TASP 2023 schedule

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NYC, BMCC-CUNY _______________________________ 17-19 MAY 2023

TASP-NYC

CONFERENCE 2023

TASP The Association for the Study of Play May 17-19, 2023 Borough of Manhattan Community College NY, New York Playship: a Pathway For Building and Sustaining Equitable Playful Spaces

Table of Contents| 2023

ABOUT TASP WELCOME MESSAGE FROM DR. TUGCE B. ARDA TUNCDEMIR TASP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PLAY & CULTURE STUDIES ABOUT BMCC FITERMAN HALL RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS TASP 2023 CONFERENCE THEME TASP 2023 CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS TASP 2023 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE TASP 2023 CONFERENCE PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS TASP 2023 CONFERENCE PRERECORDED SESSIONS ABSTRACTS

About TASP| 2023 The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) is the premier professional organization in academia dedicated to interdisciplinary research and theory construction concerning play throughout the world since 1973.

Presently the Association publishes a quarterly newsletter titled Play Review and an annual volume titled Play & Culture Studies. The TASP members also receive the International Journal of Play. The Association's broad multidisciplinary focus includes the fields of anthropology, biology, communication studies, cultural studies, dance, ecology, education, ethnology, folklore, history, kinesiology, leisure studies, musicology, philosophy, psychology, recreation, sociology, and the arts.

TASP originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 14, 1973, when Alyce Taylor Cheska convened and chaired a meeting of more than thirty scholars then publishing research within the general rubric of play. This critical mass of interested scholars formed the Cultural Anthropology of Play Reprint Society, and Michael Salter organized the first official meeting of the new organization in London, Ontario, later that same year. There, playful academic folks interested in studying and writing about play came together, reorganized as The Association for the Anthropological Study of Play (TAASP), and elected B. Allan Tindall as their first president. The organization changed its name to The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) in 1987.

TASP conducts a scholarly conference each year. Meetings have been held throughout North America and in Europe, including in Paris and Salzburg. During its early years, TASP published proceedings of the meetings, but beginning in 1988, annual publications replaced the proceedings. Play & Culture and the Journal of Play Theory & Research preceded the current Play & Culture Studies.

Welcome message from Dr. Tugce B. Arda Tuncdemir| 2023 Welcome to the 2023 Annual Conference of TASP! On behalf of The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) – our Executive Committee, and the Conference Planning Committee – WELCOME! CONGRATULATIONS! You made it! We all made it!

Thank you for joining us at this special in-person Playship: A Pathway For Building and Sustaining Equitable Playful Spaces conference of premiere play theorists, practitioners, policymakers, and advocates worldwide. Last two years, we organized two successful virtual conferences, stayed connected virtually, and built our relationships even though we’re miles apart. We have continued our work of play research with new methods and people.

During this extraordinary and playful two-day play retreat, you will enjoy eye-opening presentations and challenging dialogues and find a playship to develop relationships sure to expand your consciousness and practice of play. Playship creates an environment where all members feel welcome, valued, and caring for each other. This playful environment promotes opportunities to learn where and how injustice and inequality operate and advocates equity and inclusion. As the Association For the Study of Play, we will create equitable playful spaces where we can build a culture of care within which each individual can thrive as fulfilled member of society. We will share research, practices, thoughts, and play power.

We are also, extremely fortunate to have exemplary keynotes Rita Ezenwa-Okoro, Beth Ferholt, Shelly Newstead, and Lenore Skenazy, who will share their insight on how we create playships for building and sustaining equitable playful spaces.

A hearty congratulations to each presenter for being flexible, adaptive, and creative in your presentation formats. A warm welcome to all participants from all over the globe. I also want to share a very special thank you to our board members and awesome conference committee members for joining the meetings and creating this supportive and fantastic team. Ruth Guirguis, Joanna J. Cemore Brigden, Vejoya Viren, Lynn Cohen, Krysta Murillo, Rick Worch, Carol Barron, Carrie Lobman, Darrel Davis, TED (BMCC) and Provost Erwin Wong (BMCC).

Truly the effort put into planning this endeavor was playful and graceful for us all. We wish this conference may offer the same to all who join.

Playfully, Tugce B. Arda Tuncdemir, Ph.D. President The Association for the Study of Play

Executive Committee| 2023 President Tugce B. Arda Tuncdemir Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania (Lock Haven University) tbt914@commonwealthu.edu 1st Vice President Book Review Editor Joanna Cemore Brigden Missouri State University JoannaCemore@MissouriState.edu 2nd Vice President Vejoya Viren University of Texas Rio Grande Valley vejoya.viren@utrgv.edu Past President Debora Wisneski University of Nebraska Omaha dwisneski@unomaha.edu Secretary Lynn Cohen College of Education, Information & Technology Long Island University Post lynn.cohen@liu.edu Treasurer Krysta Murillo, University of Tennessee krysta-murillo@utc.edu

Members-at-Large Website & Listserve Manager Rick Worch Bowling Green State University eworch@bgsu.edu Membership & International Journal of Play Michael Patte Bloomsburg University mpatte@commonwealthu.edu Webmaster Sohyun “Soh” Meacham University of Northern Iowa sohyun.meacham@uni.edu Series Editor, Play & Culture Studies James E. Johnson Pennsylvania State University jej4@psu.edu Carol Barron Dublin City University, carol.barron@dcu.ie Darrel Davis Miami University davisdr@miamioh.edu Ruth Guirguis BMCC-CUNY rguirguis@bmcc.cuny.edu Tiago Almeida Campus de Benfica do IPL, Lisboa tiagoa@eselx.ipl.pt Akosua Obuo Addo University of Minnesota addox002@umn.edu Michael Kamen Southwestern University kamenm@southwestern.edu International Member-at-Large Fraser Brown, Leeds Beckett University, UK F.Brown@leedsbeckett.ac.uk Student Member-at-Large Juli Hishida Tennesse State University, juli.hishida@gmail.com

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Play & Culture Studies

Stuart Reifel, Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, and James E. Johnson, Series Editors Volume 1: Diversions and Divergences in Fields of Play (1998). Margaret Carlisle Duncan, Garry Chick, and Alan Aycock Volume 2: Play Contexts Revisited (1999). Stuart Reifel Volume 3: Theory in Context and Out (2001). Stuart Reifel Volume 4: Conceptual, Social-Cognitive, and Contextual Issues in the Fields of Play (2001). Jaipaul L. Roopnarine Volume 5: Play and Educational Theory and Practice (2003). Donald E. Lytle Volume 6: Play: An Interdisciplinary Synthesis Practice (2005). F. F. McMahon, Donald E. Lytle, and Brian Sutton-Smith Volume 7: Investigating Play in the 21st Century (2007). Dorothy Justus Sluss and Olga S. Jarrett Volume 8: From Children to Red Hatters®: Diverse Images and Issues of Play (2008).

David Kuschner Volume 9: Transactions at Play (2008). Cindy Dell Clark Volume 10: Play as Engagement and Communication (2010). Eva Nwokah Volume 11: Play as Performance (2011). Carrie Lobman and Barbara O’Neill Volume 12: Play: A Polyphony of Research, Theories, and Issues (2012). Lynn Cohen and Sandi Waite-Stupiansky Volume 13: Celebrating 40 Years of Play Research: Connecting Our Past, Present, and Future (2016). Michael Patte and John Sutterby Volume 14: Aspects of Playwork (2018). Fraser Brown and Bob Hughes Volume 15: Play and Curriculum (2020). Myae Han & James Johnson Volume 16: Play and Literacy (2021). Myae Han & James Johnson For Information, contact: James E. Johnson Series Editor, Play & Culture Studies College of Education The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-3206 jej4@psu.edu

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About BMCC

Welcome to Borough of Manhattan Community College Located in the heart of

New York City BMCC is a college that is alive with ideas and innovation, and supportive of the innate human striving for self-improvement. We offer opportunity to those students who desire it and wish to strive for it.

BMCC reflects the best of downtown Manhattan: the culture of Tribeca, the vibrancy of Wall Street, and the promise of the Statue of Liberty. New York City is exciting and dynamic, and as a BMCC student, you become an integral part of the community.

BMCC, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, welcomes students from the New York City area and all over the world. BMCC has students from over 155 countries, who speak a variety of languages.

We are one of the most unique community colleges in the country. Explore our Web site to learn what BMCC can offer you.

The TASP Organization wants to send a heartfelt thank you to Provost Erwin Wong and the BMCC Teacher Education Department for hosting our first back-in-person conference and for going above and beyond to ensure our conference took place this year!

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About BMCC Fiterman Hall

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is the only college in United States history to have lost a campus building to a terrorist attack. Fiterman Hall was donated to BMCC by in 1993 by Miles and Shirley Fiterman, and provided about a third of the College’s classroom space. On the morning of 9/11, BMCC faculty and staff in Fiterman Hall — just a few blocks from the Towers — heard the explosions and helped people into ambulances who were injured from falling debris.

In the hours that followed, BMCC helped the Port Authority of New York create a triage in the gym at the College’s main campus building at 199 Chambers Street, using first aid kits and other supplies from the BMCC Nursing Department. Generators were also set up and 199 Chambers Street became the Command Center for the New York Port Authority.

Then at 5:20 on the afternoon of 9/11, World Trade 7, across the street from Fiterman Hall, collapsed and fell against it. More than seven stories of debris piled against a corner of the building and it became uninhabitable. BMCC Building and Grounds workers, safety staff, administrators and volunteers gathered their efforts at 199 Chambers Street, where they stayed more than two weeks, working around the clock and sleeping on cots.

Coming Back to Campus In the weeks that followed, President Antonio Pérez led efforts to enable classes to resume at BMCC and appeared on CBS news with reporter Lou Young, reassuring the BMCC community that the college would reopen. Administrators, staff, faculty and students personally called more than 10,000 students to let them know they could return to school on October 1 — less than a month after the attacks.

As lower Manhattan got back on its feet, Fiterman Hall was razed and rebuilt. This was made possible by a public/private partnership between the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the Office of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, The City University of New York, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the NYS Department of Labor, the NYC Department of Transportation and others.

