Re-imagining and Transforming Parenting with a Playful Approach

The Playful Path to Parenting (P3) project addresses critical gaps in contemporary parenting support by developing and disseminating playful approaches to caregiving. Despite growing evidence of playful parenting's benefits, many families face significant barriers to implementing playful parenting practices:
  • Parents report increasing pressure to prioritize structured, achievement-oriented activities over play
  • Existing parenting programs often overlook playfulness as a core component of positive parenting
  • Caregivers experiencing stress may struggle to maintain playful interactions precisely when children need them most
  • Limited resources and training exist for practitioners seeking to promote playful approaches in diverse family contexts

The P3 project responds to these challenges through two complementary aims:
  1. Developing a playful parenting intervention that equips parents and caregivers with practical strategies to adopt more playful approaches across diverse parenting situations, including challenging interactions where playfulness can be particularly transformative
  2. Expanding access to playful parenting practices for community families through adaptation-focused professional training and strategic partnerships with parenting education organizations, creating sustainable implementation pathways that reach families across different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds
Through this dual approach of intervention development and professional capacity building, P3 seeks to shift parenting paradigms toward more joyful, flexible, and responsive interactions that benefit both children and caregivers. Our work recognizes the opportunity to harness playfulness not merely as an enjoyable addition to parenting, but as a fundamental approach that can strengthen family relationships, reduce parenting stress, and promote positive child developmental outcomes.

The P3 project is a collaboration between the HEAL lab, Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative (OPEC), and Parenting Education program at the Linn-Benton Community College. Led by Principal Investigator Dr.  Xiangyou Shen and Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Shauna Tominey from OSU's  Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Family, our interdisciplinary team includes Dr. Maayan Shorer (Ruppin Academic Center, Israel), Dr. Lawrence Cohen (author of Playful Parenting), PhD students Nazli Ozkoca and Sara King (College of Health, OSU), and Dr. John Geldhof (College of Health, OSU). This work is supported through the Sharon-Darling Innovation Fund by the National Center for Families Learning.

This initiative builds on our earlier Playful Parent pilot project (2022-2023), led by Drs. Xiangyou Shen (PI) and Megan MacDonald (Co-PI) with significant contributions from Leland Masek (PhD student), Kyra Thompson (undergraduate student researcher), and Marieke Dailey (undergraduate student researcher). Thie pilot work was made possible through the John C. Erkkila, M. D. Endowment for Health and Human Performance by the Samaritan Foundations.

Resources to Support Playful Parenting Research:
The Playful Parenting Scale (PPS)

Interested in assessing and fostering playful parenting? Our team has developed the Playful Parenting Scale (PPS), a systematically validated 24-item self-report measure designed to assess five key dimensions of playful parenting:

  • Prioritizing fun and play: How caregivers value the role of fun and play in parenting
  • Incorporating play: Integration of playful elements into everyday activities
  • Playful reframing: Using playful approaches to navigate challenging situations
  • Responsive support: Providing attentive assistance during child-led play
  • Flexibility: Adapting and embracing spontaneity in caregiver-child interactions

The PPS provides researchers, educators, and practitioners with a comprehensive tool to assess playful parenting practices across diverse contexts, from everyday routines to challenging situations. This rigorously validated measure can support program evaluation, parenting interventions, and research exploring the impact of playful approaches on family relationships and well-being.
The scale is freely available for research, educational, and non-profit purposes. Click below to request access.

Resources to Support Playful Parenting: The Funtastic Playbook for Parents

Please cite: Shen, X. (2024). The Funtastic Playbook for Parents. The HEAL Research Lab. Oregon State University.  ©All rights reserved. 

Designed to support parents and caregivers to embrace a playful approach to parenting, this playbook offers a rich collection of research-informed playful practices (Play Rx), evidence-based strategies, and thoughtfully curated games/activities to help you explore the many ways to turn on/up playfulness while interacting with your child.

This playbook can be used as part of a parenting education program or as an independent resource for parents, caregivers or parenting  professionals looking to infuse more playfulness into their family life and work. Contact our lab for print copies of the playbook and matching PLAY Reminder magnet (see right).

Special thanks are extended to Marieke Dailey, HEAL undergraduate student researcher, for her dedicated work in creating an earlier version of the Playbook, and to Qinghua Chen for her creative talent in co-designing our vibrant, playable P3 project logo.

Please visit us again for updates as our research team continues to develop additional resources to support playful parenting.