Playful Learning Summit highlights the power of play for children and adults

The 2026 Playful Learning Summit brought educators, childcare providers, and community leaders together to explore how play supports learning, development, belonging, and wellbeing. 

Early childhood educator, author, and founder of The Playlab Foundation Kisa Marx opened the summit with remarks titled, “Dreaming for Other People’s Children,” inviting attendees to consider how adults can help build a supportive village for every child. For Ali Burns-Ragazzo, a program director with the YMCA of Greater Rochester, the keynote encouraged her to think about “building that village, not just for your children, but for every child” and finding ways to include children who need it most.  

Throughout the day, attendees chose from a variety of sessions focused on integrating play into education, child development, and community engagement. Topics ranged from supporting diverse styles of play for children with disabilities, sensory-responsive play, and literacy development for autistic learners, to building community partnerships and using play to strengthen engagement, identity, and belonging. 

For Laura Brown of Wayne County Community Schools, the summit reaffirmed something she already knew: Play is an important part of learning. After spending 13 years in the classroom, Brown recalled an environment in which academics are often focused on in isolation, rather than something that is strengthened by play. 

“Curriculum was stressed and play really was not,” Brown said. “You were lucky if you made it till 3 o’clock and then got 30 minutes of play.” The summit reminded her that play and learning are not competing activities, and that play can support children’s engagement, development, and readiness to learn.  

Ashley Martinez, a YMCA site director, attended Ishmael Cox’s session, “Beyond Behavior: How Play Builds Engagement, Voice, Belonging, and Identity.” She said the session encouraged her to look beyond labels, consider what may be behind a child’s behavior and make sure young people feel seen and heard—lessons she plans to take to the pre-K through eighth-grade children she serves, and to her life as the mother of two teenage daughters.  

YMCA program directors Garrett DeRosa and Burns-Ragazzo attended Dr. Sharon Peck’s session, “Play is Resilience: How Play Supports Educators and Adults.” Both appreciated the opportunity to reflect on how they played as children and how those experiences continue to shape their lives. DeRosa said the session inspired him to consider new ways to encourage creativity and exploration in YMCA programs. For Burns-Ragazzo, who is also the mother of a 2-year-old, encouraging her child to play means she gets to play again, too.  

For Teara Davis, family and community engagement manager at ROC the Future Alliance, the summit helped connect personal experience, research, and policy. Davis works with families and young people to influence the systems that affect classrooms. She was reminded that adult play can be a way to help policymakers reconnect with the children they once were and remember what it feels like to learn, play, and need support. She believes that experience, combined with research showing the importance of play for children’s learning and development, can help leaders make more informed decisions about policies, budgets, and community investments. 

Across the keynote, workshops, a playful recess, and attendee conversations, one message was clear: Play is not separate from learning, or something to be earned after their work is finished. It is a vital part of how children connect, grow, and thrive. By helping adults experience that fundamental truth for themselves, the Playful Learning Summit offered participants new tools for supporting children in their homes, programs, classrooms, and communities.