Groundbreaking took place in 2009 and the new Fiterman Hall — a 14-story building that houses the Shirley Fiterman Art Center, 65 classrooms, 35 computer labs, 130 offices for faculty, library spaces, open spiral stairways, a conference center and more — opened in September 2012. https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/cuny-building-at-ground-zero-nears-completion-aft er-11-years/ https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/about-bmcc/9-11-and-bmcc/

Restaurants near Chambers and Fiterman Hall

Sarabeth's 339 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013 Locanda Verde 377 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013 Nish Nush 88 Reade St, New York, NY 10013 Bubby's 120 Hudson St, New York, NY 10013 Marathi Greek Bistro 200 Church St, New York, NY 10013

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LIberty Bistro Outdoor Patio 220 Vesey St, New York, NY 10080 Brookfield Place center 30 Vesey St, New York, NY 10281 Eataly NYC Downtown 101 Liberty St 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10007 Il Mulino New York - Tribeca 361 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013 Tamarind 99 Hudson St, New York, NY 10013 Zutto Japanese American Pub (TriBeCa)

Gigino Trattoria

77 Hudson St, New York, NY 10013

323 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013

Khe-Yo 157 Duane St, New York, NY 10013

Benvenuto Cafe 369 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013 Mudville9 126 Chambers St, New York, NY 10007 Near World Trade Center Memorial and water Firenze Ristorante Toscano & Bar 101 Liberty St 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10007 ONE Dine at One World Observatory 117 West St, New York, NY 10007

Gunbae 67 Murray Street, New York, NY 10007

CUT by Wolfgang Puck 99 Church St, New York, NY 10007

Hotels near Fiterman Hall| 2023 New York Marriott Downtown 85 West Street At, Albany St, New York, NY 10006

The Frederick Hotel 95 W Broadway, New York, NY 10007

Four Points by Sheraton New York Downtown 6 Platt St, New York, NY 10038

Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown 27 Barclay St, New York, NY 10007

The Millenium Hotel 55 Church St

Smyth Tribeca 85 W Broadway, New York, NY 10007

DoubleTree by Hilton New York Downtown 8 Stone St

Artezen Hotel 24 John St, New York, NY 10038

World Center Hotel World trade center

Holiday Inn New York City - Wall Street, an IHG Hotel 51 Nassau St, New York, NY 10038

Moxy NYC Downtown 26 Ann Street, New York, New York, USA, 10038

Sonder Duane Street 130 Duane St, New York, NY 10013

Residence Inn by Marriott New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center Area 170 Broadway, New York, New York, USA, 10007

Times Square Hotels Hilton Garden Inn Times Square 790 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Courtyard by Marriott New York World Trade Center Area 100 Greenwich Street, New York, New York, USA, 10006

Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel 811 7th Avenue, W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019

Hampton Inn Manhattan-Seaport-Financial District 320 Pearl st

Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan, an IHG Hotel 1605 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel Holiday Inn New York City - Wall Street, an IHG Hotel 51 Nassau Street, New York, NY 10038

Airbnb NYC

Session Formats| 2023 Research Session Research sessions include individual presentations on new or ongoing research related to play and play provision. Individual presenters are given time to share their original research (i.e., systematically designed, generalizable studies employing sound methodologies and data analysis practices). The first part of the session allows researchers to present their work for 10-15 minutes. The second part of the session is for a discussion led by a discussant.

Workshops Emphasize learning by doing and allow participants to explore topics in depth through hands-on activities, reflection, and discussion. Proposals include a detailed outline describing the learning activities and interactions you plan.

Roundtable/Symposium presentations sessions Similar to the Research Sessions in which there are multiple presenters. However, the roundtable sessions are self-organized, with 2-4 presenters and one self-selected facilitator. This is designed for participants to engage in an academic discussion on a specific topic of common interest. The roundtable discussions are an opportunity for participants to get together in an informal setting to examine issues as they relate to play and play provision research.

Pre-Recorded poster presentations via CANVAS (15-20 minutes) Pre-recorded sessions are available on Canvas. Recorded poster session presentations include a pre-recorded audio or video presentation on YouTube with PowerPoint and/or other digital visuals (e.g., handouts). Pre-recorded presentations are research, applied research, action research, play advocacy events or programs, and the practice and promotion of the necessity of play.

Conference Theme| 2023 Playship: a Pathway For Building and Sustaining Equitable Playful Spaces We create equitable playful spaces when we make room for different and varied experiences and opportunities. Through equitable playful spaces, we can hope to build a culture of care within which each individual can thrive as fulfilled members of society. We, therefore, have a responsibility to advance equity. We do this best when we are effectively supported and when our wider communities embrace diversity and full inclusion as strengths, uphold fundamental principles of fairness and justice and work to eliminate structural inequities that minimize diverse experiences and limit equitable opportunities.

Advancing equity requires understanding broader societal contexts, individual and group biases, and how historical and current inequities have colored our experiences. Playship is a state or condition that positions individuals with the skills and ability to create playful spaces by eliminating biases rooted in our nation’s social, political, economic, and educational structures.

Playship creates an environment where all members feel welcome, valued, and caring for each other. This playful environment promotes opportunities to learn where and how injustice and inequality operate and advocates equity and inclusion.

Researchers, practitioners, activists, and advocates from a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, education, eldercare, healthcare, social work, sociology, psychology, and zoology, will gather at this conference to share their playfulness, research, practices, and thoughts for “Playship” and as a pathway for building and sustaining equitable, peaceful, accepting and playful spaces. The conference calls upon advocates, practitioners, and multidisciplinary scholars exploring the potential of play in creating a new world to contribute empirical papers, posters, symposia, and workshops that capture the dimensions of this process.

The Association for the Study of Play recognizes and celebrates the diversity of research and perspectives on the study of play. We believe that diverse perspectives enhance new knowledge and understanding. Our goal is to create an inclusive online conference environment that invites participation from scholars of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, nationalities, and sexual orientations. We strive to create a learning space where participants are treated with respect and dignity, and all individuals are provided an equitable opportunity to participate and contribute.

Keynote Speakers| 2023 Keynote 1: Rita Ezenwa-Okoro Rita Ezenwa-Okoro is a thought leader, creative culturist, performance activist, and communications expert who believes in the transformative power of play and performance for human development. Her visionary leadership shines as the Executive Director of the Global Play Brigade. This movement uses play to soften borders and barriers between people across the globe. She is also the founder of the United Nations and BMW Group’sIntercultural Innovation Award-Winning Street Project Foundation. This organization implements inclusive creative arts-led leadership programs for at-risk youth in Africa.

She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, recipient of the Lagos State Award of Excellence in Youth Development and Entrepreneurship Development, respectively, a three-time global fellow of the International Society of the Performing Arts (ISPA), and now the first Nigerian to serve on the board of ISPA, a 75-year-old prestigious organization for performing arts leaders across the world. Rita is also the author of Doing. Being. Becoming. For the love of the creative arts, a book about her performance journey as a grassroots creative youth organizer in Nigeria.

Besides developing creative strategies for businesses through her Marketing Communications firm ROC, Rita is also a movie buff, public speaker, singer, and world traveler who considers herself a global citizen.

Keynote 2: Beth Ferholt and Playworld Collaborators Beth Ferholt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Art Education at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and an affiliated faculty member in the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Preschool Education Research Group at the School of Communication and Education, Jönköping University. She studies playworlds: a form of adult-child joint play and a way of being in which play is combined with art or science. Dr. Ferholt is a founding member of the International Playworld Network and The Playworld of Creative Research. Her research focuses on play, imagination, creativity, perezhivanie, early childhood education, and care, and methods for the study of all of these. Jennifer Colon, Doug Elsass, Kori Goldberg, Mary Ann Laborda, Portia Rose, and Rosco teach in early childhood classrooms at The Brooklyn New School, P.S. 146. The Brooklyn New School has been studying and creating playworlds for one decade. Artist Susanna Brock and members of Puppetry in Practice -- Luciano Cohen, Jason Leinwand, Tony the Monkey, and Dr. Smartypants – have assisted the teachers and children in their playworld work over the past seven years.

Keynote Speakers| 2023

Keynote 3: Lenore Skenazy Two days after Lenore Skenazy wrote the column “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone,” she found herself on The Today Show, MSNBC, FoxNews, and NPR, defending herself. She got the nickname “America’s Worst Mom.” (Nice.) She went on to write the Free-Range Kids, the book that became a movement. Now she is president and co-founder with Professors Jonathan Haidt and Peter Gray of the nonprofit Let Grow, which promotes childhood independence. She has lectured everywhere, from Dreamworks to Microsoft to the Bulgarian Happiness Festival (for real!) Plus: She used to write for Mad Magazine! (Anyone remember Mad?) She lives in New York City with her husband and beloved computer. Her kids have flown the coop, which is good for “Proof of concept” purposes, but she misses them.

Keynote 4: Shelly Newstead Dr. Shelly Newstead has worked in the playwork field for more than thirty years as a practitioner, trainer, author, editor, publisher, and researcher, currently an Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. She is the Managing Editor of International Journal of Playwork Practice and the Series Editor for the Routledge Advances in Playwork Research series. Shelly is also the President of the International Council for Children’s Play (ICCP) and the Managing Director of Common Threads, a social enterprise that develops playwork theory and practice internationally – www.commonthreads.org.uk

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May 17 Evening Schedule

WEDNESDAY

Evening 5pm-6:45pm

Welcoming Meeting Wine and Cheese on the 13th floor Terrace Badge and Bag Pick up: Registration desk on the 13th floor

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Thursday May 18 Morning Schedule Morning 8.30-9.30

Morning 9.45-10.45

Morning 11-12pm

Break 12-1.30pm

Afternoon 1.30 - 2.30

Afternoon 2.45 - 3.45

Evening 4-5pm

Evening 5.15-6:45pm

Keynote:

Sessions

Sessions

Break

Sessions

Sessions

TASP Board Meeting

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

Keynote: Beth Ferholt

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

Rita EzenwaOkoro

1306-7

1306-7

1302

Sessions 1 (9.45-10.45) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Workshop 1304

Session D Research 1302

Who we are and how we play Katelyn Clark

How to Start a Toy Lending Library in Your Community Susan Elling

Powerful Interactions Build Teaching Play Pedagogy Resilience for Preschoolers’ Everyday Angela Bayer-Persico and Academic Concept Formation Ebrahim Talaee James E. Johnson Successful Play-Based School Programs Michael Kamen Brincadas Project: play in education Viviane Carrijo

