The Play Lady – Advocating for Play in the Community

Pat Rumbaugh, better known as the Play Lady, joins Dr. Rhea to share her experiences as a community play advocator. Hear how she got started, her journey to becoming an author, and many fun stories from her annual Play Days! Pat Rumbaugh, with an M.A. in Sports Psychology, taught physical education and coached children’s sports for 30 years. From this experience, she learned that everyone could benefit from unstructured play. In her new identity as The Play Lady, she has conducted over 150 play events since founding a play committee in 2009.  The play committee led to the development of the non-profit Let’s Play America (http://www.letsplayamerica.org) that embodies people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds with play days, streets closed to play, and other play events. See her website for upcoming events, books she has written, and TED talks she has presented.  Other resources mentioned in this episode: Let’s PlayAmerica Kaboom! National Night Out School of Rock PlayDay Handbook Changex.org