Play Equity Lab
We believe every child deserves the chance to move, play and thrive.
The goal of our research is to study how families, schools and communities can create environments that support equitable access to play and physical activity, and to translate that evidence into actionable change.
Physical activity helps children thrive. There is strong evidence showing that physical activity is important for children’s physical and mental health and academic success, and can be an opportunity to strengthen positive, protective, social connections. We work with families, schools and communities to study and support environments that can make active play safe, inclusive and joyful.
Only one in four Washington students meet the daily recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity. Neighborhood design plus inequities in access and socioeconomic barriers mean that not all children have the same chance to be active.
At the Play Equity Lab, we:
- Implement and evaluate programs that make physical activity accessible, inclusive and safe.
- Partner with communities to co-create environments that support healthy, active lifestyles.
- Advocate for policy and systems change to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive through movement and play.
Explore Our Research
We conduct research to uncover barriers to play and develop evidence-based strategies that expand equitable opportunities for physical activity. Through mixed-methods studies and community-engaged approaches, we identify what works and what’s needed to create active, inclusive environments for all children.
Move & Thrive
Every child deserves the chance to move, play and thrive. Physical activity supports physical and mental health, academic success and social connection and is particularly critical in the middle school years. Schools are a good place to make that happen! The goal of the Move & Thrive Grant Program is to support healthy, active school communities by providing middle schools with resources for increasing movement before, during and after the school day, including with families and community partners.
Status: Ongoing
Physical Activity Coordinator (PAC) Program
This project provides schools with resources for increasing inclusive, safe and positive physical activity. Schools host a full- or part-time PAC, have access to teacher training in trauma-informed physical activity practices and use a trauma-informed adaptation of the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) to increase opportunities for physical activity. Evaluation includes accelerometry, SOPLAY observations and student surveys.
Status: Ongoing
Project Nature
Project Nature is a pediatrician-led initiative that works to empower families and caregivers to explore nature with children, with a goal to reach families with the most barriers and greatest need. The goal of this study is to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of Project Nature for families across Washington with children ages 1-10.
Status: Ongoing
Green Community Schoolyards
The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of community-engaged schoolyard renovations on student physical activity and well-being. We are working in partnership with the Trust for Public Land, Tacoma School District and others to advance the evidence base on the impact of green schoolyards.
Status: Completed
Upower
The Upower study evaluated trauma informed fitness programming at a middle school located in a Federal Opportunity Zone during the 2020-2021 school year. Due to the pandemic, Upower adapted programming to provide at-home play kits to address students’ needs during a resource-constrained time. The intervention developed through this collaborative response — play kits — has potential to support middle school PA during future pandemics or other conditions that necessitate remote schooling.
Status: Completed
Exploring School-Based Physical Fitness Testing (SB-PFT)
In this mixed-methods study, we conducted and analyzed qualitative interviews with middle schoolers, parents, and school staff to 1) explore stakeholders’ experiences with SB-PFT; and 2) identify challenges in analyzing fitness data; ways schools can use fitness data; and predictors of meeting fitness benchmarks. Our findings suggest SB-PFT has potential to be useful in promoting adolescents’ fitness, but opportunities exist to improve the testing process and the ways that results are shared and utilized.
Status: Completed
Pooja Tandon, MD, MPH
Pooja Tandon is a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and School of Public Health. Her research focuses on studying and promoting the connection between physical activity, outdoor time, nature contact and various health and well-being outcomes in childhood. She is also the director of health at the Trust for Public Land and co-author of Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids.
Emily Kroshus-Havril, ScD, MPH
Emily Kroshus-Havril is a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics, and a principal investigator at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Her research aims to help children and adolescents thrive by building their autonomy, strengthening positive connections and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to experience feelings of competence and growth. Much of her work is related to youth and collegiate sport, given the potential of sport to support positive development and to strengthen communities.
Our Collaborators
We’d like to thank the community and school partners that make our research and advocacy possible, including:
- King County Play Equity Coalition
- Trust for Public Land
- BestStart WA
- Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
- University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics
- Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic
- Upower
- Up2Us Sports Inc.
- Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport
- Seattle Public Schools
- Tacoma Public Schools
- Kent School District
- Wenatchee School District
- Eastmont School District