Advocacy

Why is Advocating for Play so Important? Alarming Trends Affecting Childhood IPA USA is deeply concerned by many alarming trends…

Membership

If you believe that: • Play, along with the basic needs of nutrition, health, shelter and education, is vital for…

About Us

Promoting the Child's Right to Play Founded in 1973, The American Association for the Child’s Right to Play became the…

UN Convention on the Rights of Children

WHAT IS IT? The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political,…

2024 IPA Conference

We've begun planning for another fantastic IPA Conference, and 2024 will bring us to Greenville, SC! Beginning the evening of…

Advocacy

Why is Advocating for Play so Important? Alarming Trends Affecting Childhood IPA USA is deeply concerned by many alarming trends…

GRANTS

MINI GRANT OPPORTUNITY To be eligible for a grant, you must be a current member of IPA USA The USA…

What We Do

IPA-USA carries forth the mission of its parent organization, IPA World. To accomplish the Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles, IPA-USA…

Join IPA-USA and Advocate for Play

Membership

If you believe that: • Play, along with the basic needs of nutrition, health, shelter and education, is vital for the development of the potential of all children;• Family participation needs to be strengthened by support systems such as play leadership;• Environments and programs to meet children’s real needs should be created. If you are…

Read More
Shop

“Scholarly Snapshots” now available on Amazon This book gathers 16 theorists from diverse spaces to see what they each have to say about play. From deep in the 19th century until contemporary times, across cultures and different disciplines, through many languages, these theorists observed children in their finest form, at play. From social interactions to meaningful…

Read More
State Play Advocates

How does IPA/USA advocate for play across the nation? By having advocates like you at the local level. Not all support for this cause is monetary – sometimes the most important donation you can make is your time. We are in the process of expanding this network and would love your participation. Please feel free…

Read More
Donate and Help Support Play

Your support can make all the difference in a child’s day. IPA-USA is a 501(c)(3), and your donation is tax-deductible.

Read More

Play Talk

Articles and Discussions around the importance of Play. Members can find more in our Play Blast and eJournals!

Memories of Play – an essay

As we mentioned in our last post, we recently shared two publications with our members, Priorities in Play and Inspirationally Playful. These were shared with us at the 2023 IPA World Conference, by John McKendrick of Glasgow Caledonian University. As he states in his forward, Included with this collection is an essay from IPA USA…

Continue Reading

“Redressing The Play Deficit”

At the 2023 IPA World Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, John McKendrick of Glasgow Caledonian University shared two collections of essays, Priorities In Play and Inspirationally Playful. (IPA USA membership is required to view the full publications. For log-in questions, please contact us here.) As John states in Priorities In Play, “The idea behind this collection…

Continue Reading

Why Kids Need to Play in Nature: A Guide

Visit the website below for statistics on why forest and outdoor learning experiences are needed for healthy development. 50 ways forest and outdoor learning experiences benefit child development: https://www.forestholidays.co.uk/outdoor-education-and-child-development-guide/ Our piece covers a few essential things: Statistics on how much outdoor experiences help children learn. The important skills like confidence and responsibility that kids learn by being outdoors. How outdoor…

Continue Reading

Make Play a Part of Your Day!

Join Now