Sessions 2 (11-12pm) Session A

Session B

Session C

Workshop 1402-5

Workshop 1306-7

Workshop 1304

Creating Cooperative Community through Story Drama Amanda Wiehe Lopes

Building our Playship with Theatre & Therapeutics Marian Rich Aurelie Harp

Just Play Session

Session D Research 1302 Do Executive Functions Matter? Closing Gaps through Targeted Executive Function Development in Preschool Amber Brown Michelle Peters Play Based Supports for Children to Promote Resilience Post-Pandemic Krysta Murillo The role of play and playfulness in adult-centered psychological interventions Xiangyou (Sharon) Shen

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Thursday May 18 Afternoon Schedule

Sessions 3 (2.45 - 3.45) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Roundtable 1304

Session D Research 1302

New Kids in the Blocks: Pedagogical Models of Play for Social Justice Michael Kamen Alicia Moore

Growing Brains through Play: Developing Executive Function Skills through a Play-based Pedagogy Amber Brown

Play and Social Justice: Issues of Equity, Advocacy, and Opportunity

Exploring Preschool Children’s Digital Play Tori K. Flint

Olga Jarrett John A. Sutterby

Creating playful spaces to learn about computational thinking Rebecca Garte and Jennifer Gilken PlayLab in the Early Grades: Expanding Access and Building Community Denisha Jones

Sessions 4 (4-5pm) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Roundtable 1304

Session D Research 1302

Risking Change: Capacity Building for Risk Through the Arts Christine Alexander

Theater of the Oppressed Games for Actors and NonActors Workshop Natalia Ortiz

Playful Pedagogies in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Building a Playful ECE Workforce Deborah Wisneski Deepti Kharod Ruth Guirguis Jennifer M. Longley John Sutterby Tugce Arda Tuncdemir Michael Kamen

Playing to Learn: How Children's Museums Affect School Readiness Catie Davis Home play and learning practice Myae Han Imani Lawson Annette Pic Playful pedagogy in US early childhood education: a historical analysis Abigail Seevak

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Friday May 19 Morning Schedule Morning 8.30-9.30

Morning 9.45-10.45

Morning 11-12pm

Break 12-1.30pm

Afternoon 1.30 - 2.30

Afternoon 2.45 - 3.45

Evening 4-5pm

Evening 5.15-6:45pm

Keynote: Lenore Skenazy

Sessions

Sessions

Break

Sessions

Sessions

Reception/ Cocktail

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

Mentoring Session for Grad Students 1302

Business Meeting & Keynote: Shelly Newstead

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

A: 1402-5 B: 1306-7 C: 1304 D: 1302 E: 1301

1306-7

1306-7

Terrace on the 13th floor

Sessions 1 (9.45-10.45) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Roundtable 1304

Session D Research 1302

It’s Not That Serious: Play for the professional voice user Alexandra Plattos Sulack Marisa del Campo

Play, Power and Authority: Tools for Going Beyond "Safe Spaces" Carrie Lobman Marian Rich

Gender Comparisons of Children’s Discourse in Play Lynn Cohen

Facilitating Play in Community Settings: The Playful Learning Ambassador Program Brenna Hassinger-Das Jennifer M. Zosh

Creating a space for understanding Play using pláticas Vejoya Viren

A re-envisioned community park: a transition from exclusion to inclusivity Eric Castle

Sessions 2 (11-12pm) Session A Workshop Session B Roundtable 1402-5 1306-7

Session C Workshop 1304

Session D Research 1302

Ready for adventure?

Play and critique Mountain Rescue!

Denise Bressler

Teachers' Playbox: Movement games that transform the classroom Jesse Danger Cristina Latici

Student-Teacher Trust and Recess Allowance Melissa J. Turner Joanna J Cemore Brigden

Play Memories - An Intergenerational Project to Look at Play across the Decades Lynn Cohen Kristine Baboolal Taylor Curcio Courtney Olsen

Examining the relationship between Playfulness and Psychological Safety Darrel R. Davis and Rebecca Bogard A dive into the Child Teacher Relationship Training: A Play Therapy Approach to Support Teachers and Student Abdelaziz Elmadani

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May 19 Afternoon Schedule

Sessions 3 (2.45 - 3.45) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Workshop 1304

Session D Research 1302

The Playlab Framework: Honoring the Whole Child Through Play Dahlia Rao Shannon Merenstein

Confronting Everyday Oppression in Toddler Settings by Embracing Schema Play Travis Morgan-Chavers Sean Durham Ashton Bridges

Global Play Brigade: Building a Planetary Playship Through Co-Creation, Cooperation and Cross-Cultural Dialogue Jeffrey Aron and Viviane Carrijo

Language use in nature preschool between indoor and outdoor setting.

Ekaterina Novikova, Annette Pic Myae Han Nature preschools in Texas John Alan Sutterby Melissa M. Day-Mifflin Marina Singletary

Sessions 4 (4-5pm) Session A Workshop 1402-5

Session B Workshop 1306-7

Session C Roundtable 1304

Session D Research 1302

Just Play Session

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Let’s Read!: Dramatic Play in Read-Alouds Sarah Jackson

Evolution of an Outdoor Play Space: Observation, Research, and Design Lorayne Carbon Robbin Hawkins Jerusha Beckerman Barbara Schecter

Improvisational Theater for Engaging Middle School Students Laura Rychly On-task Behaviors of Young Children During Play: A multi-site observational study Smita Mathur

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Keynote Abstracts

Rita Ezenwa-Okoro Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began, a grouping of play and performance activists from around the world co-created a Play Ship. A moving virtual play space that provided social, emotional, and community support to our fellow human beings as we weathered the storm of the crisis together. With over 500 free play shops offered and 15,000 people from over 95 countries participating, the Global Play Brigade (GPB) was built. The GPB is a grassroots movement hinged on the transformative power of play, and it is spreading rapidly. What have we discovered from this playful global grassroots experiment? Is play for social transformation and community building catching on? (Yes!) What have we learned about creating and organizing culturally specific play spaces represented by different countries and peoples? What have we learned about creating new kinds of equitable play spaces that cross social, cultural, political, and geographical borders and barriers? How can we further tie the groundbreaking academic work of TASP with the revolutionary grassroots play movement embodied in the GPB? Let's talk! Let's play! Let's discover together!

Beth Ferholt and Playworlds Collaborators Playworlds are a form of adult-child joint play and a way of being, in which play is combined with art or science. The term comes from the creative pedagogy of play, a preschool pedagogy designed by the Swedish scholar, Gunilla Lindqvist, in the 1990s. Today playworlds are popular in Sweden, developed and in use in Finland, and also take place in Japan and Serbia. Playworlds are designed to include all who wish to join and they support all participants in feeling welcomed, valued, cared for, and caring. They are also a powerful tool for studying development through Participant Design Research. In this keynote we, the community of playworld participants in Brooklyn, will describe how we have sustained and grown our playworld work in a public elementary school in one of the few nations that do not even claim to support the child’s right to play. We will describe a decade of building playworlds, from our inspiration in Sweden through to this point in the pandemic in New York City, and answer questions – from our perspectives as people, puppets, children, adults, dogs, monkeys, researchers, teachers, and artists -- about our past and ongoing challenges and creations.

(For more information about the international playworld work of which our work is a part, see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/cultural-historical-approaches-childrens-learning-and-de velopment/research/adult-child-joint-imaginative-playworlds.

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Keynote Abstracts

Shelly Newstead A childist approach to ‘playship’ – beyond participation and co-creation and towards emancipation Playship is a state or condition that positions individuals with the skills and ability to create playful spaces by eliminating biases rooted in our nation’s social, political, economic, and educational structures. Whole new frameworks of understanding and lexicons have been created to examine how individual beliefs and biases can have a detrimental effect on others. Whilst by no means universally accepted, these frameworks of meaning with their own unique vocabularies provide a recognized means of challenging discrimination and inequality wherever possible. This paper argues that another form of bias needs to be addressed in the 21st century in order for playship to be truly meaningful. It advances the argument that playful spaces created by adults – either for or with children – can never be truly equitable until issues of adultism and adult privilege have been challenged at an individual and institutional level. In the same way that our ethical and professional codes prohibit discrimination on the grounds of ability, gender, sexuality, race, class etc, all adults concerned with children’s play should also be required to address issues of personal and professional adultism. The presentation includes examples of what this might mean in practice and how all adults can develop their own awareness of adultist beliefs and behaviors when creating playful spaces.

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Presentation Abstracts

Facilitating Play in Community Settings: The Playful Learning Ambassador Program Brenna Hassinger-Das and Jennifer M. Zosh By 2050, over 70% of the world’s children will live in cities (UNICEF, 2012). How can researchers, caregivers, community members, city planners, and institutions come together to leverage the 80% of children’s time spent outside of school to benefit their development? One answer is the Playful Learning Landscapes initiative, which marries the learning sciences with urban revitalization to craft carefully planned playful learning experiences that focus on learning outcomes. Playful Learning Landscapes installations placed in high traffic urban environments ensures maximal exposure, aligning with best practice in prevention science (Frieden, 2010). Dovetailing with the Playful Learning Landscapes initiative, KABOOM!’s Play Everywhere suite of projects is designed to encourage children and families to play in everyday spaces in cities like Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, and others. Play Everywhere takes everyday places like laundromats, grocery stores, bus stops, and sidewalks and transforms them into spaces for play. To attempt to maximize the efficacy of 10 Play Everywhere sites in Philadelphia, the Playful Learning Ambassador (PLA) program is designed to generate a wide range of strategies and tools to facilitate effective playful learning practice among children and families interacting with these playful learning public space installations. This presentation will discuss the PLA project and data regarding its effectiveness on individuals, families, and the larger community.

Playing to Learn: How Children's Museums Affect School Readiness Catie Davis According to The South Carolina KRA Annual Technical Report, about 27% of the students in public South Carolina Kindergarten programs tested at the Demonstrating Readiness level in the Fall of 2020. This means that only 27% of South Carolina public school Kindergarteners entered the school year with sufficient skills, knowledge, and abilities to engage with kindergarten-level instruction (WestEd, 2021). Table 1.1 shows similar results in Fern County School District, Willow County School District, and Lily County School District. This research study aims to identify specific interventions needed to increase Kindergarten readiness through play at a children’s museum. I will conduct this research at The Flowerfield Children’s Museum (Flowerfield). Flowerfield opened in May 2018 as a children’s museum explicitly designed for children ages birth to six years old. The museum is approximately 6,000 square feet, has two floors, seven hands-on play exhibits, one classroom, one reading area, and one store.

