# Event Details

- **Event Name**: 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit
- **Event Start and End Date**: Thu, 20 Aug, 2026 at 08:00 am – Thu, 20 Aug, 2026 at 03:00 pm
- **Event Description**: The Right to Play: How Play Liberates Learning and Supports Whole Child HealthAbout this EventJoin us for a day packed with creative workshops, engaging speakers, and networking opportunities! Agenda and speakers TBA!Presented by Healthi Kids, the Playful Learning Summit is a hub for educators, parents, and community partners to explore the transformative power of playful education. Our goal is to ensure that every child can access playful learning experiences both in the classroom and after school, tailored to their unique needs.This year's theme is "The Right to Play: How Play Liberates Learning and Supports Whole Child Health."NOTE for RCSD teachers and staff: To receive professional development credit, you must also register for the Summit inside of True North Logic, as well.Through the generous support of the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, we are proud to be able to offer this quality conference at a subsidized rate of just $10 per person.ACCESSIBILITY: If you require ASL or other language interpretation, please indicate this access request on your registration. Interpretation requests must be received by no later than 14 days prior to the event (deadline: August 6) to allow time for us to contract with service providers. Thank you for your understanding.Agenda?: 08:00 AM - 08:30 AMBreakfast / Registration / Tabling?: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AMWelcome / Opening RemarksHost: Healthi Kids?: 09:00 AM - 10:00 AMKeynote: Dreaming for Other People's ChildrenHost: Kisa MarxInfo: Kisa Marx invites educators and leaders to examine the beliefs they hold about children—and how those beliefs shape what becomes possible in the spaces they create. Grounded in lived experience, classroom practice, and liberatory pedagogy, this talk creates space to reflect on how bias, expectation, and inherited narratives show up in daily interactions with children. 
Participants will be encouraged to consider not only what they say they believe about children, but how those beliefs are enacted through environment, relationship, and decision-making. Together, we will explore what it means to expand our vision of what children deserve, and what becomes possible when that vision shifts. 
This session is designed to be felt as much as heard, leaving participants with language, questions, and a deeper sense of responsibility to children’s full humanity. ?: 10:00 AM - 10:15 AMBreak / Tabling?: 10:15 AM - 11:15 AMMorning WorkshopsA) Beyond Behavior: How Play Builds Engagement, Voice, Belonging, and IdentityHost: Ishmael Cox (Fatherhood Connection)Info: Children are often defined by the behaviors adults can see, disengaged, disruptive, withdrawn, or inattentive. Yet behavior is frequently communication. This interactive workshop invites educators to move beyond behavior management and explore how play can cultivate engagement, voice, belonging, and identity-based transformation.
Through movement, discussion, and hands-on experiences, participants will engage in activities that demonstrate how playful learning environments help uncover student stories, elevate student voice, and create opportunities for meaningful participation. Drawing from social-emotional learning and trauma-informed engagement practices, as well as years of facilitating experiences with youth, families, and educators, this session offers practical strategies that can be implemented immediately.
Participants will leave with a framework for designing environments where students are not simply managed, but are seen, heard, and empowered to participate.B) Play Outside the Box: Supporting Diverse Styles of PlayHost: Kylie Becker (Child Care Council)Info: This training empowers daycare providers to creatively engage children with autism and other disabilities in meaningful play, without needing fancy toys or expensive materials. Participants will learn how to use everyday items and simple strategies to support motor, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development. Through practical examples and hands-on practice, providers will gain tools to follow each child’s lead, adapt activities, and foster connection, growth, and joy in play.C) Joy and Rigor: Engaging Elementary Learners in Serious Play Host: Dr. Eileen Radigan (Nazareth University)Info: Often viewed as a frivolous use of time, play has been underestimated for 
its powerful impacts on learning for young children. Research on the significance of play across various educational settings indicates the positive influence play has on motivation, engagement, human development, mental health, and well being. In this session, we will specifically explore how play is central to child development, learning, and relationality in elementary classrooms. Participants will experiment with playful approaches for building relationships that move beyond typical icebreakers. They will also analyze how play promotes the healthy development of elementary-aged children in a variety of areas, including cognitive, social-emotional, and physical domains. Experiencing how play can be integrated into methods for teaching content across the subject areas, participants will additionally establish rigor through playful pedagogy. D) Play is Resilience: How Play Supports Educators and Adults Host: Dr. Sharon Peck (SUNY Geneseo)Info: This interactive session invites educators to rediscover play as a powerful, research‑supported tool for adult wellbeing. Together, we will explore how playful engagement nurtures physical health, mental wellness, cognitive flexibility, and emotional resilience, grounding us in practices that sustain both our professional and personal lives. Play is not a break from the “real work”—it is a way of reconnecting with the joy, compassion, and creativity that make the real work possible.
