PAEYC and Allegheny County Family Support Conference

September 21-22, 2012

PLAY! Transforming Children, Families, Communities and LIVES!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

PLAY: Transforming Children, Families, Communities and LIVES! featured sessions that enhance, advance and support the understanding that play - a natural activity for children - is at the core of developmentally appropriate practice and is the foundation of development and learning. Children at play engage in behavior that is freely chosen, self-motivated, process-oriented and truly enjoyable.  Children who play experiment, explore, pretend, discover and MOVE! Through play, children bond with their parents, their caregivers, their teachers and develop the socialization and critical thinking skills needed to be successful in both school and life. Early childhood educators, parents and all adults who have a meaningful role in the lives of children must embrace and nurture the fundamental role of play in learning and development. We must know how to preserve play as the norm for young children, and ensure that children (and the adults in their lives) have the opportunity to pretend, experiment, run, jump, build and truly be engaged in the learning that takes place each and every day of their lives.

Keynote presentations were by:

• Darell Hammond, CEO and Founder of KaBOOM! 
• Dr. Linda Carson, PhD, Co-Creator and Lead Trainer of I Am Moving, I Am Learning 
• Celebration Dinner to recognize Marge Petruska of The Heinz Endowments

Workshop Schedule and Description:

To search an online listing of the workshops and their accompanying materials, click here.