[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're now joined by Robin Grossman, Executive Director of Playworks, New York, New Jersey.

Robin, good to see you.

- Thanks for having me Steve.

- You gotta it.

Tell everyone what Playworks is as we put up the website.

- Sure.

Playworks is the leading evidence-based nonprofit leveraging the power of play to help kids socially, physically, and emotionally during the school day and you know, throughout their lives.

- You know, you've told our producers that play is a quote unquote "an equity issue."

Make that case.

- Sure.

I mean, not everyone has the opportunity for safe green spaces or safe outdoor spaces to play.

Playworks focuses on the schools and the communities most in need.

And oftentimes those, you know, those communities really have less opportunity and access to play.

And so you know, for us we want all kids to have the same opportunity.

- Newark, New York City, are those the two primary areas?

- They're primary areas.

I mean, we're throughout New York and New Jersey.

We're also upstate in Rochester and Buffalo and Niagara Falls and you know, throughout Westchester and other New Jersey locations.

- Robin talk about, when I think about our own kids and watching them play over the years with other kids, and I don't want to get too analytical about what comes out of play, what the byproducts of play are but it does teach us an awful lot about life.

Does it not?

Talk to us.

- Absolutely.

I mean, you know, we get our social emotional skills through play, right?

You know, and that's pretty much it.

You know, it's about respect for each other.

It's about leadership, empathy, conflict resolution, teamwork, leadership, and more importantly, inclusivity.

You know, now more than ever.

You know, we want kids to feel included, to feel like they have an opportunity.

And we want there to be play for our kids with all abilities.

- COVID and play, isolation.

COVID and play, again, three years plus into the pandemic.

You don't get those years back.

Say a kid was five and that kid seven, eight coming, I don't wanna say outta the pandemic 'cause we're living with COVID.

A lot less play for a long time.

Real impact, correct?

- An enormous impact.

I mean, one of the things that we're seeing is that we're working with kids who might be in third and fourth grade and things that we would've worked with them, you know, in first grade.

You know, you said it, the pandemic isolation.

The fact that children were not interacting with each other but they also weren't interacting with adults or adults that, you know, work with them.

Whether, you know, not their parents but obviously other adults in their lives.

You know, so for us, we're sort of back to basics with kids and making sure those social-emotional skills are right there in step with the academic lessons that they need to learn.

- So help us understand this in terms of Playworks work.

How do you facilitate this?

Is it through the schools?

Is it through other organizations?

How do you actually get to these kids?

- Right, so we partner with both schools and out-of-school providers, both you know, offering direct service and training and consultative opportunities for adults who serve kids.

So we might partner with schools, art school providers they could be community centers, YMCAs, boys and girls clubs.

You know, there's a lot of organizations that we work with but our main focus is working with schools with the highest need.

So those tend to be urban settings, if you will.

And oftentimes those kids have less access, less opportunity, you know, not only to play, but to you know, equipment, to you know, to whatever it might be available to them.

And so we really focus on things that they may not need equipment, you know, you could go onto our website and take a look at our game guide and the opportunity there.

- What is a game guide?

- Yeah, so it's a game guide.

It's hundreds of pages of different games and activities and it's broken down into different, you know, opportunities with equipment, without equipment, you know, what kind of access do you have?

We wanna be sure that kids can play no matter where they are.

So for example, we live in the northeast, right?

So there's a lot of bad weather.

Kids might not have as much access to the outdoor space.

So we're really looking to show a school how they can play in a hallway, how they can play in a cafeteria, how they can play in a classroom and give those kids the opportunity.

You know, it's also really important that they sort of get that physical, you know, energy out so they can be more focused when they get back into the classroom.

- There's a real connection between play and mental health.

- Absolutely.

- There really is.

- Yeah, there's no doubt.

- Talk about it.

- I mean, you know, it's all three of those things, right?

The social, the physical and emotional.

And for us, you know, we want kids to be able to have that break.

You know, we know that educators and parents are concerned about that, you know, that pandemic time of you know, academic loss.

But for us they're really equal.

You know, it's a partnership between play and you know, the academic setting.

And for us, you know, kids need to you know, learn those social skills so they can be mentally strong and they can, you know, support each other, be peer leaders but also be respectful of their adults and really feel good about themselves.

That's the most important thing.

You know, sometimes having fun is the most you know, mentally healthy thing you can do.

- You know, you making me go back and think about growing up in Newark, New Jersey, when I did, who I grew up with, and I realized that the kids I played with on Tiffany Boulevard, the street in Newark, New Jersey and then on Highland Avenue where we moved to when I was nine, that the way we played had a big impact on our neighborhood slash community.

Am I making too much of that?

- No, not at all.

Because you know, it comes down to culture and climate, right?

Of that community and whether that's your, you know, neighborhood community or whether that's your school community.

You know, that's one of the things that Playworks is focusing on with our partners, right?

What does that school culture and climate look like?

And similarly, if you guys are all out on the street, you know, no matter what you're playing, right?

Wiffle ball, kick the can, any of those things you know, kickball, which is one of our favorites, you know, the most important thing is how you interact with each other and what does that mean for your community.

And that's the same in a school setting.

Absolutely.

- You remind me of the Ridge Street School playground which was open all summer as a kid, public school that I grew up in the neighborhood.

And it was open all summer and they used to have summer programs.

Now they do not allow dodgeball anymore but at the time they did.

But I remember that whether it was kickball or dodgeball whatever it was, basketball, all concrete, right?

Brick City has its name, Newark for that reason, right?

But man, I mean it was a place where we were all day in the Ridge Street School playground.

I'm sorry, you brought me back.

Robin, final words on your end.

- You know, listen Steve that's exactly what plays' about, right?

Is that we are always gonna remember those, you know, those scenarios, whether we're playing with our friends we're playing in school and those are the things that sort of, you know, build who we are.

And that's why it's so important to ensure that kids have those opportunities, that they're you know, socially, physically and emotionally strong and they're partnering that with their academics.

And you know, that's what Playworks is here to help.

We hope people will check out our website, check out that game guide that I talked about.

Absolutely and it's you know, for us we hope you'll reach out and learn more about us.

- Robin Grossman, Executive Director of Playworks, New York, New Jersey.

Thank you so much and sorry for my reminiscing about my play as a kid.

Appreciate it.

- Thanks so much.

- Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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