Through movement, reflection, and collaborative activities, participants will examine how play can interrupt stress cycles, spark curiosity, and restore a sense of aliveness in teaching. You will leave with practical, repeatable strategies for weaving playfulness into daily routines, classroom interactions, and moments of self‑care. This session makes the case that adults deserve play as much as children do—and that reclaiming it allows us to “make a play for joy” in every aspect of our work.?: 11:15 AM - 11:30 AMBreak / Tabling?: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PMLunch?: 12:40 PM - 01:00 PMRecess!?: 01:00 PM - 01:45 PMYouth Panel?: 01:45 PM - 02:00 PMBreak / Tabling?: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PMAfternoon WorkshopsE) Literacy Lift: Playing Our Way Into Literacy With Autistic BrainsHost: Dr. Tyana Velazquez-Smith (Sensational Inclusion)Info: Literacy Lift: Playing Our Way Into Literacy With Autistic Brains invites educators, librarians, and caregivers to reimagine literacy through a neurodiversity-affirming lens. Grounded in the belief that play, care, and connection are essential components of learning, this interactive professional development explores how autistic children engage with stories, language, and literacy in diverse and meaningful ways. Participants will examine common misconceptions about autism, explore sensory-rich and accessible literacy practices, and engage with Sensational Inclusion's PLAY, READ, and CARE frameworks. Through reflection, discussion, and practical application, attendees will leave with strategies for creating literacy experiences that honor autistic identities, strengths, interests, and ways of knowing.F) The Power of 10 Minutes: Micro-Moments of Play That Change EverythingHost: Dawn Breitung (Children's Institute)Info: In today’s classrooms, time feels tight and demands feel high—yet small moments can make a big difference. This interactive session explores how brief, intentional “micro-moments” of play can be woven into classroom instruction and daily routines to enhance engagement, support regulation, strengthen belonging, and deepen learning.
Participants will experience simple, joyful strategies that fit naturally into transitions, lessons, and moments of dysregulation—without adding to educators’ workload. Designed for elementary educators, classroom support staff, and others who work with children in this age range, the workshop offers practical ways to incorporate meaningful play throughout the day.
Grounded in equity and inclusion, the session highlights how play creates multiple entry points for students of all abilities, identities, and learning styles. Educators will leave with ready-to-use tools, a flexible framework, and practical resources they can implement immediately.G) Sensory Responsive PlayHost: Rachel Rosner (WXXI)Info: This workshop will focus on the 8 sensory systems and their impact on play and learning. We will closely study the vestibular sense, proprioception, and interoception. We will examine how learning and behavioral issues can stem from underdeveloped sensory processing, and explore how play helps to build a child's sensory and motor skills.H) Building Play-Based Early Enrichment Programs Through Community PartnershipHost: Dr. Halima Therese Gbaguidi (Unviersity of Rochester)Info: Learning and Exploring at Play (LEAP) is a free K-5 play-based educational enrichment program for students in the Rochester City School District. Covering subjects such as literacy, science, math, art, and social skills, LEAP aims to provide students with a safe and fun space where they can grow, connect, and receive mentorship from our program tutors. To promote intergenerational knowledge transfer and encourage UR students to engage with the community outside UR’s campus, we hire undergraduate students with Federal Work Study (FWS) as tutors and team leads to mentor students each week and to design play-based, educational activities. 
This session will lead participants through what is required to maintain and improve a program like LEAP; discuss challenges that have risen and how they’ve been approached; cover how LEAP has continued to transform in response to the needs of our students and employees; and how to approach community engaged work.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/rochester/2026-healthi-kids-playful-learning-summit/100001991571382617
- **Event Categories**: workshops, business, health-wellness, kids, art, fine-arts, conferences, mental-health, science-fair
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0
- **Event Highlights**: 
  - Duration: 7 hours
  - Location: Monroe Community College
  - Languages: English

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket Price Range**: min: 10, max: 10, currency: USD

## Event venue details

- **city**: Rochester
- **state**: NY
- **country**: United States
- **location**: Monroe Community College
- **lat**: 43.1013062
- **long**: -77.61040419999999
- **full address**: Monroe Community College, 1000 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, United States

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events5/banners/643205cf3e97e0e148bf117cae7302e7c869203e02f7cf2953edeaaeac979d5c-rimg-w1200-h834-dcffffff-gmir.jpg?v=1781287620

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit being held?
  - **A:** 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit takes place on Thu, 20 Aug, 2026 at 08:00 am to Thu, 20 Aug, 2026 at 03:00 pm at Monroe Community College, 1000 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, United States.
- **Q**: Who is organizing 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit?
  - **A:** 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit is organized by Healthi Kids.
- **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me?
  - **A:** 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit is ideal for curious learners, students, and skill-builders looking to gain hands-on knowledge and practical expertise in a focused, interactive setting. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Rochester, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If 2026 Healthi Kids Playful Learning Summit sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast.

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