This week's episode is a powerful conversation with international speaker and writer Mike Montague. We tackle one of the most difficult issues facing us humans these days – what to do about social media. We talk about our response to the Netflix documentary, The...
You might say it’s strange to see the words joy and dementia in the same sentence. Mary Fridley and Susan Massad believe that’s part of a problem that needs solving. We’ve been thinking about dementia in very unhelpful ways. It’s unhelpful for people with dementia,...
In case you haven't heard, the world is in crisis right now. We have big complex issues that need real solutions. But none of them will be solved if we can’t figure out how to talk to each other. Right now, everything seems to be a stalemate. It’s kind of a “my way...
Pat Rumbaugh, founder of Let’s Play America, returns for another conversation on PlayGrouding! Affectionately known as “The Play Lady,” Pat is well-known in her home of Takoma Park, Maryland, for organizing play days for people of all ages. Since we can’t meet...
Scott Froschauer is an artist known by many for his public art installations of street signs. They look just like the street signs you pass by every day, but the messages they convey are not what you’d ever expect to see. This episode continues the conversation...
The Global Play Brigade is here to help. If you need to smile, to work through tough emotions, or to make some new friends, they've got you. But more importantly, the Global Play Brigade is here to help us find better ways to make tough decisions and dream up new...
Leslie Foster’s most recent installation, "Heavenly Brown Body" is based on a haunting poem by the late Mark Aguhar called "Litanies to My Heavenly Brown Body."
This week, you’ll be hearing from Mary Catanzaro, Founder of POGO Events in New York City. She left her career in the corporate world to bring people together for scavenger hunts and game nights throughout the city. But now, instead of in-person events, she’s taken...
Dada, the Beats and the Hippies - what do they all have in common? The way they played was a problem for the authorities, for the people in power trying to instill black and white order on the world. This week on PlayGrounding we’ll be talking to Shepherd Siegel,...
Free play, also known as child-directed play, is becoming more and more restricted for American kids. We’ve talked on PlayGrounding many times about the importance of free play, how it’s where many children first encounter risk and freedom. It’s where they first...
Lack of play is a serious problem for us humans. Play geeks like me call it “play suppression.” In the worst cases, studies have shown that children who are kept from playing by their parents tend to have a hard time learning to relate to others and deal with their...
Kids love to play make-believe. When we talk about bringing back play as adults, this one seems like a stretch. Adults don’t play make believe, do we? Grownups don’t get together and announce that today we’re going to play Star Wars and you get to be Luke. Or do...
Amber Clisura is a force of nature. The good kind. And she has some very strong feelings about the vitality of play to share with us in this episode. She believes that how we play can shape our own lives as well as help to open up the possibility of joy and fun in...
It’s easy to point a finger at over-protective parents, but don’t let yourself away with being over-protective of YOU. You’ll be missing all the fun. It’s so sad, right? Many kids don’t get to run free and play with sticks or climb dangerous jungle gyms...
When we were kids, everyone thought it was important for us to play. They even set up this weird thing called “recess” where we could encounter the awesome world of the playground. They knew it was good for us then, but what about now? As adults, no one seems to...
Keeping your feet on the ground is the number one cause of boring, uninspired lives. In addition to taking care of ourselves and our families, we have every right to play and lead fun, fulfilling and interesting lives. It's one thing to know that and another to...
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