Mischelle reached out to us in 2016, sharing her passion for play. In 2017, we met her at the Playwork Campference — it was inspiring to hear her perspective and learn about her exciting plans for her community and upcoming adventures. Here are some of her reflections.
What began as a weekend exploration at the first-ever Playwork Campference (February 16-19, 2017) on how to build my own one-acre adventure playground by myself, quickly evolved into life lessons on the importance of community, starting small, and embracing diversity.
Landing in Val Verde, California, I met some of the world’s leading playworkers, advocates, enthusiasts and researchers all gathered for the United States’ inaugural Playwork Campference. What a remarkable experience!
The veteran playworkers’ advice was clear: build an adventure play community, start with small, one-day pop-up play events, and partner with community organisations such as museums, schools, nonprofits and recreation departments to co-create vibrant play spaces.
One pressing question stood out to me: where are all the play people of colour? Why was I the only one there? The veterans’ answer was simple: “Exactly.” From that moment, I decided to do my Mahatma Gandhi thing — to “be the change I wanted to see in the world” by bringing adventure play equity to Black and Brown children.
On March 27, 2017, my nonprofit, Humans2nature Inc., teamed up with:
- The City of Cleveland’s Division of Recreation’s 18 recreation centres;
- Cleveland State University;
- Home Depot and Cultured Bazaar;
- The city of Cleveland’s first-ever “loose parts” pop-up adventure playground at Camp George Forbes.
The Playwork Campference confirmed my purpose: adventure play for life is real and there is a vibrant global community of play enthusiasts dedicated to the motto, “play is for everyone.” Thank you, Playwork Campference!
To host your own pop-up adventure playground, register your event here for free resources. To read more about the Playwork Campference, explore our reflections and further reflections.
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By Mischelle Brown
