Together with the UConn Neag School of Education, CSCH cohosted a Twitter Chat about the effect of play on the brain on Thursday, February 15, 2018. Jaci VanHeest, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and the Department of Kinesiology, was the featured guest. Participants were encouraged to watch Dr. VanHeest’s CSCH live talk, “The Boy Who Learned How to Play,” (http://ow.ly/Ti0V30i5L3I ) before taking part.

During the chat, Dr. VanHeest discussed how play affects the brain physiologically and how it impacts executive function. She also answered questions about the importance of free play, physical literacy, and gave advice for teachers and for those trying to implement programs in schools. Dr. VanHeest also shared numerous resources about the topic.

To read through the twitter chat you can either put #brainplaychat into Twitter’s search bar or you can view a pdf of the chat from Storify here: https://csch.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2206/2018/02/STORIFY_The-Effect-of-Play-on-the-Brain.pdf