GET IN THE GAME!

Playworks plans to expand to 27 cities by 2012, serving a quarter million students in low-income schools every day.

There are a lot of ways you can support their efforts, join in the fun and bring play back to your school. This page gives you the details on what cities they are in now, and how the program works. Playworks also offers a comprehensive training and technical service program to train even more adults to bring healthy play to schools and communities where they don't offer their direct service. Here are a few simple ways you can play along today:

Understanding Play

There has been much research done on the importance of play and its impact on social and academic development. Jill Vialet recommends Stuart Brown's book Play, which explores the science of play and its impact on your lives. http://www.stuartbrownmd.com/ You may also want to read the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Gallup survey on recess called "The State of Play." Other resources and studies can be found on the Playworks website.

Learn More About Playworks

Watch Jill Vialet's TEDx Talk, or visit Jill's Ashoka Fellow Page to learn more about her and other Social Entrepreneurs making a difference in education, health care, the environment and more. Visit the Playworks website for tips on how you can incorporate play into your day, or support their efforts in schools across the country.

Donate to Playworks

Make a donation to Playworks and help expand their presence in low-income elementary schools throughout the country.

Join the Playworks Team

Investigate potential employment and volunteer opportunities at Playworks here.

Become a Corporate Partner

Get your company involved by partnering with Playworks as a Corporate Sponsor. You can host a Day of Play, put on a company fundraiser, or participate in your city Corporate Kickball Tournament to support Playworks initiatives.

Bring Play to Your City

The process of identifying and choosing schools for Playworks programs is an involved one, but is worth exploring further. To learn more about whether a school in your community would be a good Playworks fit, contact Eunice Dunham at edunham@Playworks.org.

PLAY With Your Kids!

Whether you are a parent or an educator, it is so important to emphasize the importance of play to the children who look up to you. And there's no better way to do this than lead by example! Jill Vialet highlights that if there isn't at least one person in a school who has a single focus on play, then the concept itself can easily be marginalized. If you have some free time, volunteer as a coach during recess. Also, take your kids outside to play after school. Playworks has compiled a great list of games and icebreakers for the playground which can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.Playworks.org/games.

Learn How to Play

If you are interested in learning how to become a trained playground coach and bring skills and expertise of a Playworks experience into your classroom, playground, or household, consider a Playworks Training Workshop. These workshops can be anywhere from 2 to 7 hours of play training, where parents and educators can learn games, conflict resolution strategies, and other skills necessary for helping children engage on the playground. Click Here to see rates for these trainings and find out more information.