The U.S. Play Coalition’s second “Play Date” of 2023, The Wild side of PLAY”, took place on August 11, 2023, at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, KY. Play Dates are day-long “mini conferences” with content that draws inspiration from the location and the play experts in that area. The Play Date, planned and hosted by Bernheim staff with generous support from sponsors Landscape Structures, Nickelodeon, and Midstates Recreation, had 39 people attend sessions including The Wild Side of Nature and Nurture, Deciding on Wild: Why Nature Play? Getting Into Wild: Accessibility in Natural Places and more along with networking activities and guided hikes
Indiana University’s Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands is the new home for the U.S. Play Coalition and Conference on the Value of Play. This nationally recognized program is relocating from the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University to Eppley. After a pause in 2023 for the transition of the Coalition to its new home, the annual Conference on the Value of Play will return April 16-18, 2024, on the Indiana University- Bloomington campus.