Many visitors to Flowerfield attend schools in either Fern County School District, Willow County School District, or Lily County School District. Research Questions This qualitative study will address the following research questions: 1. How do selected parents and caregivers perceive the role of play in Kindergarten readiness?

Who we are and how we play Katelyn Clark Early childhood educators are expected to be well versed in young children’s play. From providing play materials, to finding spaces for playful learning within a given curriculum; early childhood teachers are making decisions about play, for better or worse, on a daily basis. This workshop will further our thinking about teachers and their personal relationship with play. Who a teacher is; their history, their preference and their skill with play is brought to the fore, as a lens for understanding how they interact with play in the classroom. Play narratives will be introduced as a way of understanding the interconnectedness between who we are as players and how we provide for play in the classroom. In this workshop, participants will explore their own play narrative, and work to create an individualized “player identity”, through which to examine their practice. Together we will examine play as both a shaper of identity and an informer of practice.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

The role of play and playfulness in adult-centered psychological interventions Xiangyou (Sharon) Shen The recent decade has witnessed increasing integration of play and playfulness in adult-centered psychological interventions. The accelerating development is built on considerable conceptual and measurement development and cumulative correlational evidence that links play and playfulness to various positive human functions and overall well-being in adulthood. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we examined 20 out of 454 studies identified through a systematic review and provided an integrative synthesis of existing empirical evidence on whether and how play and playfulness causally contribute to positive mental health outcomes for adults. Through the unifying lens of playfulness in play and players, we analyzed the diverse set of 20 intervention studies, from which three themes of findings emerged, highlighting (1) the mental health outcomes of play, (2) the forms and functions of the playing process, and (3) the influence of participant playfulness on intervention effectiveness. Preliminary and consistent quantitative and qualitative evidence supported play’s role as a mediating process in itself and/or as a context for other relevant, activity-specific processes that led to positive mental health. We also found tentative evidence on the mixed effects of participant playfulness as a moderator that modified the intervention-outcome relationship.

Furthermore, more pronounced effects were observed in the changes of state playfulness compared to the changes in trait playfulness as a desirable intervention outcome. Important avenues for future research are elucidated to advance systematic testing of the different roles of play and playfulness in generating positive changes in mental health through empirically-supported psychological interventions for adults.

How to Start a Toy Lending Library in Your Community Susan Elling Creating a toy lending program in a community library can be an effective modality (low cost, low maintenance, high benefit) to expand play opportunities for all young children and facilitate learning (language, motor, social, emotional) through play. Come learn about how three key components work together in one successful model in Nederland, Colorado: 1) the importance of access to open-ended, developmentally-appropriate toys to enhance children’s play by increasing creativity and elaboration on themes (Bergen), 2) “Promote education and lifelong learning through equitable access to information and library services for all”. (American Library Association), and 3) using a child language development specialist to guide the selection of toys and develop coaching tools for parents to learn how to “plan play activities that build your child’s understanding of language as well as (their) ability to express (themselves)”. (Pepper and Weitzman).

Play Based Supports for Children to Promote Resilience Post-Pandemic Krysta Murillo Powerful Interactions Build Resilience: This workshop is an engaging, enriching experience for participants. The presenter uses various forms to keep the participants interested: Presentation ( Lecture, power point, videos) Song Self Reflection Questions Resilience is key for positive social emotional growth. This workshop helps to facilitate supportive adult-child relationships; teaches how to build a sense of self-efficacy and perceived control; and provides opportunities to strengthen adaptive skills and self-regulatory capacities. Resilience can help protect from various mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Resilience can also help offset factors that increase the risk of mental health conditions, such as being bullied or previous trauma. This makes learning how to build resilience a significantly vital factor in a child's life.

Creating Cooperative Community through Story Drama Amanda Wiehe Lopes In this interactive play session, learn the fundamentals and benefits of story drama, improvised teacher-facilitated role play inspired by children’s books. This session will present research on the use of developmentally appropriate process-rich, learner-centered, theater-inspired teaching practices in early education to support all children’s learning as well as teachers’ creative self-efficacy, engagement with curriculum, and joy. Story drama offers authentic engagement opportunities for learners with diverse abilities and promotes a cooperative strengths-based learning culture (Whitmore, 2015; Edmiston, 2007). While research has pointed to a bias against creative behaviors and traits in schools (Beghetto, 2007; Gajda, 2016; Rubenstein, McCoach & Siegle, 2013), story drama has been shown to promote positive relationships between teachers and students and teachers and their peers wherein play acts as a social equalizer (author, 2021). Be prepared to laugh, engage, and move together with colleagues while exploring the themes, characters, and setting of a popular children’s book.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

New Kids in the Blocks: Pedagogical Models of Play for Social Justice Michael Kamen and Alicia Moore This interactive workshop will provide an opportunity for the presenters to (1) facilitate hands-on strategies that support block play and its importance on childrens’ learning, (2) share the connections between play-based academic learning and culturally responsive teaching, and (3) introduce a newly-developed pedagogical play-based model. This newly-developed model was derived from a study conducted by one of the presenters who observed the interactions between students engaged in free block play in four second-grade (7-8 year olds) classrooms. In each of the classrooms, block stations were added to math-time rotations. Child-centered data were collected by video recordings, still photos, interviews, and field notes. Themes that emerged include STEM-related engagement and children’s explorations of self-identity. These themes were used to develop a model of play that includes free play, imaginary play, academic-connected play, self-awareness, makers play, and outdoor play. Connections can be made between these play engagements and culturally responsive teaching. These connections will be highlighted and discussed with participants. As well, participants will have an opportunity to explore and discuss effective ways to utilize the new play-based model to support culturally responsive play-based environments through block play.

Successful Play-Based School Programs Michael Kamen It is well documented that play is important for development and learning in children. There is also an abundance of research documenting a decrease in play opportunities for children in school settings in recent years. The purpose of this ongoing research project is to describe successful play-based (defined for this study to also include project-based, interest-driven, and community-based) educational programs within school settings. The research explores theoretical underpinnings, pedagogical approaches, structures, challenges, systems to maintain innovation, roles of teachers, parents, and administrators, community relations, how the school defines a successful play-based program, evaluation approaches, and suggestions for other school administrators and teachers. Programs included in this study range from fully implemented systemic play-based curriculum with students in control of their education (e.g. Sudbury Schools) to public schools with a “project time” built into their weekly schedule to play activities in an individual teacher’s classroom. The purpose is to help understand the variety of models that result in sustained play-based programs that are successful as defined by the school staff and administrators. The presentation will describe the methods of investigation, report on preliminary findings, and emergent themes. Participants attending the session will be invited to contact the presenter at a later time with suggestions of additional schools that may be included in this study.

Risking Change: Capacity Building for Risk Through the Arts Christine Alexander Teachers are unlikely to engage in risk-taking behavior when they sense ambiguity or uncertainty around a school reform initiative. However, the unknown and risk are givens when teachers are engaged as changemakers for school reform. Building teachers’ capacity for risk-taking could play a significant role in moving school reform into the classroom, affecting meaningful change in student learning, teacher retention, and job satisfaction. Research on arts-integrated and arts-based professional development has established risk-taking as a feature of art practices.

Theatre improvisation is notable for its immediate and embodied engagement with risk-taking as participants play within the unknown. Participants give themselves and each other permission to try, fail, and have fun, which enables then them to encounter risk head-on in a safe, low-stakes environment supported by mutual trust and safety.

Centering risk in applied improvisational practice, which explicitly asks participants to draw connections to situations outside of the improvisation, is a powerful tool for professional development oriented toward school change.

Brincadas Project: play in education Viviane Carrijo Due to the health and political problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brazilian segment of the Global Play Brigade, the Brincadas Project, organized by an Academic Research Group, has used its academic, affective, relational, financial, and research resources to design playful and improvisational educational activities. The project is a critical collaborative context where participants’ agencies are mobilized to play with possibilities yet to be created. Through multiple platforms, social media, and WhatsApp groups, it has managed to support indigenous and impoverished communities with masks, food, house supplies, therapy, and educational and playful activities for educators, students, and families. In this presentation, we will discuss and analyze examples of how the Brincadas Project has created educational activities in Play by the Engaged Multiletracy, which is organized in three different moves: immersion in reality, critical construction of generalization, and production of social change (Freire, 1970, New London Group, 1996, Liberali, 2021).

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Building our Playship with Theatre & Therapeutics Marian Rich and Aurelie Harp How can we use theatrical and therapeutic play to build equitable playful spaces? How can we use theatre, improvisation, and therapeutics to see and experience play in new ways? Can we imagine beyond the constraints of what we know? As theater artists and social therapeutic coaches, we use improvisational play, performance, movement and philosophical questioning to build ensembles of active change-makers. In this workshop/playshop we invite participants to share, respond to each other and create with their varied histories, identities, stories and emotional responses to living in a world in crisis. We use play to transform the way we relate to our stories as “mine” and thereby experience that all of our stories belong to the world. As both audience and performers, our ensemble players will experience and discover that we can not only share difficult emotions such as victimization, anger, anxiety, depression, shame and isolation, we can also create a culture of care. We can write a new, collective, relational and generative narrative. Our hope is that by strengthening our relational skills and practicing wellness we can activate our imaginations to gain the strength and courage to build a more equitable world. Welcome to our theatrical, therapeutic Playship! How can we use theatrical and therapeutic play to build equitable playful spaces?

