Playworks

Track Sponsor: Health Management Resources and the Stifler Family Foundation

Founded: in Oakland, CA 1996. Launched in Metro Boston 2006

Current Revenue: $1.2 million

Website: www.playworks.org

 

Need

Across the country, recess time in public elementary schools is being cut, especially in low-income areas. Chaotic recess environments are a source of disciplinary problems that spill into classrooms and disrupt valuable learning time. However, recess is too important for it to fall victim to these trends:

  • Obesity rates among elementary school-age children have grown fivefold in the last 40 years; in Boston Public Schools, 20% of children qualify as obese or overweight.
  • According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, recess is the greatest opportunity to ensure that low-income children get their daily dose of physical activity. Only 36% of children get the doctors’ recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
  • Studies show that children returning from recess are more focused in the classroom and better prepared to learn.

About

Playworks takes the chaos and conflict out of elementary school recess and creates opportunities for children to learn and grow through meaningful play. Playworks places full-time, well-trained adult “coaches” in low-income, urban elementary schools to teach and organize games and physical activities throughout the school day and after school. Playworks coaches create safe, structured, and inclusive play environments during recess that get children more physically active and return them to the classroom more focused and ready to learn. Coaches also deliver classroom and after-school programming, where children learn the rules to new games and important leadership and conflict resolution skills. Playworks’ vision is that one day every child in America will have access to safe, healthy play every day, recognizing that play creates valuable opportunities for children to grow physically, emotionally, and socially.

Key Accomplishments

Play is critical for the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive well-being of children. Playworks is the only national organization in the country dedicated to maximizing the health and learning impact of recess.

  • Since its Boston-area launch in 2006, Playworks has served over 20,000 students in Boston, Revere, and Cambridge.
  • Teachers in Playworks schools report that children are more physically active during recess and more academically focused when they return to the classroom.
  • “Recess Rules,” a report about the value of recess produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, recognized Playworks as an exceptional model for improving the health of children.
  • The Harvard Family Research Project found that Playworks improves students’ focus and participation in class and results in fewer school suspensions.

Join the Cause

In-Kind Support

  • Space for staff trainings and sports leagues
  • Recess equipment
  • Event tickets, prizes, and other awards for student excellence on the playground

Financial Support

  • $25,000 – Sponsor operations in one partner school
  • $5,000 – Sponsor the Junior Coach Program at one partner school
  • $1,000 – Sponsor a girls’ basketball or co-ed volleyball team for a full season of weekly practices and games

Learn More

Want to learn more about Playworks? View their full Social Innovation Forum prospectus here

Contact Information

Max Fripp
Executive Director
(617) 553-4472
mfripp@playworks.org

Playworks at the Seventh Annual Social Innovation Forum Showcase Event

Read more about the other past Social Innovators