I’m not sure what’s stranger, that I wound up attending school in a town with FOUR playground design firms, an adventure playground, and an annual play symposium, or that I discovered my obsession with designing for play independently of knowing that these resources existed. Regardless, here I am amongst stars and heroic play advocates. I’ll be attending (and volunteering at) the aforementioned Play Symposium tomorrow and Saturday, and will surely gain some new insights into the world of play as the bigfolk facilitate it.

I’ll be meeting with Rusty Keeler again, as well as Erin Davis, Morgan Leichter-Saxby, Suzanna Law, and others – So I am stoked! Any insights or breakthroughs I do intend to share.

The schedule goes something like this:

Friday

• 8:30 Coffee & Bagels, Check-in
• 9:00 Welcome / A Culture of Play at Ithaca Children’s Garden
  Erin Marteal, Executive Director
• 9:45 Fits and Starts and Garbage Piles
  Erica Larsen-Dockray & Jeremiah Dockray, Santa Clarita Valley Adv. Play
• 10:30 PlayCorps – Adventure Play in Providence Public Parks
  Janice O’Donnell, Partnership for Providence Parks
• 11:10 Play Break
• 11:30 Pecha Kucha
  Designing Anarchy – Alex Cote, Ithaca Children’s Garden
  Our Playground – Jill Wood & the Kids of Adventure Playground,
  The Parish School
  Learning to Playwork – Suzanna Law, Pop-Up Adventure Play
  Rebuilding the American Dream…Through Play – Tricia O’Conner,
  Lake Erie Adventure Play (LEAP)
• 12:15 Lunch Break and Conversation
• 1:15 Playwork in Practice
  Morgan Leichter-Saxby, Pop-Up Adventure Play
  Suzanna Law, Pop-Up Adventure Play
• 2:15 Play Break
• 2:45 Let’s Talk – What are your burning questions?
  Morgan and Suzanna, Pop-Up Adventure Play
• 3:45 Saturday Preview & Reminders
• 4:00 Off you go for exploring, relaxation, and dinner
• 7:00 The Land and Panel Discussion at Cinemapolis:
  Erin Davis, Director
  Joan Almon, Alliance for Childhood
  Morgan Leichter-Saxby, Pop-Up Adventure Play

Saturday

• 8:45 Coffee & Bagels, Check-in
• 9:00 Welcome to Day 2
  Erin Marteal, Executive Director
• 9:10 Inspiring Places for Play (and Ruckus)
  Rusty Keeler, Earthplay & Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone
• 10:00 Troubling the Spatial Politics of Adventure Playground Funding
  Reilly Wilson, CUNY
• 10:40 Play Break
• 11:00 Pecha Kucha
  Time to Move: Salutogenic Environments for All – Beth Myers, Cornell University
  Little Creatures Seek & Find, Kristin Eno – Little Creatures Films
  US Fish & Wildlife Service – Adventure Playground? – David Stillwell, USFWS
  Embodiment, Ethnography & Reflective Playwork – Morgan Leichter-Saxby,
  Pop-Up Adventure Play
• 11:45 Home Action Plan Workshop
• 12:15 Lunch and Conversation
• 1:15 Walk to Ithaca Children’s Garden
• 1:30 Visit, Explore, & Play
  Ithaca Children’s Garden staff and partners
• 3:30 Closing Circle
• 4:00 Adjourn – Thank you for sharing your time with us!

“Every playscape built should be unique, depending on the philosophy of the school, the skills and talents of the community, and the landscape of the local area… It doesn’t matter how expensive or fancy your ingredients are. What is most important is that you provide children the opportunity to experience each ingredient.”

–Rusty Keeler