Join our next LIVE Zoom presentation,“Bringing Play to the World of Education,” with Scott Bedley and Eric Saibel, Co-Founders of Global School Play Day, Friday, April 10, 10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT. (Registered conference attendees will receive Zoom details by email.)
Join our next LIVE Zoom presentation,“Bringing Play to the World of Education,” with Scott Bedley and Eric Saibel, Co-Founders of Global School Play Day, Friday, April 10, 10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT. (Registered conference attendees will receive Zoom details by email.)Play is often seen as a “reward” or as a break from real learning. Research on child development paints a different picture: play is a fundamental, biologically hard-wired part of our species – so how can we integrate unstructured play into the contexts of school and society-at-large?
In the fall of 2014, a small, dedicated group of educators took inspiration from Dr. Peter Gray’s TED Talk “The Decline of Play.” In his talk, Dr. Gray discusses how play is essential to the healthy development of all children – yet in the last 40-50 years our society has seen a steep decline in free, unstructured play for children, with serious social, emotional, educational and physical consequences.
Scott Bedley and Eric Saibel, along with Tim Bedley, launched Global School Play Day (GSPD) in ad-hoc fashion and in February, 2015, 65,000 students participated on six continents. In February 2020, the number of participants grew to over 530,000 in 75 nations. Despite this incredible growth, they believe we are still not at our “tipping point” of asserting the role of play in the context of school.
Join Scott Bedley and Eric Saibel for a glimpse into the history of GSPD and engage in myth-busting around play as a central tenet to dynamic, rigorous learning for all children – not to mention adults too!!
Scott Bedley is a 5th Grade teacher from Orange County, CA. He is an Orange County Teacher of the Year (TOY) and California TOY Finalist.
Eric Saibel is a middle school principal from Marin County, California. He is also an EdWeek and Edutopia contributor and proponent of standards-based grading.
“Play Hour” is a series of LIVE Zoom sessions every Monday and Friday in April at 10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT as part of the 2020 ONLINE Conference on the Value of Play. All “Play Hour” LIVE Zoom presentations will be recorded and included in our online conference launch (May 1), so don’t fret if you miss any!
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 has been moved ONLINE for 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our first-ever online Play Conference!
for playful learning, she believes people learn best through play and when they are in a state of flow and optimally challenged in meaningful and purposeful work. She is passionate about education and stays astride of the shifting paradigms of what makes children, teens and adults engaged learners. She believes this can be accomplished through Best Practices teaching and learning methods founded on research-based and brain-based educational theory, including Constructionism educational theory. Oteri is a certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshop facilitator and works with businesses, schools, and organizations nationally and internationally.
Heather Von Bank, PhD (panel moderator) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Consumer Science in the area of Child Development Family Studies at Minnesota State University Mankato. For the past 11 years, she has taught a class to undergraduate students about the importance of play in the lives and development of children. The students create a play day for the community and in turn learn a lot about themselves and their own play histories.
several indoor/outdoor venues on campus and coordinate events. Prior to her current position, she worked with the City of Greenville (SC) Parks and Recreation to implement youth and adult fitness, athletic and community programs and events, as well as coordinate the Mobi-Rec vehicle, which takes “play” all over the city, especially to lower-income areas.
Erica Walker, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Graphic Communications at Clemson. Her recent research focuses on working with adjunct professors, in highly specified areas of visual and graphic communications, to translate their work experiences into fast-paced, game-based activities. Prior to that, her dissertation focused on the impact on that a senior design project had on students and instructors as they transitioned from a from lecture-based course to physical, interactive games.
incorporated a playful mindset into his courses, including Pavement Design and Construction where he challenges students to address real problems that engineers face using “loose parts” to create a prototype of their solution.
The US Play Coalition is proud to announce Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director of the 
Island, New York, Hynes has also published numerous articles and featured in numerous podcasts on school leadership. His article on “Play, Recess and Mental Health” was #1 for 2018 in EDUCATION WEEK.
The US Play Coalition is thrilled to announce the current slate of headliners for the 
He is currently the Chief Medical Officer, 
This Normal: The Essential Guide to Middle Age and Beyond” and “AARP New American Diet: Lose Weight, Live Longer.” He is passionate about changing how we think about health.
