Initiatives
Reintroduce Free Play
The Why
In most of America, the days of sandlot/playground, pickup sports are long gone, replaced by a culture of practices, games and travel.
Kids are chauffeured and chaperoned by parents fearful of leaving their children unsupervised. Practice time is rigidly scheduled, with teams participating in ever more games and tournaments. The loss of free play has cost kids opportunities to exercise creativity, set and achieve goals, learn interpersonal skills and develop a love of physical activity for its own sake. Let kids play on their own terms, and they will.
As recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics
Four social barriers to informal play
More single parents, dual-working parents
Professionalization of parenthood
Impact of standardized testing mandates
Competition for college admissions
(Data: Ginsburg, Pediatrics, 2007)
What We Are Doing
For Youth Sport Organizations
Project Play WNY provides funding to organizations in the region to host Free Play Zones through the Summer and Winter Free Play Series competitive grant processes.
For Parents
Parents & families can use our event calendar as a resource to find Project Play WNY Free Play events throughout the eight-county region. Summer Free Play events run from June through Labor Day and Winter Free Play events take place during most schools’ February break.
Looking for ideas to get kids moving and having fun? Check out Project Play’s Free Play Deck of Cards for Free Play Fun!
Contact us
If you are a youth sports organization interested in collaborative work to facilitate free play programming, please email inquiries to ProjectPlayWNY@CFGB.org.