October 26, 2016

Building Civil Society in the Jungle ›

Have you ever wondered how the world would be different if every kid had the opportunity to play—every day? We asked how you are leveraging the power of play to create a healthy civil society. This is the first response we got. Absolutely perfect! Reserva Los Coyotes in Costa Rica is teaching scientific inquiry and…

October 24, 2016

From Playworks to TFA ›

After graduating from Kalamazoo College, Imani Sims knew she wanted to become a leader in her home city of Detroit. She was inspired by the Playworks mission and, in 2014, became a Playworks Coach in a Detroit school. Her passion for service work only grew, and she chose to continue her impact in Detroit Public…

October 12, 2016

Bringing out the Best: Mindful Life Project ›

JG Larochette came to work for Playworks during its Sports4Kids days and ultimately went on to become a teacher, starting as a sub at the Richmond, CA elementary school where he had been a Playworks coach. Although he was passionate about supporting students, JG noticed that as his work shifted away from the daily opportunities…

October 3, 2016

For Eli Wolff, Inclusion Inspires Innovation ›

"The sport, recreation and play domain, far from being trivial, is essential for fully realizing the human rights promise" —Anne Hubbard, The Major Life Activity of Belonging (2004) I met Eli Wolff through his work as an advocate for disability rights, but what struck me as I got to know him better is the extent…

August 29, 2016

Bringing Out The Best: Fran Mainella ›

First as the director of the Florida State Parks and later as the first woman Director of the National Park Service back in 2001, Fran Mainella worried about the absence of children playing in parks. So she began to advocate for the importance of nature play and has been an important advocate for play ever since.…

August 11, 2016

Bringing Out the Best: The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition ›

If you ask a grown-up of a certain age about the Presidential Youth Fitness Test, you are likely to get one of two responses. Half of the people (and I admit to being one of these), absolutely loved the timed challenge around the shuttle run, sit and reach, and pull-ups, and may be able to…

August 4, 2016

Bringing Out the Best: Project Play ›

“There’s a lot of things we can do to put [playing] back in—number one, making sure kids have recess at school. That’s where they’re spending most of their time. That is just as important as math and science to kids. If you’re a teacher and you’re working with boys in particular, they can’t sit still…

July 29, 2016

Bringing out the Best: BoomShake ›

In honor of our 20th anniversary, Playworks is sharing stories of other nonprofits transforming kids and communities through the power of play. BoomShake is a multicultural music and movement community program in Oakland. I was thrilled to talk with co-founder Sarah Norr about how they are bringing out the best in kids and adults. Among…

July 19, 2016

Bringing Out the Best: Beat the Streets ›

In 2010, Billy Watterson was a freshman at Brown University and on the wrestling team. When a wrestling alum dragged Billy out to volunteer in the Providence community through Junior Achievement, Billy was initially less than enthusiastic. But what he saw and heard shocked him. While visiting a middle school, he was surprised and dismayed…