Play is a Priority: Conference Helps Participants Prioritize Play in Communities

By Kelsey Langley

One of the most common things I hear from kids after they’ve spent time at KOOP Adventure Play programs is that they feel free and like they get to choose how to spend their time. Which is perfect because it’s totally the goal with the creation of these safe spaces for child-directed play.

It’s so transformative for kids to have time, space and freedom of their own while simultaneously being cared for by grown ups who have no expectation or outcome for the child to meet and only seek to help them bring their ideas to life.

Honestly, it’s such a point of pride to see so many interests, ages, ideas and personalities enter the space pursuing their own needs, free from adult agendas or outcomes and then seeing how our space can meet each need individually. It’s like watching magic!

Some kids need time alone while others need lots of social engagement.
Some kids need to move their bodies and run, climb or jump while others need to sing or swing or perform.
Some kids need to dress up and others need to start a business while others still need to talk through their experiences and make sense of the world around them.

And some kids start to depend on this space of freedom and care to hold their “stuff”– their goals/ideas/worries/fears/development/everything.

It might be surprising that so many children could do what they need to do in one space without any major conflict.

How does this happen? Our training in playwork is what makes it possible for the creation of these spaces that can gently and fully allow children to be the most authentic version of themselves.

Playwork is a professional approach to working with children that was born out of UK adventure playgrounds and is marked by a light touch, a sense of permission and flexibility and holding play as the highest priority in the space.

Because playwork is not widely known in the US, KOOP Adventure Play is again hosting the Prioritizing Play Conference with a theme of Relating to Play. This year, it will be delivered in an online format.

The Prioritizing Play Conference is all-virtual in 2020.

We believe so fully in this philosophy and its broad application. And in an era where professionals working with children can use tools and support to meet the new demands of our jobs, we believe this conference is perfectly timed for this moment in history.

And similar to the ways we are able to hold space for all children’s interest and pursuits, we believe this Prioritizing Play conference experience has something for you.

Each week for seven weeks beginning September 19, the event will feature presentations, conversations or panels from professionals across disciplines who have all arrived at the same conclusion: Play is a Priority.

With 24+ speakers from fields like education, occupational therapy, landscape architecture, anti-bias training, librarians, play therapists and playworkers, each week will dive deep into a new way to relate to play that can benefit all adults who share space with children.

The price is meant to be affordable at $160 total for seven weeks of transformative content; group rates are available. Some financial assistance is also available.

Registrants will also gain access to a community of playful practitioners from various fields, weekly live Q&A’s with a rotation of speakers and a customized Playbook that serves as an invitation to play, a reflective guide to deepen your practice and a journal.

WHAT: Prioritizing Play Conference

WHO: Professionals who work with children (educators, early childhood education, child care, parks & recreation, occupational therapists, speech therapists, librarians, play therapists, school staff, pediatric medical staff, and more). Playful parents may also be interested in learning more about what they’re seeing their children explore through play.

WHEN: The conference will take place over seven weeks.

WHERE: All virtual.

Registration is available here. For more information about the Prioritizing Play Conference, reach out to Kelsey@KoopAdventurePlay.org.

Kelsey Langley is the Founder + Director of KOOP, which is based in Champaign-Urbana. She is also the founder and host of the Prioritizing Play Conference. KOOP offers a unique, mixed- age play environment where kids can socialize, learn to negotiate and engage with kids they may not otherwise have the chance to play with. Children are supported using “lightest touch” intervention styles, per playwork philosophy.