How can we use theater, improvisation, and therapeutics to see and experience play in new ways? Social research shows that while we all experience pain as individuals, we get better and grow emotionally in groups. Historically, because theater is a tool to express emotions collectively, it has been used as a therapeutic framework, in drama therapy, for example. We are going a step further. We’re inspired by Fred Newman, the founder of social therapy: “I think creativity is an enormously underused tool in the area of mental health … I’ve come to see the therapeutic work I do as close to the theater work. I believe that we effect ‘cure’ by creating something new together.” We relate to all people as creators and social performers of their lives, communities and world. When we co-create our Playship together as a performing ensemble, we open up new possibilities that go beyond the dominant understanding of who we are as a species - individuals who behave and adapt to the world and the dominant culture (white, male, heterosexual, etc.). We will commune together to reimagine and reinvent a stage upon which we can be radically inclusive, creating something new, mixing and remixing our different and varied experiences and opportunities (or lack of opportunities). This is our theatrical, therapeutic Playship.

Gender Comparisons of Children’s Discourse in Play Lynn Cohen Halliday (1975) believed children learn language in as social context through the exploration of language functions and conventions that support communication. Kindergarten children show extensive gender differences, as well as similarities in play behavior. This study investigated gender discourse as seven kindergarten children engage in the context of play. The subjects attended a culturally diverse, middle-income public school. The study focused on dialog during naturally occurring play episodes in the block and dramatic play centers. Transcribed videotapes were coded for frequency of utterances to determine if girls spoke more or less than boys. Further analysis built on the social context of language. Critical discourse analysis found gender discourses located in the classroom, including status and power, personal attributes-emotions, and friendship.

Playful Pedagogies in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Building a Playful ECE Workforce Deepti Kharod, Ruth Guirguis, Jennifer M. Longley, Tugce Arda Tuncdemir, Michael Kamen, and Debora Wisneski This roundtable session brings together play researchers whose work involves preparing teachers of young children at institutions of higher education in the U.S. Together, we will provide participants with an overview and examples of how playful pedagogies are used in teacher preparation programs. Our goal is to invoke playship through relationship building among all interested ECE teacher educators to engage, enrich, and expand conversations about playful pedagogies. We hope to lay the groundwork for future collaborative efforts aimed at developing ECE teachers who embrace play and know how to support and sustain it. We invite participants to contribute to the discussion in person and virtually through digital tools.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Growing Brains through Play: Developing Executive Function Skills through a Play-based Pedagogy Amber Brown Executive function development begins in infancy and develops through adolescence, with the most rapid growth occurring from 3 to 5 years of age. Executive functions enable children to stay focused for longer periods, retain and manipulate information, eliminate distractions from their environment, make better choices, and be better prepared for school and future life challenges. Executive functions also enhance the resilience of children who experience early adversity and can reduce school difficulties among maltreated children. Early learning programs that intentionally support the development of executive functions skills, in addition to supporting cognitive development, provide the best environment for long-term development and academic learning. Promoting executive function skills within early education is key to reducing the substantial gaps in school readiness and later achievement that separate disadvantaged children from their more advantaged peers. This session will include an overview of executive function development and its vital role in children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. Participants will also engage in hands-on executive function-building activities. Finally, participants will leave with executive function-building activities they can implement in their classrooms.

Do Executive Functions Matter? Closing Gaps through Targeted Executive Function Development in Preschool Amber Brown and Michelle Peters The purpose of this research was to examine the role of executive function development in closing opportunity gaps for preschool children. Data were collected from 250 pre-kindergarten students participating in an executive function-focused early childhood program implemented in a high-minority, economically disadvantaged, large school district in southeast Texas. Executive function scores were measured using the Evaluating Executive Functions (EF). Academic achievement was assessed using the CIRCLE Progress Monitoring System – PreK (CIRCLE). Findings indicated a statistically significant mean difference in executive function (t = 25.934, p < .001) and achievement scores (Rapid Letter Naming [t = 21.35, p < .001], Rapid Vocabulary [t = -15.16, p < .001], Phonological Awareness (t = 24.07, p < .001], and Math (t = 27.42, p < .001]) from the beginning of the academic year to the end. The program also had a large effect on closing the achievement gaps, and 34.9%, 21.0%, 49.7%, and 46.5% of the variance in achievement scores can be attributed to the program. Additionally, statistically significant positive relationships existed between a student's executive function development scores and how well they performed on the CIRCLE literacy and mathematics subtests. As student executive function scores increased, so did the early literacy and mathematics skills. This study supports findings that indicate an executive-function-focused early childhood program can increase executive function development and reduce the executive function gap seen at preschool entry between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.

Home play and learning practice Myae Han, Annette Pic, Imani Lawson This study examined the relationship between home play and learning practice among low-income families using the Family Map Inventory database, a comprehensive research-based screening tool for home visiting and center-based programs. Using data from 896 child-caregiver dyads, regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between play and learning practice at home. The findings revealed play related scales (availability of materials, home play, variety play) significantly predicted home reading practice and home teaching practice with variety play as the strongest predictor. A similar pattern was found among families with mental health concerns.

Caregivers who provided their children more play opportunities in and outside of home read books more frequently with the child and taught more basic academic skills at home.

Exploring Preschool Children’s Digital Play Tori K. Flint In order to create and foster learning spaces that build upon children’s knowledge and experiences, we must respect and value their ways of knowing and being, including their play. Accordingly, this study highlights the ways that young children (re)imagined spaces, materials, and identities through their digital play in an analog preschool classroom. This qualitative study utilized a framework of children’s play as murmuration (a transmodal assemblage), to analyze and discuss the children’s various digital play engagements. Three main themes were identified within/across these engagements, including the ways the children: (re)imagined the digital, drew from popular digital culture and media to make connections and construct meaning, and composed digital identities. Insights highlight the ways the children set aside perceived rules for materials, objects, spaces, and identities and created space for critically (re)envisioned ideas, concepts, realities, and futures to emerge. We encourage educators to create and foster classroom spaces that value and build upon children’s playful ways of knowing, being, and becoming in the digital world.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts It’s Not That Serious: Play for the professional voice user Alexandra Plattos Sulack and Marisa del Campo

How do we foster an environment that invites exploration and serves the individual person in a voice lesson? We play and make sounds—It’s not that serious. In industries where professionalism is equated with seriousness, it can be easy to forget the power of play as a means of developing self-expression and artistry. The voice is a vehicle for expression and identity. The voice is not stagnant. Instead, it can grow and change throughout a lifetime. Individuals get to decide how they use their voice and what their voice sounds like, and the full spectrum of sounds can be discovered through play. Gamification, imaginative play, and mutual trust between teacher and student facilitates voice education and discovery. This workshop is for singers and speakers alike. Participants will be invited to play games that explore the spectrum of their own speaking and singing voices.

Workshop participants will leave with 3 vocal exercises, 2 questions for investigation, and 1 manageable action item to implement immediately into their work.

Play Memories - An Intergenerational Project to Look at Play across the Decades Lynn Cohen, Kristine Baboolal, Taylor Curcio, and Courtney Olsen The purpose of this session is to describe and analyze intergenerational play through a historical perspective and framed in the theories of Erikson and Parker’s (1995) continuity theories in a college play course. A retrospective method was employed. Two teacher candidates will share interviews they conducted about play memories with someone 25 years older and compared that with their childhood play and contemporary descriptions of play. The results indicated that an important place for play was outside within participants’ neighborhoods. The toys of choice were dolls and figurines, balls, bikes, and board or card games. Elders and university students’ use of technology play differs from contemporary play. The play of elders resembled the play memories of the university students more than the play of today’s children.

Ready for adventure? Play and critique Mountain Rescue!

Denise Bressler In formal education, there has been a trend of replacing unstructured play time with highly structured academic time. Formal education does not seem to understand that play equals learning--students can be doing both at the same time. Mountain Rescue, a collaborative tabletop game that promotes STEM learning, aims to be an example of playful learning easily completed within a class period. During gameplay, each player embodies a role with unique STEM expertise, and they jigsaw their knowledge together to solve puzzles. The content and experiences within the game align to the Next Generation Science Standards. Offered as an affordable low-tech experience, Mountain Rescue is positioned as a potential solution to the lack of play in middle school classrooms. But we need to refine our prototype. This session will be highly interactive with gameplay and vibrant discussions to critique the game. If we can get the game design just right, we believe that playful learning--as offered by Mountain Rescue--might spark an enduring interest in STEM and help diversify the STEM workforce.

Improvisational Theater for Engaging Middle School Students Laura Rychly Adolescence can be a time of strife, and might even be described metaphorically as a form of oppression over those living through it. Oppression leads to feelings of powerlessness and apathy, which explains why some middle schoolers might benefit from classroom experiences that help them reclaim power over oppression. Humor provides a means of resistance through which oppressed adolescents can express themselves, and improvisational comedy is a tool that teachers can use in their lesson delivery to inject humor. This chapter explains why improvisational theater is an effective way to create engaging middle school classrooms and provides improvisational games for classroom use.

Creating a space for understanding Play using pláticas Vejoya Viren A transnational, early childhood teacher educator at a Hispanic serving institution (HSI) at the US/Mexico border, shares her journey into critical self-examination of personal and collective perspectives on PLAY with her students, using pláticas. Students examine play as both a personal experience and a pedagogical tool. Using Paulo Freire’s framework of conscientization or critical consciousness, the author examines the disparate expression and experience of play within the context of multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and diasporic existence. “Pláticando has been a pivotal and necessary component of traversing academic spaces that has allowed us to weave the personal and academic.” (Fierros & Bernal, 2016. p. 68).

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

The Playlab Framework: Honoring the Whole Child Through Play Dahlia Rao and Shannon Merenstein This interactive workshop will provide a detailed overview of the Playlab Framework, an equity-focused public school initiative based in Pittsburgh, PA. Playlab was created by Hatch Partners in Play, an organization that envisions a future in which educators create play-prioritized classrooms and every child is guaranteed agency to make mistakes, try again, joyfully connect, develop socio-emotional skills, and apply academic skills authentically.

This workshop is designed for any educator, administrator, or professional working with children curious about the benefits of child-led play in diverse learning environments.Participants in the Playlab workshop will gain an understanding of the key components of this initiative and the research supporting its design. Together with Playlab educators, participants will imagine possibilities with open-ended play materials, then reflect upon their experience as a learner and educator. Utilizing targeted thinking routines, participants will then engage with video footage from Playlab to draw meaning from recorded play experiences and make connections to personal teaching practices and experiences with play.

