2024 Awards

Nominations are now being accepted for the
Child’s Right to Play Award and the Doctor of Play Award!

The awards will be presented at the 2024 IPA-USA Conference, being held this year in Greenville, South Carolina from September 25 to 28. Nominations are being accepted through August 1, 2024. To nominate an individual or individuals for either award, please read the descriptions below and complete the associated form. If you are nominating multiple individuals, please complete a separate form for each person. Questions? Email us here.


  • Daily practice in classrooms
  • Articles or publications that promote play
  • Policy works or legislation
  • Presentation of workshops or educational courses that promote child-initiated play in birth through college classrooms.
  • Outreach and collaboration with others to promote the child’s right to play

The Doctor of Play Award will recognize an individual who has dedicated their professional life to advocating for play. The recipient of this award will have demonstrated lifelong passion, advocacy, service, and commitment to advancing play in children’s lives.


Previous award winners

YearRecipient – Doctor of Play
2001Sunny Davidson
2004Joe Frost, Jimi Jolley (posthumous)
2007Elizabeth Rike
2010Rhonda Clements
2013Marcy Guddemi
2016Olga Jarrett
2019Dorothy Sluss
2022Dr. Catherine Ramstetter, Lisa Murphy
Susan Chlebowsky
2024To be announced in Greenville, SC,
on September 28, 2024.
YearRecipient – Child’s Right to Play
2019Summer Belloni
2022Rich Lange, Pat Rumbaugh
Dr. Patrick Lewis
Representative Jacob Rosecrants
2024To be announced in Greenville, SC,
on September 28, 2024.