Building Community Through Play

Interplay is an organization in Oakland that whose goal is to inspire activism through thoughtful and engaging play. Youth for Environmental Santiy (YES!) is an organization that works to empower and connect youth activists from all over the world. These two organizations collaborated for a meaningful and fun workshop with us on The Great Turning Trip.

Through play, they intend to unite body, mind, and soul, to find the good in you. The goal is to have play without expectations or judgment, so that each person expands to their full creative potential and is willing to completely open their minds. I enjoyed the activities that they did with us. First we played some simple but silly games to get us warmed up and relaxed, then as the workshop progressed, the activities got more and more interpersonal, until we were learning how to use appreciative inquiries to get to know each other on a much deeper level. I will take some of the games that we learned their will me elsewhere because they were so fun. The workshop promoted a lot of understanding and trust in the group.

The emphasis on fun was similar to the Striking at the Roots Workshop and many of the other organizations that we visited. There was a general trend that all the organizations we visited were interested in having fun communities as well as making a difference in the larger world. Interplay was the most focused on this out of all the organizations.