Go Skateboarding Day
Skateboarders everywhere will show their love and support for skateboarding by holding fundraisers, contests, protests and demos. They’ll skate across cities, gather in skateparks, stream into their local skate shop and some will even revel in the solitary act of skateboarding alone at their favorite spot, all bringing together the skateboarding community in the grind heard around the world.
Longest Day of Play
June 21 is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and we are challenging you to make June 21 the longest day of play! No matter where you are, take time this Friday to do what brings you joy - visit a local park, take a stroll down the avenue, play chess at a nearby coffee shop, the daylight is long and you have many opportunities! (For those in the southern hemisphere, consider hosting a longest night party - flashlight tag would be really fun!)
Great American Backyard Campout
On June 22, 2013, thousands of people across the nation will gather in their backyards, neighborhoods, communities and parks to take part in a one-night FREE event that will provide an experience for all generations to connect with nature. If June 22nd isn’t convenient for you, no problem! You can still be a part of this year’s Campout, support this movement and get all the camping tips and activities we have in store. Just register now and camp at a later date of your choosing.
Guest Author: Pat the Play Lady at the National Children's Museum
Join Pat Rumbaugh, otherwise known as Pat the Play Lady, at the National Children's Museum for two storytime performances of her new book, Let's Play at the Playground. Children 3 and under should plan to attend the 10:30 a.m. performance, while children 4 and older should plan to attend the 11 a.m. performance. **If you cannot make it to the museum, plan to read your favorite children's book at home then go out to the playground to play!
Knee High Naturalists - Bentleyville, Ohio
An event for children ages 2-6 to enjoy activities including catching crayfish, playing in a pond, playing nature games, and more! If you are in northeast Ohio, consider joining this group at the Arboretum. If Ohio is a little far, find your nearest patch of greenery and play your way!
Play Across the Lifespan Conference
Leeds Metropolitan University in partnership with Leeds Play Network is hosting a day of presentations and workshops, bringing together service providers, practitioners and researchers to discuss the many ways in which play can benefit the whole population – from babies to older people and everyone in between. The event will include two keynote speakers, and a wide range of presentations and practical workshops, covering a number of topics, all falling within the general theme of the conference.
July is Park and Recreation Month
This July have your community share what they love about parks and recreation! July is a great time to highlight all the many valuable benefits you bring to your neighborhood – from health and wellness to nature to community spirit and social equity. During Park and Recreation Month, let's get everyone talking about the positive role parks and recreation has on our lives!
Making Sense of: Play, Interdisciplinary Project
The interdisciplinary project Making Sense Of: Play seeks to examine the various meanings of “play”, elucidate their inter-relationships and trace the origins of the patterns of play and their place in the human condition. Variations in cultural conditions naturally impact on play, its meanings and its forms, as do, often in a different way, economic inequalities both within and between different cultures. Our deliberations will necessarily takes this into account. In many languages, as in English, throughout its etymological history “play” has been closely connected to the world of children and make believe. Academic study of play, too, deals predominantly with various aspects of children’s play and its importance in development. There is, in fact, a lack of balance between the study of play in relation to children and childhood on one hand, and “play” more generally, as outlined above, on the other. For this reason our project explicitly emphasizes the comparatively under-explored aspects of play in linguistic, literary, philosophical, historical, psychological and evolutionary frames of reference.
World Congress of Play
We will have guest speakers from all over the world, representing various fields of play. We plan to bring together leaders of all the world's play industries. Whether in the digital games, board games, theme park, traditional toys and games or any other "Play industry", this is the conference for you.
2013 Physical Activity and Public Health Courses
The Physical Activity and Public Health Course (PAPH), sponsored by the University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will hold its 19th annual training event from September 10-18, 2013 in Park City, Utah. The PAPH course will feature a 6-day Practitioner’s Course on Community Interventions, targeted to those who are involved or interested in promoting physical activity through community-based initiatives.
Bringing Back Childhood for the Future of Society
Join the Philadelphia Declaration of Play on September 21, 2013 for a day-long event with three internationally recognized leaders in the movement to improve the quality of childhood and society. The day will begin with susan linn, Ph.D. (director of Commercial Free Childhood), Joan Almon (co-founder of the Alliance of Childhood), and Penny Wilson (promoter of profession of Playwork, London, England), who will engage us in a vital and creative discussion about this cultural crisis. This will be followed by break out sessions led by local and national experts representing the multiple pillars scaffolding support for free play in childhood: advocates and legislators, educators, mental health professionals, physicians, architects of public space, and artists. We look forward to gathering together at the end of the day to integrate the ideas generated throughout the day and to discuss how we all can help transform them into meaningful social action at the local level.
International Walk to School Day
Why walk to school? Among many reasons: it's fun! Visit the national website to learn how you can plan an event for your area.
South Carolina Walk to School Day
Whether you are in South Carolina or not, take this day as an opportunity to walk to school, work, or simply for fun!
11th Annual Active Living Research Conference
The 11th annual Active Living Research Conference will be held March 9-12, 2014 in San Diego, Calif., at the Paradise Point Hotel. Mark your calendars and watch out for the call for abstracts to be announced in early July.
National Bike to School Day
Get out your helmets and pump up your tires - it's time to ride! Bike to school, work, or just for fun to celebrate!
19th IPA World Triennial Conference, Istanbul
The main theme of the conference is "Access to Play." Bridging continents and opening a door for a child's right to play the conference will help to put a child's access to play in the agenda of the public and private sectors.
National Safety Month - June 1 to June 30 - Each June, the National Safety Council encourages organizations to get involved and participate in National Safety Month. NSM is an annual observance to educate and influence behaviors around leading causes of preventable injuries and deaths.
Great Outdoors Month 2013 - June 1 to June 30 - Excitement is growing across the nation about plans for Great Outdoors Week and Great Outdoors Month 2013. Great Outdoors Month celebrates a variety of important events and actions that occur during June, and highlights the benefits of active fun outdoors and our magnificent shared resources of forests, parks, refuges and other public lands and waters. Great Outdoors Week (June 1-8) showcases efforts enhancing outdoor recreation for all Americans in the 21st century through awards, briefings and other events in the Nation’s Capital.
Deadline July 24 – Call for Proposals on Public Health Law Research - June 12 to July 24 - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released the 2013 Call for Proposals on “Public Health Law Research: Making the Case for Laws that Improve Health.” The program seeks to build evidence for and strengthen the use of regulatory, legal and policy solutions to improve public health. Policies about recess, physical activity, unstructured play, and liability statutes for schoolyard playgrounds might be possible play topics to tie into the call.
Vote now until July 15 - Win $100,000 from Coca-Cola for your favorite park - June 12 to July 15 - Having fun and getting fit outdoors just became a great way to win funding for your favorite park. Coca-Cola has kicked off the fourth-annual “America is Your Park” campaign where people can vote for their favorite park to win up to $100,000. What are you waiting for?