Setting Children Up to Succeed Through Active Play - Playworks [Podcast Series]
[:56] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Jill Vialet
Jill Vialet is the Founder of Playworks.
She is also the author of Why Play Works: Big Changes Start Small.
[1:08] Playworks inspiration
“He is, there is a real human and I will tell you the story. I think in some ways, too, Clarence is a composite in my own…Over time, he's become this sort of amalgamation of all these sort of amazing humans who just made it possible for me to play and helped me recognize the power of being outside and playing and, and being mindfully in my body over the years.”
[3:57] Setting children up to succeed
“And ultimately, what you're trying to do is set these kids up to succeed, not to eliminate risk, but to help them learn how to manage and mitigate and navigate risk in a way that helps them to be able to just thrive.”
[7:18] Managing and navigating risk
“So specifically with kids, we have them run around, we have them do..engage in the inherently risky behavior that is play and that has—despite being risky—survived evolution because it is so important in helping us learn how to deal with that kind of…all the sort of dangers and the metaphorical tigers and bears that are out there in the world.”
[11:31] The value of play
“It is that pursuit of activities that have no apparent purpose, that luxury of being able to choose an activity and a challenge that doesn't seem to have any relevance to anything else. But in creating those kinds of spaces, that's where we learn about ourselves and where we learn about others, I think. And so to say that play is frivolous, I think is to to really dismiss the importance of creating containers for really nurturing self-awareness.”
[17:31] Addressing sustainability
“In terms of sustainability, I think, we've evolved a lot as a model at Playworks, in terms of really not only delivering the programs directly, but also really emphasizing building the capacity of the schools to continue to provide it on an ongoing basis. And we've, in the context of COVID, we have more offerings in the digital space. And we, we just in general have tried to figure out how to do a better job of supporting people, the lowest possible cost point with remote and those kinds of things.”
[20:33] Developing programming
“So with that empathic understanding of what was possible through sport and play, and then really being just incredibly lucky in terms of the people who were drawn to Playworks and Sports4Kids, and having the common sense to get out of the way and let them develop programs and not to overstep. And we, I think, have built a really robust program that reflects a lot of people's experiences and a lot of collective good thinking.”
[23:14] COVID-19 pandemic impact
“And in terms of just this moment and how important it is. What we're hearing all across the country is that the needs that they're seeing that kids just are really having a hard time after a prolonged period of not being consistently in class, or consistently in social settings. That it's, it's just hard. And that while a lot of this stuff is innate, it does need to be fostered and reinforced and supported and there haven't been as many opportunities for kids to really learn the social skills that make for a civil society.”
