Playgrounding

For some of us adults, the kind of play we remember as kids doesn’t exist anymore in many communities across America. It’s a specific kind of play called “free play.” When I was a kid, I remember running out into the neighborhood after school. I organically discovered and teamed up with the kids that lived nearby even if they were older or younger than me, girls or boys. We came together to play, to find things and make stuff. We had fights and made up. We made up games, put on performances, played pretend and dress-up. So what’s so important about this kind of play? And what does it mean for kids who don’t get to experience it? What about us adults? Is something really missing from our lives? That’s what we’re going to dig into today with my new friend and our guest, Pat Rumbaugh, a.k.a. “The Play Lady.” Pat Rumbaugh is co-founder of Let’s Play America and is affectionately known by many as The Play Lady. She founded the organization TakomaPlays! in Takoma Park, Maryland, in March 2009. TakomaPlays! is now p