Inclusion Workshops & Professional Development

Providing truly inclusive programs requires learning and planning. The PlayGarden offers inclusion workshops, professional development and site-specific training  opportunities. It is past time we say, "Yes!" to children with disabilities in ALL aspects of our community. 

Inclusion Workshops

The purpose of the workshop series to provide youth-serving organizations, parents and community members  the tools they need to make community spaces such as parks, gardens, museums, zoos, and even the ballpark become more inclusive of children and families of children with disabilities. Registration links coming soon. All workshops are currently planned to be held virtually. When it is safe to gather in person again, we will resume in person workshops.

How to Run an Inclusive Summer Youth Program

Tuesday April 5
4:00pm-6:30pm (PST) 

Virtually over Zoom

Register

Aerial of the PlayGarden

How to Design for Inclusive Play

Wednesday May 4th
9:00am-11:00am

Register

Introduction to Inclusion Workshop

Gabe years later at Teen Camp.

Advanced Inclusion Workshop

How to Run an Inclusive Preschool Program 

Have ideas for a workshop you would like to see the PlayGarden facilitate? Let us know! 

Workshop  FAQ 

  • Cost: The workshops cost $30 each. If this is out of reach for you, please send us an email at Hannah@childrensplaygarden.org, we will make you you are able to attend.   

  • Audience: Workshops are designed specifically for youth-care providers at all levels within an organization, parents and community members eager to learn more.

  • Facilitation: Workshops are lead and facilitated by the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden’s Executive Director and Founder, Liz Bullard and Inclusive Programs Director, Hannah Gallagher. To learn more about the facilitators, please visit the PlayGarden’s Staff and Board.

  • In Person or Virtual? Workshops will be held in person at the Seattle CHildren’s PlayGarden. We are limiting capacity/training to 20 participants and requiring all participants to be fully vaccinated (and boosted) against COVID to participate. We will keep the windows and doors open to ensure increased ventilation and will lead select parts of the workshops outdoors if the weather allows.  

  • Timing of workshops: We selected a weekday morning as we are predominately assuming that youth-care providers will attend the training during their work hours and and consider it professional development. We want these  workshops to be accessible to as many people as possible. If these times do not work for you, please send us an email to hannah@childrensplyagrden.org with a days/times that works better for you.  If we get enough interest expressing a need to change the workshop time say to the evening or another day we can offer one  at a different time.

  • Will the workshops be recored? We do not record our workshops since many of the pieces of the workshop are designed to be highly interactive (participants going off into breakout rooms etc.) so the content does not come over as smoothly recorded. We also work to create a safe space for participants to share their  stories and experiences with disability, many of which are very personal and emotional. Recording the sessions would make the personal reflection and sharing less comfortable for our participants.

  • Accessibility: If you need any accommodations to make this online workshop more accessible, please reach out to Hannah@childrensplaygarden.org to arrange accommodations. We will do our very best to make the programming as accessible as possible. 

Group of adults sitting in the PlayGarden field house working on a group activity during an introduction to inclusion workshop
Zoom screen from an online workshop

Site-Specific Training

Want to be an inclusion champion like SCT?

Has your workplace, social network you are a part of or Board of Directors you serve on expressed interest in increasing its efforts toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion?

In 2022 you can be a catalyst for change and be the person who helps move from talking about DEI to taking action. 

The PlayGarden is now offering Site-specific inclusion training for youth-serving organizations in the community. 

For more information on the types of training we can offer your organization and our fee structure please see our

Site-Specific Training Guide

Community Spotlight

We are so excited to share that the Seattle Children's Theater (SCT) reached out to us and asked for inclusion training for ALL of their staff. Way to go SCT!  SCT has also sent some of their Teaching Artist staff to the PlayGarden to lead Story Drama sessions with our preschoolers. Our teachers learned so much and our kids had so much fun!  We are so excited for this ongoing partnership and to know the SCT is committed to being a place of inclusion and acceptance for ALL children, youth and families in our community. 

The PlayGarden staff have been learning about the experiences of families of children with disabilities out in the community for over 20 years.  We have compiled stories, experiences and lessons on inclusion into the form of an Inclusion Toolkit, online learning hub and this workshop series.

Toolkit & Workshop Testimonials

  • “

    “I wanted to convey that I am sharing the Playgarden’s Say YES! to Kids with Disabilities release with all WA Federation of independent Schools around the state as a feature in our bi-monthly newsletter. It is an unbelievably inspiring and important resource.” –

    Sharon Ricci
    Membership & Communications Manager WA Federation of Independent Schools
  • “

    “I’m interested in purchasing a hard copy of the inclusion toolkit book. I have a library of resources I use for the inclusive education program I run through the Down Syndrome Community and I think this would be a great addition. “

    Erin Klones
    Parent Advocate
  • “

    “I attended your, Say “Yes” to Kids with Disabilities workshop on Dec 7th. It was fantastic! At Woodland Park Zoo, we are looking to get another 2 copies of the book for our education department at the Zoo.”

    Karen Ofsthus
    Learning Facilitator | Public Programs Woodland Park Zoo
  • “

    “The tools I received from your Say YES to Kids with Disabilities workshop have been very helpful for me in my work at the Seattle Aquarium and the work with the teens.” –

    Apryl Reed
    Youth Engagement Mentor, Seattle Aquarium
Visit the Learning Hub
Cover of the PlayGarden's Inclusion Toolkit
Download a copy of the Inclusion Toolkit to accompany your learning in the Inclusion workshops.
Download the Toolkit

I can’t make the workshop. What can I do? 

If you cannot make our upcoming workshop series, we  highly recommend you visit our online learning hub. There are so many resources there for you that can get you thinking about inclusion on a much deeper and practical level. 
 
In the learning hub you can… 
  1. Download (or purchase a copy) of our Inclusion Toolkit.
  2. If you are interested in Early childhood, I recommend downloading (or purchasing a copy) of our Inclusive Preschool Book. 
  3. Visiting the inclusion lessons and walking yourself  or with your co-workers through the various  lessons such as “How to Talk to Kids about Disability” or “What is Supported Employment?” or ” How to provide the Just this Much Approach”  or “How to Identify and remove barriers to inclusion”
  4. Visit our Youtube page to see videos on inclusion in action across our preschool, summer camp, choir and open play programs. 
  5. Join our mailing list, follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop about future training. 
If you have other specific questions that these resources don’t address, please feel free to reach out. 

Special thanks to Seattle & King County Public Health Best Starts for Kids Initiative  for the on-going support for these workshops and resources.