Support the wellbeing of kids: Create opportunities to play this summer

By Elizabeth Cushing, CEO, and Beth Eisen, director of Marketing and Communications, Playworks.

This blog is part of a series on the social, emotional, and mental health supports our kids will need as they recover from the pandemic. As we urge a holistic approach to recovery, partners in the afterschool, summer learning, and out-of-school time field are developing creative and powerful ways to help young people build resilience and thrive.

This summer, kids deserve some joy and the chance to reconnect with each other.

Since the beginning of the pandemic America’s children have been forced to grapple with challenging circumstances and have had to demonstrate incredible resilience. Millions of children have adapted to so many changes that have come their way, but the lingering effects of stress and fear will likely have lasting impact. If we are to help kids recover from the pandemic we must prioritize students’ social, emotional and mental wellbeing. We must prepare to address the trauma kids may have faced this year, supporting each child as we develop a ‘new normal’ in which they feel safe, empowered, and engaged. Recovering from the past year will require that we make time for kids to transition to social interaction with peers again and ultimately, to renewed joy, connection, and feeling safe.

This is a critical moment for all of our children.

Summer programs can play a vital role in shaping this journey by supporting student learning and development while being fun. If summer opportunities are designed to enable kids to get back to being kids together again, then they’ll be more prepared to return to school ready to learn this fall. We recommend one simple strategy for ensuring kids experience joy and connection: play.

Play is kids’ natural way to experiment and learn to navigate the world, including building friendships. The American Academy of Pediatrics said, “Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears.” It is our responsibility as adults to intentionally create opportunities for kids to play in ways that ensure they feel empowered and can choose how they will engage. From our 25 years of experience of creating safe and healthy opportunities for kids to play every day, Playworks has developed practical ways you can engage kids in play this summer, virtually or in person.

• Have kids join in games led by trained youth development coaches, so kids get the social and emotional benefit of practicing skills through play and debriefing games.
• Use play to help children see and celebrate their differences and similarities. Games like “Superstar” and “I Love My Neighbor” are fun, low-stakes ways to build individual relationships.
• Learn to play some of our favorite games that work virtually or socially distanced and then lead those activities with kids.
• Step away from the screen and try these fun Go for a Walk Games.
• Create opportunities for kids to modify the games they loved before the pandemic to make them safe to play today. Set the stage of the goals for the brainstorm and empower kids to get creative!

The joy, laughter, smiles, and cheers that kids will experience when playing together this summer will enable them to get back to experiencing the childhood they deserve.