Amy Heusterberg-Richards

09/18/2026

Looking for ways to bring more play into your classroom? Check out the UW's Vault Learning Games⁠ collection. This site offers play-based games designed around academic topics, giving students opportunities to learn, practice, and engage in meaningful ways. Whether you're looking for a new way to introduce content, review concepts, or get students collaborating, it's an awesome library to explore! https://vaultlearninggames.org/

Play and learning belong together 😎

Vault is the most comprehensive library of free learning games for grade 3+ created by education researchers at Field Day Lab (University of Wisconsin - Madison)

08/18/2026

How will you make your first days of class playful this year? I'm planning on #6, #4, and #2 to start!

04/22/2026

Sub is in, but play is on!

04/20/2026

Rough weekend? This play-based approach for secondary learners can engage your classroom -- even if you're not there 😊

04/16/2026

As promised, here's another no-prep play idea that a sub can run.

04/14/2026

I’ve been a little quiet lately -- as I recover from a knee surgery that has me currently nonweight-bearing.

But a thought I keep coming back to throughout this experience: Why always prep complicated sub plans… when you can leave the play easily in your students’ hands?

I’ve got some sub-friendly, low/no-prep play-based learning ideas for *all subjects* in secondary classrooms! Enjoy this approach and stay tuned for more 😎

04/01/2026

One year ago, *All Subjects in Play* went out into the world. Since then, it’s been annotated, adapted, reworked, and (my favorite) actually played with in classrooms I may never see. Cheers to this one-year anniversary! Thanks for supporting along the way!

✨ It's Release Day! ✨

Today is a special day—my debut book *All Subjects in Play* from Routledge Eye On Education is officially out in the world! This book is a labor of love, filled with ideas for bringing play-based learning into secondary classrooms. I couldn’t be more excited to share it with fellow educators.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this journey! If you grab a copy, I’d love to hear what resonates with you. Here’s to more joy and more play in secondary schools ♥️

01/14/2026

09/09/2025

Is your back-to-school sparkle starting to fade...?

08/25/2025

This month I've shared ten (10) play-based learning ideas for the secondary classroom to kick off the school year. To keep the momentum going, I’ve put together a digital escape room game with *seven* unique, engaging puzzles to introduce a course's units/readings!

Message or comment for the link! Then, adapt the play for your own classroom! (And I’d love to hear how your students respond ☺️)