Confronting Everyday Oppression in Toddler Settings by Embracing Schema Play Travis Morgan-Chavers, Sean Durham, and Ashton Bridges Building and sustaining playful and equitable places for toddlers is hindered by multiple forces such as lack of awareness, education and training, and, in many ways, “adult supremacy.” Often, as toddler-aged children begin to “try-on” independence, act on their internal desires for autonomy, and grapple with the significance and consequences of propinquity to the caregiver, their natural sensorimotor explorations are often misunderstood and redirected by adults. This predicament demands that we recognize the ways in which adults often suppress, bind, shame, and physically oppress the natural inclinations of toddlers in care settings. In our work we have recognized that this goes beyond questions about the appropriateness of practice and demands that we give serious contemplation of the relational, physical, and intellectual environments that we create and renew measures to honor toddlers’ natural inclinations and learning schema, i.e., the very play that is frequently confined and suppressed by reprehensible barriers. This workshop identifies the inequities that toddlers face, reviews the developmental characteristics and needs of toddlers, and suggests how emphasizing secure relationships and embracing the schematic play of toddlers can promote toddlers’ well-being and create an oasis of security and growth for this vulnerable population.

Student-Teacher Trust and Recess Allowance Melissa J. Turner and Joanna J Cemore Brigden The purpose of this study was to examine how children describe the trust they have in their teachers, as well as their recess experiences. Seven second-grade boys were selected to participate in one-on-one, semi-structured interviews that were held at the end of the first quarter. All students had experienced the loss of recess minutes due to academic or punitive reasons that were decided by their current or previous teachers. This phenomenological qualitative study yielded complete transcriptions that were analyzed to evaluate whether descriptions of trust could be linked to the experiences of losing recess. Trust was defined by all students, with their main ideas of trust reflecting the same definitions as those from the literature. All students discussed the upset and hurt they feel when losing recess, and these descriptions were further analyzed to guide the evaluation of current practices. The results of the study provided evidence that there is indeed concern for students losing trust in teachers due to their lack of or loss of recess minutes. Future research could further defend the relationship between trust and recess allowance.

A dive into the Child Teacher Relationship Training: A Play Therapy Approach to Support Teachers and Students Abdelaziz Elmadani The presentation will provide an opportunity for participants to raise awareness in seeking professional development and training that can be used in the school system. The presentation will focus on introducing the basic skills of child centered approach; Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT); returning responsibility, esteem building, reflection of feeling; limit setting; choice giving. The presentation will include a recent literature on the effectiveness of the CTRT.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Examining the relationship between Playfulness and Psychological Safety Darrel R. Davis This pilot research examines the relationships among adult Playfulness, psychological safety, and team learning behaviors, within an academic context. Play, conceptualized as a disposition, trait, or tendency to engage in Playful behaviors (Shen et. al, 2017) has been shown to influence student learning and the learning environment (Davis and Bergen, 2014; Vogt et al., 2018).

Similarly, psychological safety, a personal evaluation of group safety (Edmondson, 1999), has been shown to be an important factor in team functioning and performance in a variety of contexts (Newman et al., 2017). Although the relationship between adult Playfulness and psychological safety has been studied in the workplace (Mukerjee and Metiu, 2022), no study to date has examined this relationship within the academic environment where students are learning in groups and creating products to demonstrate their learning. This research begins to fill the research gap. Initial results show the expected significant relationship between psychological safety and team learning behaviors, but no significant difference between Playfulness and any other variable. These results question the magnitude of the influence of Playfulness in this context and suggest that general team dynamics might be a more important factor in student learning and performance.

Language use in nature preschool between indoor and outdoor setting.

Ekaterina Novikova, Annette Pic, and Myae Han The purpose of study was to examine children’s language use during free play in indoor and outdoor setting in a nature preschool and to further investigate Dual Language Learners’ language use between indoor and outdoor setting in the nature preschool. We examined how children’s vocabulary diversity, syntactic complexity, and conversation participation differ between indoor and outdoor in a nature preschool located in the Mid Atlantic area. Sixteen children were observed using focal child observation method. Each child was videotaped during free play for about 30 minutes in the indoor, and 30 minutes in the outdoor totaling approximately 60 minutes per child. We collected a total of 462 minutes of indoor and 474 minutes of outdoor video data. The transcript data from the indoor and outdoor settings were analyzed using Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN) tool and then we compared them using Paired-samples t-tests. The results of the study showed higher syntactic complexity in the outdoor, and higher conversation participation in the indoor, and no differences on vocabulary diversity measures between the indoor and the outdoor. For Dual Language Learners, syntactic complexity was higher in the outdoor setting. The outdoor environment in the nature school seems to provide children opportunity to use more higher syntactic level of language, especially for Dual Language Learners.

Creating playful spaces to learn about computational thinking Jennifer Gilken and Rebecca Garte The purpose of our research was to examine if and how introducing computational thinking (CT) concepts through playful, hands-on activities can shift attitudes towards computing among both faculty and students. Our goal was increase self-efficacy for engaging in CT among both faculty and students by: A) demystifying the underlying skills of computing and B) highlighting connections between CT and course concepts such as cognitive development as well as students’ own problem solving processes. By focusing on the role of computational thinking during play-based, unplugged problem solving processes, we hoped to create an attitude of openness towards the integration of CT into educational coursework. This initial research provided insight into the most effective ways to elicit engagement and commitment from both faculty and students for this endeavor.

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Let’s Read!: Dramatic Play in Read-Alouds Sarah Jackson This session focuses on how play can be integrated into read-alouds in early childhood classrooms and is based on work the researcher has done during a multi-year qualitative study in a mixed-age preschool classroom. Children in the study easily stepped “into role” during the read-alouds, speaking and acting as one or more of the characters, especially any animal or other anthropomorphic characters. This practice of stepping into role: 1.) sustained their interest in the book over long periods of time; 2.) allowed for the group to take on deep and rich inquiry into important themes in the narratives; and 3.) provided a more equitable reading experience as it welcomed all children, especially those who struggle to sit still for traditional read-alouds. This workshop session will allow participants to experience a read-aloud steeped in dramatic inquiry and play. Together, we will examine the ways that play can enhance and reimagine literacy experiences for all learners.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Play and Social Justice: Issues of Equity, Advocacy, and Opportunity John Sutterby, Olga Jarrett Given that play is critical to the well-being of children, disparities in opportunities for play and in quality of play by racial, socio-economic, and health/ability differences constitute critical ethical issues. This symposium focuses on issues raised by a new book: Play and social justice: Equity, advocacy, and opportunity, which we authored and to which 28 other authors (many of them TASP members) contributed. We will initially identify areas of inequity, including disparities in who has access to recess, quality childcare, parks and playgrounds, fun projects in school, and play in children’s hospitals. We will also discuss the absence of fun and community building in school as part of the school to prison pipeline and the need for additional research. After a few minutes for reflection on disparities in play opportunities in their own communities, the audience will have the opportunity to share and ask questions.

Powerful Interactions Build Resilience Angela Bayer-Persico This workshop is an engaging, enriching experience for participants. The presenter uses various forms to keep the participants interested: Presentation ( Lecture, power point, videos) Song Self Reflection Questions Resilience is key for positive social emotional growth. This workshop helps to facilitate supportive adult-child relationships; teaches how to build a sense of self-efficacy and perceived control; and provides opportunities to strengthen adaptive skills and self-regulatory capacities. Resilience can help protect from various mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Resilience can also help offset factors that increase the risk of mental health conditions, such as being bullied or previous trauma. This makes learning how to build resilience a significantly vital factor in a child's life.

Global Play Brigade: Building a Planetary Playship Through Co-Creation, Cooperation and Cross-Cultural Dialogue Jeffrey Aron and Viviane Carrijo In line with the theme of this year’s conference, we see our planet as a playship and ourselves as creators of pathways for building and sustaining equitable, peaceful, accepting, and playful spaces.In this presentation, you will hear from regional leaders from Global Play Brigade hubs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We will share examples of our Global Playship.GPB creates playful spaces – virtually and in-person – where “strangers” can come together create environments for conversations that allow us to see, be, think and act in new and more harmonious ways. What started as an imaginative experiment has evolved into a formidable platform for play. As of this writing, we have provided over 450 free play and emotional support sessions via Zoom and WhatsApp to 15,000 people in 91 countries. We work with local organizations and their members to become regional and global leaders of an emergent play movement. As well, we have begun a collaboration with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. As a creative laboratory within the UN, one of UNAOC’s pillars is to serve as a global bridge builder.

GPB’s vision aligns with UNAOC’s mandate to foster cooperation, understanding, peace-building, and cross-cultural dialogue. As we organize local play activities, GPB leaders are also inspiring others around the world.

Our hope is that workshop participants will create a conversation about the opportunities for the world to embrace playship everywhere and share in the building of a global movement for play.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Evolution of an Outdoor Play Space: Observation, Research, and Design Lorayne Carbon, Robbin Hawkins, Jerusha Beckerman, and Barbara Schecter The Child Development Institute (CDI) at Sarah Lawrence College is proposing a roundtable presentation to be jointly led by several of our colleagues, about an ongoing research and planning project we are embarking upon this spring to reconceive and redesign our Early Childhood Center playgrounds.

Teachers' Playbox: Movement games that transform the classroom Cristina Latici and Jesse Danger Frequent movement breaks for children during the school day support learning by providing novel opportunities for children to gain proprioceptive and vestibular input, leading to greater self-regulation. A child who is able to self-regulate may be better equipped to pay attention, complete work in a timely manner, and may be able to integrate learning experiences more readily. Recognizing the value of these movement breaks, teachers now frequently include jumping jacks, wall- and floor push-ups, cross-body gestures, and yoga stretches in the class schedule alongside math, reading, and writing lessons. The Movement Creative’s Teachers’ Playbox is a series of movement games that go one step beyond these simple movement experiences by also engaging children socially and cognitively. The Teachers’ Playbox games invite children to work with partners and in small groups through movement games that involve strategy and collaborative problem-solving. The games in the Teachers’ Playbox take 2-5 minutes to play so children can complete several rounds with various partners and small groups allowing for additional social skill building while playing. These games encourage growth in the physical, social, and cognitive domains while providing a unique textural framework for the school day in which pockets of play are interspersed with academic activities. The Teachers’ Playbox provides equal access to playful activities offered throughout the school day that support learning for all children.

