Gaming up your classroom: Lessons in adding fun and movement to any lesson

Friday, May 2, 2025
1:00 - 3:00 PM (online only via Zoom) 

By flipping the script on traditional education and waking up our classrooms with movement, laughter, and play, we can create engagement and deepen learning. In this workshop we will talk about how play in learning isn’t about adding “fluff”; it’s about returning humanity, connection, and curiosity to the learning space. We will explore how simple shifts like using movement-based activities, collaborative games, instructor flexible/creative thinking, and playful rituals can lead to deeper engagement, stronger community, and “stickier” learning. This workshop will also tap into the brain-body connection, dismantle rigid classroom norms that prohibit play, and discover that even small doses of playfulness can unlock big growth. Participants will leave not just with strategies but the confidence to adapt them to their unique setting.

Presenter: 

Lisa Forbes, Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Counseling Program at the University of Colorado Denver. Lisa earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Counseling and her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision with an emphasis in Couples and Family Therapy both from the University of Northern Colorado. At CU Denver, Lisa teaches counseling techniques, practicum, internship, group counseling, counseling children, adolescents, and their parents, and introduction to play therapy. Lisa is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) and has clinical experience working with abused children and adolescents, women and children at a domestic violence shelter, as well as adults, adolescents, and geriatric populations in inpatient psychiatric hospitals. Currently, Lisa has a small side play therapy practice working with children from 3 to 8 years old.

Lisa is the co-founder of a global faculty network called Professors at Play which invites educators to explore the transformative power of play higher education. Through community, resources and events, Professors at Play looks to challenge existing norms of academia to allow learning to be more engaged, inclusive, and meaningful. Professors at Play has hosted several events including three "Playposiums" which have highlighted play experts such as Stuart Brown, Gary Ware, Pat Kane, Alison James, and more.

This workshop is free to staff of all Massachusetts non-profit ABE and ESOL Programs.

First Literacy does not receive any state or federal funding and we work very hard to raise 100% of our budget from private sources. Please consider making a donation to First Literacy so we can continue to offer FREE high quality professional development workshops.