Project Description
Empowered By Play Mission: To help families and teachers protect and promote imaginative play in this way-too busy, media-filled, consumer-driven world.
Empowered by Play was founded in 2009 by teacher-turned-activist Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, M.Ed. An early childhood educator for 25 years, she is also a mother of twin boys. Geralyn became a play advocate in response to her classroom observations of children who were forced to grow up too quickly in the current commercialized, plugged-in culture. Compelled to become more active in the role of protecting and promoting imaginative play, she began writing and speaking out. She began the Empowered by Play to connect, inform and energize others who are in this pursuit. She is on the steering committee of TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) , an active member of CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood), and a founding teacher of the Mission Hill School in Boston, MA.
Empowered by Play is a member of the US Play Coalition, and is New York State not-for-profit and is in the process of becoming a registered 501 (c) 3 organization. For our director’s most current thoughts on empowering children through play check out the Empowered by Play blog.