Theater of the Oppressed Games for Actors and NonActors Workshop Natalia Ortiz Theater of the Oppressed is a theory and practice of politically engaged theater techniques developed by Brazilian dramaturg Augusto Boal who was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. During this workshop participants will play, and work to break free from the "cops in our heads" (Boal, 1990) the oppression that we have internalized. The goal of Theater of the Oppressed is to work collaboratively in our bodies, and through dialogue, to "rehearse for the revolution." Please come prepared to move your bodies and interact with other people via touch. Theater of the Oppressed is a theory and practice of politically engaged theater techniques developed by Brazilian dramaturg Augusto Boal who was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. During this workshop participants will play, and work to break free from the "cops in our heads" (Boal, 1990) the oppression that we have internalized. The goal of Theater of the Oppressed is to work collaboratively in our bodies, and through dialogue, to "rehearse for the revolution." Please come prepared to move your bodies and interact with other people via touch.

PlayLab in the Early Grades: Expanding Access and Building Community Denisha Jones This research session provides an overview of findings from a year-long study with three teachers participating in the Partners in Play cohort in Pittsburgh, PA. Two first-grade teachers and a kindergarten teacher in a public school piloted the PlayLab program that included dedicated time for play with high-quality open-ended material three times a week. Data collected from initial interviews, two observations, and a final focus group reveal a shift in the teachers' beliefs around play and learning and their role in supporting play which led to an increase in children’s access to play. Initially, these teachers understood play as necessary to provide a break from learning. However, as their participation in the cohort deepened, they saw play as fostering deep learning and building a strong community. As a result, they successfully advocated for expanding PlayLab into all kindergarten and first-grade classes for the 2022-2023 school year.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

A re-envisioned community park: a transition from exclusion to inclusivity Eric Castle This project is a collaboration between community partners and university designers that re-envisions a recreation-prohibited natural area into a prized community asset that seeks to be enjoyed by a broad audience. A careful inventory of site opportunities and constraints enabled stakeholders to make informed decisions about priorities and goals, which led to a master plan. With priorities identified and a plan in place, decision-makers can engage the document to guide funding inquiries and coordinate volunteer-engaged installation and maintenance of site features. The city of Gary, Minnesota, owns and manages the site location. They have invested continual effort in implementing the 2018 Gary Pines Master Plan, which guides the management of 160 acres of naturalized forest and grassland prioritized for public recreation. This design project focused on creating a Master Plan Update for five components of stakeholder interest: trail accessibility and maintenance, invasive plant species, edible plant species, observation area seating, and site parking.

Teaching Play Pedagogy for Preschoolers’ Everyday and Academic Concept Formation Ebrahim Talaee and James E. Johnson Differences in early childhood teacher candidates’ understandings of preschoolers’ Everyday and Academic concepts, and how to extend the former into the later concept type, were analyzed as a function of having had a college course on play pedagogy. Participants were virtually all females between 19 and 22 years majoring in early education. Treatment group received a semester-long course on play as an educative process that included a focused presentation “Moving from Everyday to Academic Concepts”, while the comparison group did not. The dependent variables were responses on an eight -item open ended questionnaire by participants following their reading of a hypothetical situation about four -year -old children engaged in group autonomous play “Teddy Bears Are Sick”.

Data generated were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses. Results will be discussed with respect to the importance of general and specific teacher training in pedagogical play with reference to factors influencing social-cognitive processes and concept formation during the early years.

Play, Power and Authority: Tools for Going Beyond "Safe Spaces" Carrie Lobman and Marian Rich Play is increasingly touted as valuable for bringing diverse groupings of people together to address and go beyond differences. However, people also raise concerns about the emotional safety of play spaces and the need to ensure that when people play together no one gets hurt or triggered. But if we are focused on creating “safe spaces,” do we lose the very qualities of play that makes it transformative and developmental? Is it possible to engage in activities that are genuinely joyfully playful, emergent, and even chaotic without replicating the inequities and oppressive qualities that dominate so much of the public sphere? And, what is the role of the play facilitator in doing just this?

In our work as facilitators of developmental international play spaces online and face-to-face we have found that engaging the dialectic between power and authority is key to addressing the question of safety. While many people use the terms power and authority interchangeably—we use an understanding of authority as being imposed from the top down, and power as being generated from the bottom up through the self-organized activity of groupings of people (Newman & Holzman, 2004). From this perspective, rather than avoiding or trying to eliminate conflict, triggers, or inequities, people play with all of that and more to transform environments so that all participants can speak, take risks, feel welcome, be seen, valued, and cared for by the group (Lobman & Rich, 2021). In doing this we expand our collective capacity to take responsibility for risk-taking even when feelings are hurt or people are triggered. Improvisational play, with its focus on creating the environment, accepting and building with offers and making the ensemble look good, is a particularly effective tool for creating play spaces where people can collectively handle and grow from conflict. Improvisers learn to embrace what’s happening and build with it, rather than being frightened or stopped by something or someone being seen/experienced as “unsafe.” In this workshop we will shift our gaze from being “in” an environment to being “builders” of the environment. We will share ways this improvisational approach to play is being used with all kinds of groups - families in conflict, inner city youth (including gangs), people in war/conflict zones, NGOs, classrooms and therapeutic settings. The co-facilitators will lead ensemble-building activities that allow participants to play with structure and chaos, leading up to improvised scenes designed to create with conflict by strengthening our relational muscles. Throughout the play activities we will explore the relationship between power and authority and discover how we can play with that dialectic and explore going beyond our assumptions and cognitive understandings. It is our hope that in collective environment-building, improvisational play and conversation new possibilities will emerge for stepping closer to each other, even in the face of disagreement, hurt or anger. What will it mean for us to create our Playship at the same time that we ride into a more equitable, just and peaceful future?

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Children's Voices and Spaces of Play at Bramble Network and Inventors Playground Elboussaidi Fatimazahra Play-based learning is a vital aspect of a child’s development. Play is the means by which they express themselves and explore the environment around them. Parents and caregivers need to give much attention to providing an enabling environment for play to happen. While many schools and learning centers understand this responsibility, the varying differences in how a child accesses play can significantly shape their experiences and agency in meaningful ways. The research questions of this study try to explore both initiatives (Inventors’ Playground and Bramble Network) and answer if there is an impact of the play-based learning method in fostering the implementation of the initiatives' activities. In general, the obtained results will reveal an evaluation from the students and teachers about play based learning, mainly in terms of teamwork, creativity, and resiliency in upskilling students. Data from these projects has demonstrated the value of considering children's voices and perspectives when designing and planning spaces of play. By fostering a sense of agency and participation, and providing children with access to a range of safe and inclusive play spaces, we can support their development and well-being. Further research is needed to better understand the ways in which different types of play spaces impact children's experiences and outcomes and to identify strategies for promoting equitable access to play opportunities for all children.

On-task Behaviors of Young Children During Play: A multi-site observational study Smita Marthur On-Task Behavior of Young Children: A Multi-site Observational Study Attention span is a complex multidimensional and complex temperamental construct that is associated with children’s play. Research suggests that play enhances on-task behaviors, attention, task-switching, and mental rotations (Cardoso-Leite & Bavelier, 2014) in young children. A reasonable attention span of a child is 2-3 minutes per year of their age. A typically developing five-year-old child is expected to stay on-task for approximately 10 minutes. However, little empirical data addresses how long a typically developing child can stay on-task during play (Hedges et al., 2013). In this observational study, forty-one kindergarten children from low-income backgrounds were observed using non-participant observations during indoor and outdoor play in school settings and free play at home. Play observations were video recorded and coded at 30-second intervals using Lilian Katz’s operational definitions.

Results indicate that the time-on-task range varies from three to twenty-eight minutes. Data will be presented and discussed during the presentation. The results contribute to a basic and foundational understanding of on-task behaviors during play.

Nature Preschools in Texas John Alan Sutterby, Melissa M. Day-Mifflin, and Marina Singletary Interest in nature preschools has been growing recently in the United States. Long popular in Europe, nature preschools differ significantly from tradition preschools in that there is a deemphasis on academic curriculum in favor of a curriculum which favors child choice, free exploration and experiences in outdoor environments. This presentation will focus on three important aspects of nature preschools from three different perspectives. First, why do parents choose nature preschools over traditional preschools. Second, how do children play and learn STEM concepts through their activities in a nature preschool and finally, how do nature preschools address equity issues in order to allow children from all backgrounds access to these unique environments.

| 2023

Presentation Abstracts

Playful pedagogy in US early childhood education: a historical analysis Abigail Seevak Since extrafamilial early childhood education and care (ECEC) first emerged in the United States in the 1820s, the intentions and practices of programs targetting children in poverty have varied from those for middle- and upper-class children. Through a robust literature review, I chronicle the history of ECEC in the US with a focus on trends in pedagogy. My research reveals that throughout history, when serving children living in poverty, ECEC often aims to address large-scale social and economic issues. Priorities of ECEC for poor children have included creating jobs and promoting hygiene and morality among the working class. These goals, which are focused on issues greater than the children themselves, have translated at times into teacher-led classroom practices, like direct instruction. In other cases, when children’s classroom experiences were inconsequential to the intent of ECEC, pedagogy was neglected and left to the teachers’ discretion. In contrast, forms of ECEC that have served middleand upper-class children have tended to center around play-based, child-directed practices. These programs have prioritized children’s individual growth and cognitive, social, and emotional development. While there are notable exceptions to this pattern, including the original goals of Head Start and public kindergarten (which had been consistently play-based until recently), throughout history, poor children have been continuously deprived of opportunities for rich, child-directed play in ECEC. Ultimately, this historical context suggests that economic status has mediated access to play in school, a phenomenon that persists today.

| 2023

Pre-recorded Presentation Abstracts

Children's Voices: What Are They Singing in play?

Akosua Obuo Addo, Amy Le, Isaac Osei Mensah, and Belinda Missaah Tuffour Strategic data archiving singing games is critical for acknowledging and making sense of the multidimensions of play. The songs and chants of singing games challenge researchers to ask if what they hear in archive recordings represents the language and message of the playground activity. Also, children communicate their language enculturation in singing games, which may need to align with the archivist's language enculturation. This presentation will give descriptive cases of overcoming the challenges of transcribing music to hear children's voices in play, especially for a non-native speaker archivist. By analyzing and listening to archived video recordings of Ghanaian children, we present challenges with the nature of the film clips, language enculturation, transcription software, and consequent meaning-making. This presentation aims to make it easy for people to make sense of the singing transcriptions and encourage them to immerse themselves in the spirit of the play culture through singing. It also captures a picture of what the children are doing, what they see, and what they say and sing during play.

