Lenore Skenazy and Michael Hynes will be our PLAYtalk presenters at the 10th Anniversary Conference on the Value of Play: PLAY FOR LIFE, March 31-April 3, 2019, in Clemson, South Carolina.
Lenore Skenazy is the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement and president of the non-profit Let Grow. Her work has helped restore childhood resilience by pushing back on overprotection and inspired Utah’s 2018 ‘free-range parenting’ law.
Michael Hynes, Ed.D., is the outspoken Superintendent of Schools for 
the Patchogue-Medford School District in Medford, New York. His article on “Play, Recess and Mental Health” was #1 for 2018 in EDUCATION WEEK.
PLAYtalks are our version of TED Talks at the annual Play Conference. They are a series of 15-20 minute dynamic, entertaining, enlightening, engaging, inspiring, informative talks by thought leaders in the play world.
Stay tuned for details on these two showstopper PLAYtalks!
The Conference on the VALUE of Play
The Play Conference, as it is commonly known, is an annual educational conference presented by the US Play Coalition. The latest research and practices in the field of play are presented at the conference, which brings together play researchers, park and recreation professionals, educators, health scientists, architects, landscape architects, designers, planners, business and community leaders, psychologists, physicians and parents from across the U.S. and beyond. The three day event includes keynote and featured speakers, round tables on critical issues and trends, research symposium for academics, educational sessions for practitioners, action and research grant opportunities, PLAYtalks and PLAYinstitutes, networking, EPIC play breaks and more.
The full detailed schedule is coming soon with even more session titles…but until then, below is an alphabetical list of the Educational Sessions and Research Symposium that have been confirmed for the 
International Physical Literacy Conference, National Healthy Schools Conference, and Shaping the Future Conference.
Darryl Edwards, Founder of HEALTH Unplugged and owner of 
Giving TuesPLAY TODAY! When you donate to the US Play Coalition, you help to fund our 
demonstrating the positive effects of childcare center indoor-outdoor transitional spaces on child and teacher behavior. Initiated by the research grant, this proposed R&D project is expected to provide a gateway to creating the first viable prototype of a transitional play and learning space. Findings will be translated into design guidelines demonstrating how a transitional space can become an integral part of the outdoor learning environment and add pedagogical value to classroom design.
resourced communities and will offer first-hand knowledge about the challenges and opportunities to level the playing field for all children. The panel will target teachers, educators, advocates, parents and administrators to spark action on behalf of all Charleston’s children, especially those in under-served communities and communities of color.
In 2017, in her first year as a US Play Coalition Play Ambassador, Patty Stine took advantage of an invitation to participate in the National Night Out (NNO) event at the Huntington Neighborhood Association in Waldorf, MD. She took her minivan and trailer full of play materials to the community center, set up her shade tent, then set out all the loose parts play materials. When the children arrived, they were drawn in 
by the unique collection of materials that allowed them to have freedom to choose where the play would go. It didn’t take long for them to dive into their evening of adventure. They dug in the sand in the sand and scooped water from the PVC sand and water table. They mixed water from the recycled laundry detergent containers with the sand. They added a bedsheet roof to the cardboard box playhouse. While the children designed, created, built and created new friendships, she snapped a few photos to share the glory of play with the world through Twitter. This experience was the inspiration for this 2018 Action Grant winning project.
“As children play, they form friendships that cross economic and cultural differences,” says Patty Stine of Pure Play Every Day, Inc. 
GivingTuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, November 27, the US Play Coalition will be a part of #GivingTuesday, encouraging YOU to support PLAY by donating to our 
NSF project in Belize, and a past president of The Association for the Study of Play and the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play.