Global Play Day with a twist at ACE Place

Times Photo submitted by Amanda J. Zondervan

By Amanda Zondervan
ACE Place Learning Centre

On Feb. 4, ACE Place came alive with a different energy as students celebrated Global Play Day, dedicating part of their school day to play, crafting, and collaborative problem-solving. This hands-on event fostered creativity and community spirit, showcasing staff and students’ enthusiasm and teamwork in action.

“I thought this Play Day was well-planned and coordinated, and it was very fun. My first play day was enjoyable, and I did a lot of good things. Open Workshop is my favourite activity. This play day was more fun because I knew what I was doing better. Our brains need to play so we are not stressed out,” shared grade 10 students Ryder and Corny. Under the guidance of Ace Place’s At Home Learning Educator, Meg Fraser, the day was organized with the support of staff and students – all contributing through suggestions, preparation, and hosting.

The planning process involved students identifying what they would like to do, while challenging them to discover new and different things. For Play Day to come together successfully, students need to collaborate to find activities that will work for everyone involved, use executive functioning skills to create timetables and schedules, and ensure that there is space for anyone who needs time for emotional regulation.

Describing ACE’s distinctive learning environment, “A lot of what we do here at ACE is thinking through all the possibilities and scenarios because we like to do things a little bit differently, and that’s our strength here. So, something like play day in a completely different setup than other schools, as ours is an Outreach learning environment, it’s a little bit different, and our brains are a little bit different in the best way,” explained Meg, who has been involved in six Play Days in different school environments.

The very first Play Day at ACE Place kicked off in 2024, which had 15 participants. In 2025, the number of participants doubled, reflecting growing excitement and interest in the event. And this year, attendance reached 55, an impressive number of participants considering Play Day was an option for half of them, revealing the popularity and impact of the movement.

Another important factor to Play Day is the distraction from devices. As noted by Claire, “A lot of kids, and I will say, including me, have been sucked into social media. It’s not healthy, it definitely makes us want to be older faster. With Play Day you get to use your brain more, which most of us don’t use when we’re sitting at home. We’re mostly on our beds doom-scrolling on some social media platform, so Play Day gives you a chance to use your brain without using electronics.”

Global School Play Day has been hosted on the first Wednesday of February since its inception in 2015. The intention was to create space for unstructured play in light of the demands for standardized testing and academic pressure. It is a movement meant to spark conversation around the value of learning through play.

“I think it’s important for our brains to learn and try new things that we usually wouldn’t do on a school day, to have more interactions with other people, and learn new games, or creatively build, or craft,” shared Lizzy, who spent most of her time in the open workspace creating Valentine’s cards and gifts, while engaging in conversations with peers she may not always have time to connect with.