Anji Play

✨ “I feel like the impact is too big to put into words. Our work together has influenced how I show up not only into my work every minute of every day, but my life in general.” ✨

TWO UPCOMING SESSIONS: April 4 and May 16. Join educators from across Northern California discovering the power of Anji Play - where children become the architects of their own learning.

Engage with Anji Play materials, explore Anji Play practices, and reflect and connect with colleagues in a rich and immersive True Play environment in the heart of urban West Berkeley.

This four hour, hands-on introduction to Anji Play materials and practices (including observation, recording play, and reflection) will be facilitated by Anji educator Jesse Coffino at Duck’s Nest Berkeley.

“Let’s go play!”
“The kids will like that.”
“Great reflection, great facilitation.”
“That was so much fun!”

Cost: $100
Dates: Saturday, April 5 and Saturday, May 16
Time: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Comment HANDS ON to get the registration link.

Hands-on Anji Play Workshops — Anji Play Hands-on workshop introducing Anji Play materials and practices at Duck's Nest Berkeley. March, April, and May dates.

Play. Connect. Reflect. 🌿
Rediscover the magic of play at Duck’s Nest, Berkeley’s beloved play-based preschool.
A half-day immersive experience with Anji Play materials and practices, led by educator Jesse Coffino. For anyone who works with — or cares deeply about — young children.
📅 April 4 + May 16
🔗 Link in bio to register
DucksNest TeacherPD

Core77 Design Awards — Final Call for Entry 📣

The final deadline is fast approaching - and we need to see your work!

I’m part of this year’s Toys & Play category - check out our jury team.

From commercial to cultural, environmental to discursive, The Core77 Design Awards honor excellence across all areas of design enterprise. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to share your story and be recognized by the global design community. I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll submit this year!

Deadline is March 27 — enter today at designawards.core77.com

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JuryTeam

Join us June 13-18, 2026 for a transformative experience immersing yourself in the public early childhood programs of Anji County, China. A once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the love, risk, joy, engagement and reflection of Anji Play at its source and have some of the best food on the planet. Details www.anjiplay.co/study-tour

✨ You’re invited! ✨
Join us LIVE with Dr. Jessica Branch as we explore what Anji Play — rooted in love, risk, joy, and engagement — looks like in both school and everyday settings.
Dr. Branch is an Associate Professor & Coordinator of Early Childhood Special Education at Murray State University, a former preschool intervention specialist and administrator, and a passionate advocate for children, families, and educators through her consulting work and summer PlayGroups.
This is a conversation you won’t want to miss. 💛
🗓️ Monday 02/23 @ 11AM Pacific/1PM Central
📍 Right here on Instagram Live
Drop a ❤️ if you’re joining us!

Congrats to That Early Childhood Nerd did the much deserved recognition. And nerd-out on Anji Play in episode 341

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-early-childhood-nerd/id1837049961?i=1000730125289

Anji Play, an innovative educational philosophy that encompasses practices, materials, environments, curriculum, and assessment standards centered on the child’s deep engagement in self-determined “true” play, was developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin and her community of educators in Anji County, China in direct response to draft guidelines published by the Ministry of Education of China in 2001. These guidelines specify that “play should be the primary activity” of children in kindergarten settings serving children ages three to six years old. Twenty years later, in 2022, the Ministry of Education published “Guidelines for Assessing Kindergarten Care and Education Quality” based directly on the work of Ms. Cheng and the early educators of Anji County.

Below, we provide translated excerpts from the assessment guidelines that illustrate the profound impact that the work of Ms. Cheng and educators around the world exploring the practices of Anji Play have had on the state of education in the world’s most populous nation that now counts over 274,000 kindergartens within its borders.

We are facing an educational crisis in the United States, where our profound anxieties about scarcity in an uncertain future have led us to put increased academic pressure on young children, robbing them of authentic and meaningful experiences of childhood and subjecting them to valuation based on narrow quantifiable outcomes. This focus on performance over relationships of care and understanding is creating toxic stress, challenging behaviors, and negative views of the self and schooling for our children.

In Anji County, and increasingly throughout China, there is an understanding that happy, creative, independent, innovative, adaptive adults are built on the foundation of abundant early educational experiences, where the love and safety of physical and emotional needs being met allows for deep learning and growth.

If we seek a future shaped by complex problem solvers, who engage challenges independently with creativity and resolve, we should carefully consider the ideas, evidence, and impact of educators in Anji County.

The following excerpts are taken from a document that describes quality standards for not just play, play materials, and teacher practices related to play, but every aspect of the child’s experience at school, the relationship between the school and family, and subjects like structural and organizational considerations. The entire document can be viewed as deeply reflective of the values promoted by Anji Play, but only a few examples have been highlighted here, along with English translations and some brief commentary.

The Major Impact of Anji Play on Recent National Assessment Standards The Major Impact of Anji Play on Recent National Assessment Standards “In my dialogues with partners, researchers and practitioners, we often come across Anji Play, the community and the work of …

Anji Play hands-on training
Berkeley, CA
March 7, April 4, and May 16
Learn more and register ⬆️

Anji Play hands-on training in Berkeley, CA
March 7, April 4, and May 16
Learn more and register

Hands-on Anji Play Workshops — Anji Play Hands-on workshop introducing Anji Play materials and practices at Duck's Nest Berkeley. March, April, and May dates.

Ms. Cheng Xueqin, creator of the Anji Play Approach, transformed early education in Anji County, China, building 130 public kindergartens for 14,000 children. Her philosophy, rooted in love, risk, joy, engagement, and reflection, and free from Western theory, has been recognised by M.I.T., the Lego Foundation, and the World Economic Forum as a powerful 21st-century model. Jesse Coffino, the interpreter for Ms Cheng, works closely with her to share Anji Play globally, training educators worldwide and hosting hundreds in Anji. Check out the full talk from the 2025 DO Lectures in Cardigan, Wales.

https://thedolectures.com/talks/anji-play/

About DO:

The idea was a simple one. Gather together the world’s leading DOers, disruptors and changemakers, have them share their hearts and stories, and encourage others to DO amazing things too.

And so, The DO Lectures was born. Since then we’ve welcomed more than 400 speakers to DO Wales, our annual lecture events in Wales, the USA and Australia. And we’ve held courses and workshops with over 4,000 people. Simple ideas are often the best.

We are home to the creative underdog. An encouragement network for those seeking a different path. So don’t just sit there, DO something.