Episode 18: Founder of Playocracy, Lynn Campanella

“If recess is your break from work, that's when you should also be given a choice and allow yourself to pick what you would like to do.”

The purpose of the Student Fitness Experts Podcast series is to empower and educate anyone that works with kids, in a way that benefits the whole child to become successful, strong, and empowered young adults.

For today’s episode, we are excited to introduce to you Lynn Campanella, who’s the CEO and the Chief Play Officer at Playocracy, an organization that collaborates with schools to create a quality recess experience that stretches beyond the confines of the actual playground. Listen in as Lynn shares her personal experiences which taught her the importance of fitness and how she continues to work on helping grow children mentally, socially and physically strong. If you’ve never thought about the huge benefits of providing a good recess time for your children, this episode has ideas for you to think on! Know how Lynn brought about the perfect curriculum essential by introducing ways in which recess time could help shape children. 

Tune in and learn the importance of mental and social fitness in children to set them up for ultimate success!

About the Guest:

Lynn Campanella is the CEO and the Chief Play Officer at Playocracy. She believes that not only developing, but also allowing children to practice a social skills curriculum during play is an excellent way to develop peer- and self- regulation. For over a dozen years, Lynn has led workshops on play recess and physical literacy in Canada and the US as an advocate of child development and creativity. She has mapped out an educational platform that utilizes play as the conduit to help increase the physical, mental, and social well being of children, and has developed a comprehensive recess leadership program called lead recess that focuses on developing social and emotional learning through play. 

Lynn says one can bring in a sense of belongingness and comfort by integrating mindful play activities in school. Her words are sure to do wonders in your child’s life!

TimeStamps:

• [02:22] Lynn shares how she came up with the interesting bio she has on her website
• [07:34] Lynn talks about the social-emotional part of recess
• [09:11] About Lynn’s ideas on recess
• [13:25] Why children should have a choice to decide what to do during recess time
• [16:57] Lynn shares why she finds perfection to be overrated
• [23:15] Understanding what recess means to Lynn
• [29:15] Know how schools are considering recess to be like
• [34:57] Lynn shares her childhood experience that influenced the role of fitness in her life
• [39:31] What does ‘fearless’ mean to Lynn?
• [41:48] The role of fitness in Lynn’s life
• [44:05] Lynn’s advice for you
• [43:10] Connect with Lynn

Quotes:

“I'm a competitive person, but I don't like competition in front of others.”

“The social-emotional part is actually one of the more critical pieces of recess than the physical part.”

“So instead of looking at recess as first of all a negative by saying no all the time, and by not planning, and not looking at recess, as an intentional time of the school day, which it is, so why not take advantage of that?”

“But giving them the opportunity to lead in a certain area where their interests are, doesn't have to be okay.”

“If recess is your break from work, that's when you should also be given a choice and allow yourself to pick what you would like to do.”

“Perfection is overrated.”

“Kids know how to play, they know what's going on.”

 

Connect with Lynn :

Website: https://playocracy.ca/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-campanella-05249b126/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynncampy/