Playworks

Playworks is a national, nonprofit organization that bolsters learning by providing safe, healthy, and inclusive play opportunities for school children.1 Founded by Jill Vialet under the name Sport4Kids, the name was changed to Playworks in July 2009.2

Research has shown that play is essential to child development, and quality recess and playtime helps them return to classroom more focused and ready to learn.3 Playworks sends trained, full-time coaches to low-income schools to turn recess and playtime into a positive learning opportunity. These coaches provide play and physical activity through the five components of the Playworks program:4

• Recess time allows coaches to take advantage of the inherent play opportunities and to move kids off the sidelines and engage them in inclusive play.
• Leadership development has students working together to learn games, fair play, and positive conflict resolution.
• The Playworks Junior Coach program allows them to teach these skills and lessons to their classmates. Class game time is a weekly schedule of class game activities between periods of recess. The curriculum includes basic sports, playground, and cooperative games as well as lessons on physical fitness, health, safety, and violence prevention.
• Interscholastic/Development Sports Leagues promote teamwork and empathy through games like basketball, soccer, and volleyball.
• The Out-Of-School Time program brings kids together before and after school. It combines scholastic support, physical activities, and group projects with their community.5

As of 2011, Playworks has trained, full-time program coaches at 250 low-income urban schools in 15 cities.6 Some of their achievements include sending more than 30 staff members to Houston, Texas, to provide children displaced by Hurricane Katrina with the chance to play. Playworks hosted PLAY ON, a national conference on play in San Francisco, California. Playworks coaches and staff also lead games at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.7

In a new program, Playworks partnered with California’s Stockton Unified School District in a district-wide initiative to train campus security assistants (CSAs) at all of their 43 public K-8 schools. In six months, the CSAs received 25 hours of professional development training and coaching skills. The objective was to create a systematic approach for how students move throughout the school day, including recess, where it was found that most conflicts occur and was most likely to spill over into the classroom. When the chaos from the playground was removed with Playworks’ coaching techniques, performance and test scores rose significantly. One positive and unforeseen impactwas that as the CSAs became proactive and engaged the kids in games and physical activity, the students viewed them as role models instead of as the police.8

• 1. “About.” Playworks. < http://www.playworks.org/about > 23 Feb. 2011.
• 2. “Our Story.” Playworks.< http://www.playworks.org/about/our-story > 23 Feb. 2011.
• 3. Op. cit., “About.”
• 4. Op. cit., “About.”
• 5. “How it Works.”Playworks. < http://playworksusa.com/make-recess-count/how > 23 Feb. 2011.
• 6. “Where We Are.” Playworks. < http://www.playworks.org/make-recess-count/play > 23 Feb. 2011.
• 7. Op. cit., “Our Story.”
• 8. “Putting Our Heads Together, 2010 Annual Report.” Playworks. < http://www.playworks.org/files/Playworks_AR_2010_Final_1.pdf > 23 Feb. 2011.