“Working with the Anji Play Approach has allowed me to refine my teaching practice in ways I never anticipated. I find myself even closer to my class, and playground injuries have become almost nonexistent. I am a stronger, more engaged teacher than I was when I began this, and I know that I’m still learning and growing.”
As the exclusive partner of Anji Play founder Ms. Cheng Xueqin, Anji Education provides a range of professional development and consulting services grounded in the principles and practices of True Play and the Anji Play Approach. Our services include:
Multi-year Anji Play piloting for school-based programs
Collaborative partnerships for community-based, non-school programs
Dynamic, reflection-based communities of practice
Content-specific professional development
Consulting to make your program and environment more responsive to the child’s needs in play and learning, including the use of Anji Play materials
Whether you are engaged in a multi-year process to implement Anji Play to fidelity, participating in a multi-week reflective practice cohort, or partnering with us to create an innovative, community-based program, our work together will be centered in:
True Play and safety
Authentic relationships
Openness and reflection
Intentionality and responsiveness
Clarity and simplicity
Depth and professionalism
Before you get started, we want to learn more about you, your program, and what services interest you. Please take a moment to fill out this questionnaire and register for an initial consultation.
“Anji Play has given me a deep perspective in how children can grow without constant intervention by adults. It has been a very wonderful experience and I am grateful to have it in my teaching practice.”
The Piloting Process
Anji Play is a comprehensive philosophy and approach to early childhood education. The practice is not limited to outdoor play settings, but includes practices within the classroom, schedules, routines, and institutional systems.
Piloting the Anji Play Approach means authentically engaging with the philosophy, practices, and materials that define Anji Play. While that process may take place incrementally, over many years, the expectation of all Pilot relationships is that the Pilot Program commit to full adoption of the approach, and to the curricula and specific practices that develop from that process.
As part of the piloting process, Anji Play representatives provide a framework and protocols for a reflective practice built on best practices that have developed both in Anji, and in programs applying the Anji Play philosophy and approach outside of Anji County. This piloting process requires services like coaching, professional development, online participation, visits to Anji, and other Anji Play sites, the purchase or leasing of materials, environmental changes, changes to schedules and routines, and other specific services.
All Pilot Programs are encouraged to share their work with the broader community of Anji Play and True Play practitioners and researchers, and are provided with frequent opportunities to engage with their colleagues around the world.
The piloting process begins with the completion of this questionnaire and registering for one-hour phone or video interview. While this interview is necessary, it does not guarantee that we can provide specific support for your True Play journey outside of the resources we provide through our websites and partner organizations.
We are committed to equity, and will prioritize programs that meet the needs of underserved communities.
If your program is determined to be a good fit, we will collaborate to develop a plan of implementation that is specifically tailored to your needs and resources.
Pilot Programs that grow to serve as a model for the study and practice of Anji Play are designated Anji Play Demonstration Programs.
Because much of the work of the piloting process is internal and incremental, we do not encourage school-based pilot programs to host visitors interested in learning about Anji Play. As Demonstration Programs define their protocols for site visits, they will make their availability for visits known through the channels of their choice.
Current Anji Play Demonstration Programs:
Madison Public Library “Wild Rumpus” program, Madison, WI
The British International School Budapest Early Years Program, Budapest, Hungary
Current Anji Play Pilot Programs:
One City Schools, Madison, WI
KidZCommunity, Placer and Nevada Counties, CA
El Mundo De Ninos, Madison, WI
Northern Onondaga Public Library, Cicero, NY
AnjiTa Child Development Foundation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Programs with Anji Play Materials:
Contra Costa College Early Learning Center, San Pablo, CA
Duck’s Nest Preschool, Berkeley, CA
Wu Yee Children’s Services, San Francisco, CA
Live Oak School, San Francisco, CA
Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, Pittsburgh, PA