reviews playgrounds and other Kids activities in Melbourne, Australia. We have reviewed more than 2100 playgrounds with almost 25,000 photos. Melbourne has about 3200 playgrounds. I wonder whether any other city in the world has more playgrounds than this?
Ian and Mira,
Wow!! I have added your amazing site to the list. You have done an incredible job indexing all the playgrounds, providing photos, descriptions, and including a search feature. I bet you are right that Melbourne has more playgrounds than any other city. How lucky you and the families of Melbourne are. Thank you so much for providing this valuable playground resource.
What a great list! Would love to see my blog http://childhood101.com on your list of play blogs, especially the recently launched Playopedia collection which collates great play ideas from blogs all around the world – you can find it here http://childhood101.com/playopedia/
Christie –
Thanks so much for bringing your blog to my attention. I’ve added it to the blog list. I’ve also added Playopedia to the Resources. Not only is this an incredible resource, it’s an absolutely gorgeous site! (I esp love the coffee play dough recipe)
http://www.Takomaplays.org was formed in 2009 in Takoma Park, MD to encourage everyone to go out and play. We are A Playful City USA. We hold Play Days, Picnic, Play & Parade Watch, Playful Yard Sale, Traveling Play Groups, Streets closed to Play, Installation of Mosaic Artwork with the word Play & now have had a Playful Bench created by wood carver Jim Calder. Come Play with us September 24, 2011 as we host our third Play Day outside, learn to carve a sweet potato, dance with Zumba and just have a wonderful time playing. The Play Lady Pat Rumbaugh
Pat,
You are indeed The Play Lady! Takoma Park is a great example of how a community can encourage everyone to go out and play through simple, local events.
Outstanding work.Ive added this page to my links on childs play on my website which covers the field of childs play as well as other areas.
Ray,
Your site, The Gypsy Poet, is a wonderful celebration of children’s play, images, adventure, words, and all combinations of those. I’ve added it to the Resources list above. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention and for adding this site to your list of play links.
Wow, your list is incredible! I’ve been writing books about play for 5 years, and I’m still awed by the vast collection of resources you shared. Thanks!
We are sharing a blog series titled Friday Playdays this year at , where we will share games and strategies related to playing with purpose. We’d love for all of you to share your favorite play ideas there too!
ann
Ann,
Your site is great and I’ve added The Asset Edge to the blog list. Thanks so much for visiting and for sharing your site and resources.
Have you checked out playathomemom3.blogspot.com…awesome play blog! 🙂
So glad to have found this list! What an incredible resource. My Co-Founder and I blog about play in general and play date challenges, in particular, at our play date scheduling website, . Our goal is to foster unstructured play and socialization for children by making it easier for busy parents to create, post, and accept play dates online.
Hi Carol
What an amazing list – well done you!!!
I run an organisation called NI at Play – based in Northern Ireland we promote the benefits of play especially outdoors!! It would be an honor to be added to the list!!
Keep up the great work!
Caroline
What a wonderful list of resources on play. I’m reading Stuart Brown’s book, play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. It’s a great read, very informative, and reinforces all of the benefits of play.
Brittany, Meryl, Caroline, Randi – Thanks for your great comments and wonderful resources! I’ve gotten behind in updating this list but added your great suggestions and will add more soon.