The Power of Play: Reclaiming Childhood for a Better World

In a fast-paced world filled with screens, rigid schedules, and academic pressure, unstructured play is often dismissed as a luxury or a waste of time. Yet child-directed play is fundamental to youth liberation, emotional resilience, problem-solving, and healthy communities.

Yoni Kallai is a founding board member and head “playworker” at The Yard, an adventure, child-led play space on Governors Island, NYC. The Yard is run by play:groundNYC, a non-profit dedicated to transforming the city through play, reimagining the urban environment as a place for all children to play, create, and explore, regardless of demographic status, while recognizing the racial, socio-economic, and other barriers to free play. All will be connected to real stories, pictures, and videos from The Yard.

Aug 23 at 11am, at Brooklyn Ethical, 269 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Where: In-Person (RSVP HERE FOR IN-PERSON) at 269 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
&  Zoom* (RSVP HERE FOR VIRTUAL)
*must RSVP above to receive link

About Yoni Kallai

Yoni Kallai is the program director, Head Playworker, and a co-founder of play:groundNYC, a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the city through play, and home to its flagship, The Yard, an adventure playground on Governors Island.
Besides his main work, Yoni is a man who has seen the world from many directions. He was a combat officer in the military and is now a peace activist; he was trained as a computer engineer and turned to being a circus artist. Yoni welcomes conversations in any and all directions.