Joan Almon, Chair of the US Alliance for Childhood shares the following about their important work in promoting play [Note that we have two talks on play available by Joan, The Rebirth of Play and Re-Creating Play.]
Our last update invited you to help us promote the new PBS documentary Where Do the Children Play? by organizing a local screening of the film. You responded with a flood of requests, and we have now sent out more than 250 copies of the film for screenings in the U.S. and abroad. The reports we are getting say that audiences are provoked, moved, and inspired to take action in their communities.
The film is changing people's thinking about the need for more play at home, in nature, and in schools. We will continue to fill requests for community screenings as long as we can. You can also purchase a DVD of the film for $19.95 from Michigan Television, the producer. See their web site: www.wfum.org/childrenplay. The film is now available for airing on PBS stations. Let the program director at your local affiliate know that you would like to see it broadcast in your community.
This month's playwork institute at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, called "Facilitating Play for Young Children," is completely filled, with a waiting list of applicants. We are exploring the idea of creating similar institutes and workshops in other parts of the country.
Penny Wilson, the London playworker who has been helping the Alliance to spread the word about the playwork profession and its principles and practice in the U.S., has inspired many people to see the importance of play in a whole new light. One of those people is Nancy Barthold, the Assistant Commissioner for Recreation and Programming of the New York City Parks Department.
Here's what Barthold writes in the Spring 2008 issue of Outdoors in New York City:
For many of today's children, play opportunities have turned into a world full of electronic games, plastic toys, and structured sports activities. They seem to have forgotten, or never had the chance to experience, the fun of building a fort using rocks and sticks or pretending to be an explorer while trekking through the woods. Get reacquainted with games such as hide-and-seek and scavenger hunts. All one really needs is a vivid imagination. Batteries not included.
This spring, our Recreation Division and the Urban Park Rangers will collaborate to bring you new and exciting play opportunities. Playworkers and Rangers will refocus how children look at nature--to see it as a world full of "loose parts."
Nancy Barthold is one of the movers and shakers with whom we are now working as part of the New York Coalition for Play. Our goal is nothing less than to transform the face of childhood in New York by making freely chosen play accessible to every child. And New York is not the only place where these things are happening. Similar coalitions are forming in cities and towns all over the country.
Play is suddenly very much in the news. But we won't be satisfied until we see it on every playground, in every neighborhood, in after-school programs and other out-of-school spaces, in fact everywhere that children gather. And we want every parent to appreciate the importance of play and to feel safe about their children going out to play.
That's why we're focusing on the professional development of playworkers in this country. Playworkers know how to create safe but adventuresome play spaces. They know how to keep an eye on children without intruding and "adulterating" their play. They know how to help when needed and wear a cloak of invisibility at other times. They protect children and reassure adults.
Outdoor play in nature and in parks and playgrounds is important. But so is indoor play, especially for young children. The Alliance is committed to restoring play to kindergarten classrooms and preserving it in preschool programs.
We know it will be a hard sell. Most public kindergartens are now full-day programs and most of their time is devoted to academic instruction. Kindergarten teachers are under pressure to get children ready for standardized tests. Many of them are being told by supervisors that they may not let their children play. Some are forced to follow scripts for hours each day. Many districts expect children to have basic reading skills when they enter kindergarten, so the focus in preschool is also shifting from exploratory learning and play to academic instruction.
All of this flies in the face of what we know about young children. They discover themselves and the world around them through self-initiated, creative play and hands-on exploration. Through such activity they develop oral language, an essential building block for reading. They develop social skills through the negotiation and planning that is part of play.
Children who engage regularly in active outdoor play tend to have healthy bodies and develop a love for nature. And play strengthens imagination and creativity, essential ingredients for the kind of open-ended thinking that the world needs.
In the fall we will issue a new report on early childhood education and launch a campaign to restore play and experiential learning in preschools and kindergartens. Stay tuned.
To continue this vital work we need your support. Our fiscal year ends on June 30 and we must raise $15,000 to end the year with a balanced budget. Your gifts both large and small are deeply appreciated. You can make your tax-deductible donation by mail or online at the Alliance's secure web site: www.allianceforchildhood.org.
For those who can give $100 or more we offer a special bonus: a copy of A Place for Play, a beautiful new volume of play articles and color photographs edited by Elizabeth Goodenough, published by the National Institute for Play and the University of Michigan Press.
To one and all we wish a healthy summer. Our prescription: Use it as a time to relax your body and deepen your thinking. Play accomplishes both.
With all best wishes,
Joan Almon
Chair, U.S. Alliance for Childhood
