The Power of Play

Shauna McDonald, a former ICI staff member, is now the executive director of Playworks Minnesota.

For a brief, exhilarating moment this spring, Shauna McDonald’s feet left the pavement, and she floated between two jump ropes twirling in opposite directions. For the executive director of Playworks Minnesota, it’s all in a day’s play.

The University of Minnesota graduate, who worked early in her career on school-to-work and other programs at the Institute on Community Integration, was inspired by a Star Tribune article featuring women who meet regularly to keep alive the jump roping of their youth. Forming a partnership with the Minneapolis Women’s Double Dutch Club, she created a pilot program at four schools in north Minneapolis. More than 2,000 students participated, along with several school personnel – and McDonald herself on the final day.

“Thank goodness, I got a couple of jumps in, and then it was a tangled mess,” she said with a laugh, but she’s serious about using diverse forms of play to address the alarming decline in children’s mental health since the pandemic. Today, they spend half the time at play that their parents did. The long-term mental health consequences of that are as serious as the risks of ignoring environmental concerns, she said.

Over the last eight years, McDonald and her team have expanded Playworks’ reach to 50 schools in the Twin Cities area, serving about 25,000 students annually. Nationally, Playworks fosters children’s social, emotional, and physical development through play offered in educational environments, including schools.

“Play is a universal behavior and a critical social determinant of health,” she said. “It shapes how children understand the world, develop their brains, and build essential skills like teamwork, empathy, and resilience.”

She recently presented her work at the University’s Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. The commitment to inclusion she found while working at ICI, and later at the Pacer Center, is at the core of Playworks’ mission as well, she said.

"As a parent and professional in the field of education, I know children's social interactions at school are as significant as academic achievements. If children feel safe and included, learning becomes an enriching experience.” For her own fun, she enjoys CrossFit, cooking, and gardening. She and her husband have an ongoing ping pong rivalry and spend time with their dogs.

“Play is any activity we do for the sheer joy of it, and it isn’t just for the young,” she said. “It has transformative power and is a vital component of personal development. It enriches lives.”

Shauna McDonald jumps rope at a schoolyard in north Minneapolis in spring 2024.