Child’s Play and Playground Safety Expert Receives Great Friend to Kids Award - April 10, 2008

Dr. Joe Frost, Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus in The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education, has been awarded the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) Great Friend to Kids Award for his over four decades of work to strengthen education and advance the interests of children.

Frost joins a highly distinguished group of past recipients that includes Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, Barbara Bush, Children’s Television Workshop, UNICEF, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the founders of Head Start, Fred Rogers, Dr. Howard Gardner, Michael Spock, Marian Wright Edelman, the Erikson Institute and Dr. David Elkind.

An outspoken advocate of developmentally appropriate children’s play and a pioneer in the area of innovative play-based learning, Frost has over 18 books and 100 articles to his credit. He consults nationally and internationally on playground design and play equipment, and speaks frequently about the value of play and importance of appropriate play opportunities to healthy children.
“Grounded in well-established pedagogy, children’s museums are one of the strongest proponents for informal play and learning,” says ACM executive directory Janet Rice Elman. “The children’s museum field shares and promotes many of Dr. Frost’s ideas about play being vital to the healthy development of children.
“We believe that accepting this annual award will provide an unparalleled opportunity for Dr. Frost to inform and inspire the international field of children’s museums. He will be able to share his insights about the need for outdoor exploration, information on current play research and his thoughts on the role community organizations can play in supporting creative, free-play experiences.”

Frost will be the keynote speaker at the April 26 award ceremony during ACM’s InterActivity conference in Denver, CO. Around 800 children’s museum professionals, educators, community leaders and corporate supporters from around the world are expected to attend.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910