Dr. Walter Drew

Dr. Walter Drew has researched and provided play leadership training as co-founder of the Institute for Self Active Education, President of The Association for the Study of Play, and lead facilitator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Play, Policy and Practice Interest Forum, and now with the Florida Association for the Education of Young Children (FLAEYC) PLAY Chapter. For more than 40 years, Dr. Drew has presented hands-on, play experiences as a process for awakening creativity, strengthening early childhood professional practice, and generating hope and optimism to improve mental health across the human life span. He has pioneered the development of Reusable Resource Centers as a community-building business/ education/environmental initiative that provides an on-going supply of free, open-ended materials for teachers and parents to strengthen early learning and development through play and art making. Dr. Drew is co-author of “From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers Play with Children’s Learning”, a book published by NAEYC, and creator of Dr. Drew’s Discovery Blocks, awarded “Best Toy of the Year” by the Parents Choice Foundation in 1982. Read his article on Building Play Leadership and Advocacy. He is the recipient of the 2023-24 FLAEYC Barbara Fink Leadership Award.

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