Play Resources

Play in Childhood, Nonprofits Promoting

Kindred’s articles on Play.

Alliance for Childhood. While promoting a broad range of policies and practices essential to children’s well-being, the Alliance for Childhood works intensively on a few critical issues. Among these are the loss of creative play and hands-on activities in children’s lives, and the excessive amounts of time spent in front of screens instead of in face-to-face engagement with other children, caring adults, and the natural world. We also work against the commercialization of childhood, the misuse of high-stakes testing, and increasing levels of childhood obesity.

American Association for the Child’s Right to Play. The purpose of IPA USA is to protect, preserve, and promote play as a fundamental right for all humans. Specific interests include environments for play emphasizing universal access, leisure time facilities, programs that develop the whole child, play leadership training, toys, and play materials.

Children and Nature Network. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working nationally and internationally to reconnect children with nature. The network provides a critical link between researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children’s health and well-being.

Children’s Environments Research Group, City University of New York. The Children’s Environments Research Group (CERG), links university scholarship with the development of policies, environments and programs to fulfill children’s’ rights and improve the quality of their lives. There are two major strands to our work. The first is a broad concern with the fulfillment of children’s rights. The second is a more specific focus on the planning, design and management of children’s physical environments.

Hooked on Nature. Hooked On Nature provides tools, resources and workshops to help people develop joyful, loving, lifelong relationships with each other and the natural world. Our speakers share stories that inspire, empower, and inform

KaBoom! Like many non-profits, KaBOOM!, exists to solve a problem: The Play Deficit. Our children are playing less than any previous generation, and this lack of play is causing them profound physical, intellectual, social, and emotional harm. Not enough playspaces are being built; those that exist are often in disrepair. Fears surrounding lawsuits and safety are trumping common sense, resulting in sterile, uninspired play environments. Recess is being eliminated from our nation’s schools. Kids are overscheduled, and in their free time, many choose to stay indoors, lulled by television, computers and video games. The Play Deficit is an important problem, and it is imperative that we solve it to ensure our children have long, healthy, and happy lives.

National Institute for Play. The National Institute for Play is a 501c(3) non-profit public benefit corporation committed to bringing the unrealized knowledge, practices and benefits of play into public life. It is gathering research from diverse play scientists and practitioners, initiating projects to expand the clinical scientific knowledge of human play and translating this emerging body of knowledge into programs and resources which deliver the transformative power of play to all segments of society.

North Carolina State University Natural Learning Initiative. The mission of the Natural Learning Initiative is to help communities create stimulating places for play, learning, and environmental education – environments that recognize human dependence on the natural world. We collaborate with educators, play leaders, environmental educators, planners, politicians, and all professionals working for and with children.

Playborhood. Free, unstructured play (or what we refer to as simply “play”) has virtually vanished from the lives of most children in America. We are committed to doing whatever we can to bring it back for our children and yours. At Playborhood.com we will to build a community of parents in the United States, if not the world, that will become more aware of this problem, discuss solutions, and implement the best of those solutions.

Sierra Club, Building Bridges to the Outdoors. People of every age and background embrace the Sierra Club’s motto to “explore, enjoy and protect the planet.”

Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment. Our mission is to raise public awareness about the harmful influence of unhealthy children’s entertainment and to provide information about toys and activities that promote healthy play. We are working to eliminate marketing aimed at exploiting children and to reduce the sale of toys and entertainment that promotes violence.

Wild Zones. Wild Zones and Create-with-Nature Zones are places where adults, children and adolescents can co-create a new form of public space that is dedicated to creativity and play in nature. They differ from parks and play areas because they offer opportunities to interact with the environment rather than leaving it untouched.