Preservice Teachers’ Playful Mindset and their Disposition Towards Play.

Ruth Guirguis and Jennifer M. Longley Play and playfulness are often associated with and perceived to be appropriate if implemented in the early childhood classroom. Nonetheless, there is a misconception that play and playfulness end as the individual becomes an adult and enters college. Nevertheless, it presents a conceptual framework for understanding the development of play and adult learning. Play practitioners and researchers have continued over the past decade to focus and report both qualitative and quantitative data on the vast and interconnected learning components that exist through play in Early Childhood Education (ECE) (Johnson, Chirstie & Wardle, 2005; Bodrova & Leong, 2008; Miller & Almon, 2009; Tominey & McClelland, 2011). While the current literature discusses these key benefits of learning through play, there is a disconnect in the streamlining of play as a pedagogical tool once students enter higher education.

This session will describe the curricular and environmental aspects that can be introduced to pre-service teachers to ensure they are being prepared to teach and assess through play. The session will also implement aspects of supporting a flexible mindset among students from diverse backgrounds.This presentation will focus on how to implement play and playfulness in the higher education classroom that is culturally inclusive. This session will describe the curricular and environmental aspects that can be introduced to pre-service teachers to ensure they are being prepared to teach and assess through play. The session will also implement aspects of supporting a flexible mindset among students from diverse backgrounds.

How Parents Appraise Risky Play: Development of a New Measure Rana Alarawi and Anita Bundy Risky play is defined as “thrilling and exciting forms of play that involve a risk of physical injury” (Sandseter & Kennair, 2011, p. 258). It is associated with activities such as climbing, jumping, and downhill racing. Risky play can result in improved resilience, physical health, and risk-management skills (Brussoni et al., 2018). However, increased focus on injury prevention and safety regulations have resulted in a decline in risky play (Brussoni et al., 2012). While current research has focused on adults’ tolerance of risk in play, much less is known about how parents appraise risk and what influence their decisions regarding children’s engagement in ‘risky’ play activities.

Purpose: this pilot testing examined the validity and reliability of the Risk Appraisal questionnaire. Procedure: 48 parents with one or more children above 3 years answered the survey. Results: Rasch analysis revealed good evidence for internal reliability (0.80) and person reliability (0.94). Analysis of item fit (94.1%) and person fit (98%) confirmed to Rasch model assumptions. Principal component analysis of residuals revealed observed variance (44.6%) closely matched expected variance (45.1%). However, unexplained variance for the first contrast suggested possible multidimensionality (eigenvalue = 2.5). Discussion and Implications: results supported the questionnaire as a useful tool for measuring factors impacting parents’ appraisal of ‘risky’ play. To improve measure accuracy, several suggestions were made. For parents, this tool can be a useful foundation for understanding contexts influence their decisions as well as for providing more risky play opportunities for their children.

| 2023

Pre-recorded Presentation Abstracts

The Art of Play: Engaging a Partner School’s Kindergarteners in Process-Oriented Art & Play Activities Denise Farrelly and Julia Morris Funded through the President’s Promoting Students’ Sense of Belonging Award, students and faculty from the Education Program worked together to facilitate play-based art activities for kindergarteners from P.S. 958 in Sunset Park. The children enjoyed engaging with our preservice teachers through scientific inquiry including digging for and examining worms and natural materials, music and movement through song, story, and instrument construction, visual arts through colorful painted murals, marble paintings and textural collage, and weaving yarn on a giant loom. Our friends at Materials for the Arts joined in on the fun with recycled materials for creating superhero capes.

We will share photos and feedback from our students on their experiences facilitating this exciting event.

Auditing Your Space Through A Translucent Lens Nicole Talarico We have a responsibility to advance equity so that each child can thrive as a fulfilled member of society. Each community has their own unique cultural context. As citizens, we need to do more than recognize and acknowledge others. We need to strengthen local networks so we can be confident we are actively supporting children and families to express and celebrate their uniqueness. Everyone, regardless of cultural background, makes decisions through a cultural lens which shapes a person’s view of what is ‘normal’. All decisions – no matter how simple or complex – are made through this lens. Positive life experiences come from feeling a sense of connection and Belonging to your community. Scan your setting and challenge your physical and online environments – the resources, as well as the people interacting in them, to determine whether you create a culture that says no to violence and promotes inclusion, respect, and equality.Preventing harm to children is a global agenda. Children’s safety is not just physical, there is a need to recognise emotional, spiritual and cultural safety. To assist education and care services to better safeguard children, I have recently written a book on Asserting a Culture of Child Safety.

There is unwavering evidence, that a child’s level of wellbeing determines their level of safety. A Pedagogy of Safety requires educators to commit to the environment in which teaching and learning takes place so children and communities can prosper. It is vital to foster a collaborative approach towards everyone being agents for social change, inclusive of children themselves. We must self-reflect, regularly, and check-in with our own biases to determine how ‘affective’ our pedagogy is so we can make adjustments to strengthen wellbeing.

Three Communities in One City: Inequitable Play Spaces During Covid Anna Beresin Three public school communities were studied during the return to school after the first lockdown: one under-resourced working-class community of color, one middle class community in a racially integrated neighborhood, and one upper middle class mostly white community. All three were in urban Philadelphia, America’s poorest large city. How did families cope with the restrictions imposed by the virus? What public spaces were utilized for play? How did children find ways to express themselves within the pandemic frame? This study is based on six months of observation and over fifty interviews with participating families. The presentation highlights inventiveness, as well as the inequality of resources among the different communities based on racism and social class. This is the first public sharing of the study which will soon appear in an open access book, "Play in a Covid Frame: Everyday Pandemic Creativity in a Time of Isolation." The book is coedited by Julia Bishop and is being published by Open Book Publishers.

The Tour of Joy offers spontaneous play and recognition and proves how much we need it.

Kate McGlynn Joy First Foundation is an experiment with play, inviting strangers to participate in a Moment of Joy, which invites folks to take in some recognition for having just woken up today. And then offer a heartfelt compliment and discuss being a better, more playful customer, as an example of how to offer more joy in our everyday lives. The Tour of Joy officially started in December of 2022 as an experiment. Kate and her impromptu ambassadors have offered free joyful visits to senior centers, domestic violence shelters, police stations, fire stations and more, through pop-up style (as spontaneous as possible) activities with strangers.85% of people surveyed say that they recommend a moment of joy. 85% of people surveyed also said they would rather have a standing ovation or recognition over a material thing. We are taught that in order to be recognized, we need to accomplish and prove ourselves worthy.

Play offers the opportunity to be recognized for simply being. Joy First Foundation is on a mission to offer joyful moments to those in need (everyone). By using play and laughter, humorous props and big ears, Kate is discovering and documenting what’s so desperately missing in communities around the US. She is surveying individuals and groups about the importance of simply and playfully being recognized for being on Earth today.

| 2023

Pre-recorded Presentation Abstracts

Our Children's Garden Julia Kroker The number of families who choose to homeschool their children rose exponentially in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and many of those families have continued to homeschool (PBS, 2022). Homeschooling can be a very effective method for educating young children, as families have flexibility to educate children in the way that works best for them. Unschooling is one method of homeschool in which the education of the children relies on their curiosity and interests, and the adult follows the child’s lead and acts as a facilitator of learning. This presentation will highlight the benefits of adopting a playful unschooling approach from the presenter’s own homeschooling experience with her two young children. A major goal of the presenter’s homeschool is that her children should love learning. Therefore, schoolwork is not compulsory. This allows the children to have joy in the discovery and exploration of the world around them, and adults learn alongside them.

Finding our Play Being through Mindful Curiosity Sarah Iverson By combining aspects of mindfulness, curiosity and play, we are able to tap into a level of wholesome joy that is authentic to who we inherently were before society told us who to be. Wholesome joy is having fulfillment in every aspect of our lives and being able to play in the uncertainties that life gives us. Looking at the 3 main components of this process: mindfulness, curiosity and play, we go on a journey to re-discover our own unique play persona and are able to use this to find liberation and potentialities to add zest to parts of our life we find stale. Another important component is realizing that authenticity usually involves embracing the peculiarities about ourselves and the world around us and being able to play within that. 1. We discover where we are at through mindfulness, awareness, and presence. 2. Once we gain self-awareness, we begin to see the world and ourselves through new eyes by being curious and embracing the curious. 3. After we have used our curiosity to refresh how we see the world, we begin to play with reprogramming new ideas, mindsets and goals that reflect who we truly are, and what truly brings us joy. Taking this approach provides a clear roadmap and tool to cultivate joy and authenticity for people who know they want to add more zest into their lives but do not know how or don’t know where to start.

Measurable Outcomes: 1. Learn methods and techniques (meditations and activities) to gain mindfulness and awareness of ourselves and the world 2. Pinpointing the 5 specific types of curiosities that are present 3. Gain tools to review what makes us unique and authentic (harnessing our play self) 4. Learn tools and techniques to rebuild our world through play

Play Places to Visit

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https://www.teachingbeyondthesquare.org/ Teaching Beyond the Square (TBS) is a nonprofit based in NYC which aims to improve the quality of early childhood education. Through collaborative partnerships with school communities, TBS works with students, educators, and parents to advance developmentally appropriate best practices which are more playful, effective, engaging and equitable. Teaching Beyond the Square is unlocking the educational mindset, engaging families through the opportunity of play, and helping children… think outside the box.

https://www.play-ground.nyc/ play:groundNYC, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the city through play; I was very excited to see the conference will take place in NYC. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend much of the program; do you have 1-day tickets? I also wanted to extend an invitation to the team and attendees to visit The Yard, which is NYC's only adventure playground and which we steward on Governors Island since 2016.

| 2023

Next TASP Conference

Join us for our 50th anniversary at The Strong Museum National Museum of Play https://www.museumofplay.org/ One Manhattan Square Rochester, New York 14607 +1 (585) 263-2700