Minnesota

Transforming the School Day: Creating Engagement Through Play
2024-12-12 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual
Leverage the power of play for a positive school environment and a more engaging school day!
We all crave spaces where we feel connected, and welcome; play and recess have the power to connect children to school, to each other, and to the educators in the building. As our state and schools grapple with chronic absenteeism, historically low test scores, low student engagement, and a growing mental health crisis, we need simple, effective solutions.
Join us as we share a select few best practices and resources to share with your school community:

3 Simple strategies to share with recess supervisors looking to facilitate a safe and engaging recess
The benefits of play and the state of play for kids today
A playbook full of play, games, and strategies to try

This webinar will introduce participants to the concept of a high quality recess and how recess and play in the classroom can be leveraged to create a positive school climate and get kids to school consistently. Getting back to basics and incorporating more play into the school day has immense benefits for children and requires relatively little staff capacity to implement.
Developed and perfected over 28 years partnering with schools across the country, Playworks’ approach truly transforms the school day.
This webinar will begin at 3pm Central Time (4pm Eastern Time) and will last approximately one hour. It will be recorded and the recording will be available following the event.
Register

Adapting Play for Every Space
2025-02-19 14:30 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual
The Game Plan webinar series is back with exciting new topics! Playworks invites educators and administrators to join our free, four-part series designed to help bring the benefits of play to your school.
Learn how to make play work in any space, whether indoors, on blacktops or small playgrounds, or in unconventional areas.
This webinar will provide practical strategies to keep kids engaged, safe, and having fun to maximize your available space.
Each webinar will begin at 12:30 PST/3:30 EST and last about an hour. The webinar will be recorded for future viewing.
Register

Youth-led Play Shapes Tomorrow’s Leaders
2025-04-16 14:30 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Game Plan webinar series is back with exciting new topics! Playworks invites educators and administrators to join our free, four-part series designed to help bring the benefits of play to your school.
Unlock the power of youth-led play and see how it can transform your playground!
In this webinar, you’ll discover strategies to encourage children to be leaders during playtime, fostering creativity, confidence, and teamwork.
The webinar will begin at 12:30 PST/3:30 EST and last about an hour. The webinar will also be recorded for future viewing.
Register

Webinar: Planning for a Great Indoor Recess
2026-01-22 09:30 - 10:30 (America/Chicago) | Virtual
An Active, Stress-free Indoor Recess is Possible!
REGISTER HERE for our FREE Indoor Recess Webinar taking place on Thursday, January 22 at 9:30am Central Time.
Recess happens every day: rain or shine, snow or sleet, hot or cold weather. But what happens when weather conditions keep you inside? Can you still have an engaging, fun, and physically active recess?
Yes, of course! This winter and spring, many recesses will be spent inside but recess (especially indoor recess) is an incredibly important time of day for students to take a break from academics, get their heart rates up, and practice the social, physical, and emotional skills they learn through play.
Kids can’t afford to miss opportunities for physical activity or building interpersonal skills with their peers just because the weather doesn’t cooperate!
Get started with these tips:

Learn your school’s policies. Every school has different policies regarding indoor vs. outdoor recess conditions, spaces available for play, and the general “run of show.” Be sure to check with your school staff so that you’re starting out on the same page.

Have a back up plan. No matter how foolproof you think your plan is, challenges can arise. Sometimes the auditorium you planned to use for recess is being used for an assembly, or the classroom next to you is taking a test so you need to have a quiet indoor recess. Make sure you have a back-up plan and that it’s communicated to the other members of the recess team!

Keep it consistent. Just because you’re inside for recess doesn’t mean that the same recess procedures can’t stay intact. If you normally announce game stations before recess starts, do that! Use the same recess agreements students are used to outdoors and try to offer variations of their favorite outdoor activities.

Stay safe. Indoor recess commonly means limited space, so making sure that all students and staff are staying safe should be a top priority. If you’re playing a fast-paced game in a classroom full of chairs and other obstacles, consider using speed-walking or hopping motions rather than running in a game to keep everyone safe.

Have fun! Recess is such an important time of the day, full of creativity, free play, and games, and all of those things can still take place inside. Encourage students to try something new, and jump into a game yourself to experience the power of play!

We hope you can join us on January 22nd at 9:30am for our Great Indoor Recess webinar!
Register HERE
If you have any questions about the webinar, or want to talk to us about your school’s indoor recess, send an email to mninfo@playworks.org.
