Play as a Classroom Tool
Play in Education (PIE) Conference
Part of the Holiday Chicago Toy and Game Fair
When: Saturday, Nov. 9th, 9am-2pm
Where: Rosemont Convention Center
Room 14 on main floor of Convention Center - Close to Fair
Here is a Floor Plan!
From games to manipulatives, learning-based play has an unmistakably large impact in the classroom.
In addition to great content (see below), participants will receive:
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Free entry for you and your family to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair
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CPDU/CE Credits
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First 50 people to register receive a gift bag!
First 50 educators to register receive a giftbag of toys and games!
One Attendee Will Win the Golden Game Award and a bag worth over $xxx worth of M.E.S.H. certified toys and games!
Joyce Hemphill, Moderator
Joyce Hemphill
Joyce is the 2021 recipient of the Youth Development Practitioner Award given by the Youth
Learning Institute at Clemson University holds a doctorate in developmental psychology
from The Ohio State University and has 30 years of experience teaching infant-child
development, cognition, and learning. She retired from the University of Wisconsin-
Madison in 2012. Presently, she organizes community play events and gives
workshops to educators, youth groups, families, and social-service agencies on the
benefits of play and the ways to play using common recyclable materials. The book,
The Power of Playful Learning (2015, Capstone Publishing) and her “Playing from
Scratch” column for the US Play Coalition newsletter highlight these activities. Her
activities have also been published in Highlights for Children magazine. The presenter
has 30 years of experience giving workshops and presentations at state, national, and
international conferences, and professional development seminars.
We're in a Youth Mental Crisis. M.E.S.H. can Help.
Rachele Harmuth, Head of ThinkFun division of Ravensburger
Rachele Harmuth, Head of ThinkFun at Ravensberger, Dives Into Parents and Educators Top Concern
Kids are struggling with their mental health and parents are worried. This is the consensus of conversations that have been happening around the country between multitudes of retailers and parents. Rachele Harmuth, the new Head of ThinkFun, heard this consistently as she and her team were researching what were the primary needs of the current marketplace. “Clearly there is a major unmet need around kid’s mental health that is consuming parents and educators. They were turning to toy retailers for help, but beyond toys that provide comfort like stuffed animals and fidgets retailers weren’t sure what to suggest. It isn’t currently clear what products would build mental health skills for the future. We knew we needed to really dig in and understand the situation.” Rachele Harmuth
The statistics are truly concerning. For example, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of children had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” in 2022. Further, 71% of parents believe that the pandemic has taken a toll on their child’s mental health. Parents are spending increasing time and resources trying to figure out if their kids are ok, and working to protect them. And, according to a report from the National Association of Mental Illness, 89% of parents are more concerned about their child’s mental health than their academic achievement.
ThinkFun has spent the last six months digging into the research and interviewing experts about the evidence-based strategies that have been proven to protect mental health in children, teens and young adults. This work, called MESH (Mental, Emotional and Social Health), identifies eight skills that strengthen mental health in kids: problem-solving, perseverance, adaptation, conflict resolution, self-regulation, cognitive growth, self-advocacy and interpersonal communication.
Harmuth explains that while comfort items like fidgets or plush toys are important to promote recovery and healing in the midst of trauma, the research her team has done is uncovering strategies where play is actually building MESH skills. Toys that promote these strategies actively strengthen the skills in children that builds resilience both in the immediate and in the future. MESHhelps.org
Agenda
Saturday, November 9th
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You are welcome to leave your family (if applicable) at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair an hour before it officially opens so you can attend this Conference! To get tickets, visit this webpage, click on Tickets and use the promo code PIE to comp your tickets. The Fair is just across the lobby from the PIE Conference!
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9:00am - Welcome, Joyce Hemphill
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9:30am - Rachele Harmuth - M.E.S.H. - Mental - Emotional - Social - Health.
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10:00am - Sandra Harrison - DVA Training and Development
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10:30am - Becky Hanafin - Playful learning activities in Literature/Poetry
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11:00am - Lynnette Brent - Play as an instructional strategy
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11:30am - Kenneth Joslin - Using games as a way for students to apply what they've learned.
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12:00pm - Lunch and Toy and Game Hands On Demos
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1:00pm - Emily Shanahan & Morgan Brown
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1:30pm - TBA
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2:00pm - Have fun at The Chicago Toy & Game Fair
Thank You to our Sponsors!
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