Here are links to some other national not-for-profit organizations that focus chiefly or significantly on supporting and promoting the importance of play in learning and human development.
The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. The organization takes a keen interest in research on the current state of child-initiated play in early education and on ways that educators can encourage and restore play.
View Prescription for Play, a video about the importance of play in children's health, produced by the Alliance for Childhood in collaboration with KaBoom!
The Association of Children’s Museums is dedicated to building the capacity of children's museums to serve as town squares for families and children, where play inspires creativity and lifelong learning.
The Association for Play Therapy (APT) advances play therapy, the means by which licensed mental health professionals better communicate with and help children and other clients obtain optimal mental health.
TASP is a multidisciplinary organization of play scholars. Its broad focus includes anthropology, education, psychology, sociology, recreation and leisure studies, history, folklore, dance, communication, the arts, kinesiology, philosophy, cultural studies, and musicology. TASP holds annual conferences and publishes an annual volume of Play & Culture Studies and a newsletter that includes book reviews, research updates, and other information.
The University of the Incarnate Word is home of perhaps the largest children's play and play environment research collection in the United States. The collection is named in honor of its donor, Joe L. Frost, often called the contemporary father of play advocacy.
The International Play Association (IPA) is an interdisciplinary organization that seeks to protect, preserve, and promote children’s right to play. In this effort, IPA brings together people from all professions working for and with children, including play workers, planners, psychologists, educators, academics, architects, artists, researchers, childcare workers, trainers, health workers, and landscape designers.
KaBOOM! is a not-for-profit organization working to ensure that there is a "great place to play" within walking distance of every child in America. The organization rallies communities to achieve better public policy, funding, and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide. It also provides resources such as training, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age eight.
National Institute for Play is committed to bringing the unrealized knowledge, practices, and benefits of play into public life. It is gathering research from diverse play scientists and practitioners, initiating projects to expand the clinical scientific knowledge of human play and translating this emerging body of knowledge into programs and resources which deliver the transformative power of play to all segments of society.
Playworks is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play. Playworks offers comprehensive training and technical support to schools and communities that wish to bring safe, inclusive play to children and provides trained program coordinators to organize recess activities and run after-school tutoring and physical activity programs in low-income, urban districts.
US Play Coalition is a partnership of individuals and organizations seeking to promote the value of play throughout life. Housed in the College of Health, Education, and Human Development at Clemson University, the coalition sponsors conferences on the value of play, provides web content about it, and advocates for it through a variety of action committees.
Here are links to the play-related web pages of some national or international organizations that focus chiefly on business services or consumer products but which also support and promote the importance of play in significant ways beyond their commercial activities.
LEGO Parents is a part of the LEGO.com website. This page provides information about child development and age-appropriate play activities. The site also contains articles about LEGO group research on children’s play patterns and debate pages that invite visitor participation.
Parents' Choice Foundation provides information to help parents participate wisely in their child's learning outside the classroom. The foundation’s collection of play-related web pages offers an ever-changing menu of playful activities, children’s fitness and health tips, and articles and interviews that explore the power of play.
This group of web pages from the Toy Industry Association (TIA) explores the benefits and stages of play and provides information to help parents and caregivers choose age-appropriate toys, encourage positive play experiences, and ensure safe play. See, for example, the TIA “Genius of Play” program.