Click HERE to book your EARLY BIRD ticket!
The 2026 installment of Planning for Play has been themed… Play & The Mind! This topic aims to broadly approach all a range of topics from play and brain, play philosophy, play and psychology and even p,lay and spirituality.
“Early Bird” Tickets are now available for the 2026 instalment of Planning For Play and will remain available until the end of March…
Our host venue for the 2026 event Royal On The Park has also offered a discount on any rooms booked for the event. To acquire the booking code for this offer please email play@topa.au (subject to room availability of course).
OUR FIRST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED
SANDI PHOENIX
Session Title: A Brain Motivated To Play
Sandi Phoenix is the founder of Phoenix Support for Educators, now leading a national team who work alongside education and care services across Australia to strengthen wellbeing, inclusion and quality practice. An educator by background, she began studying psychological science in 1998 and has spent her career translating research from psychology into practical, relationship-based guidance aligned with the National Quality Framework. Sandi’s ability to bridge theory and day-to-day practice led to the creation of the Phoenix Cups Framework, a model used widely by educators and teachers nationally and internationally to support children’s wellbeing and build educator capacity to respond to behaviour through humanistic psychology, positive psychology and neuroscience-informed approaches. She presents at conferences in Australia and internationally, and continues her postgraduate study in Neuroscience and Mental Health at UniSC to deepen the translation of brain-based wellbeing science into practice.
JILL WOOD
Session Title: Flexible Environments, Flexible Minds
Jill Wood is founding director of Adventure Play at The Parish School in Houston, Texas, one of only a handful of adventure playgrounds in the United States and the only one based at a school for children with speech and communication differences. She is founder of Bayou City Play, a group of playworkers, artists, and therapists who partner with organizations to improve play opportunities in the Houston metro area, and is regional consultant for UK-based Pop-Up Adventure Play. She is also a school librarian committed to the idea that play environments and bookshelves are best when they have a lot of choices, make space for the full breadth of humanity, and no one is telling people exactly what to choose.
our first speaker announcements
FAITH GRIFFITHS
Faith’s Session: Autonomy in Children, Initiative in Adults
Faith is a playworker and OSHC professional who completed her Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences in 2024. Initially commencing in the industry as an early childhood educator and later moving across to the OSHC space, Faith is driven to create environments and build relationships with children that foster an internal locus of control and support children to develop positive self-identities.
CLARE WALTON
Clare’s Session: Risking It – Transformational Art in Education and Public Space
Dr Clare Walton is a socially engaged artist, playworker, and artist educator. Her arts practice focuses on collaborating with children and young people to promote their voice and support them to engage as creative active citizens in their community. A multi-disciplinary artist Clare's work embraces the concept of adventure play as a primary tool to promote child-led collaborative work that questions the current social dynamics that place children and young people in positions of limited power. Clare currently works at the Devonport Regional Gallery in Tasmania at the Creative Learning and Public Programs Officer.
GERALDINE HARRIS
Geraldine’s Session: Time to Play - Recapitulative Play and Temporal Dignity
Dr Geraldine Harris brings over 30 years of experience in early childhood leadership, specialising in play, place-based approaches, and integrated service provision across Australia and England. She holds playwork and early childhood qualifications, has developed a suite of neuro-bioloical playwork training and has co-authored a book chapter on Playwork leadership. Her understanding of play was deeply shaped by her PhD supervisors, Dr Stuart Lester and Professor Jennifer Cartmel.
Geraldine’s PhD research in place-based leadership explored the relational interplay between ecological, social, and individual conditions, revealing how these dynamics influence children’s development, partnership health, and leadership wellbeing within collective action. She is also the author of Foundations for Families: A Birth to Three Framework of Effective Practice, a neuro-informed guide supporting early development and wellbeing and lead of the development of the evidenced based Wings to Fly 2.0 training.
As Executive Director of Pathways to Resilience, Geraldine champions children’s rights and wellbeing through play-centered, relational, and neuro-informed approaches, advocating for collective practices that restore temporal dignity, nurture co-regulation, and create enriched environments for children, families, and educators.
SIOBHAN KENNEDY-COSTANTINI
Siobhan’s Session: The Regulating Power of Play: Using Play to Settle the Body, Calm the Mind, and Transform Behaviour
Dr Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini is a developmental psychology specialist and Circle of Security facilitator who cares deeply about children's attachment, temperament, and emotion regulation. Through Science Minded, she translates cutting-edge developmental research into practical strategies for parents, educators, and early learning professionals across Australia. Her work focuses on bridging research and practice to promote secure relationships and children’s social-emotional wellbeing.
ARETA FARRACE
Areta’s Session; Reclaiming the Play Instinct: How Rediscovering Our Nature Play Impulse Transforms Pedagogy.
Areta Farrance is an early childhood teacher, forest school leader, and founder of Bush Kindy Teaching & Learning on Jaggera Country, Logan, Queensland. With over two decades in education and training settings, she brings a deeply relational, community-based approach to nature play. Through the activation of green spaces for play, Areta creates inclusive programs and professional development that reconnect educators, families, and children with nature—fostering belonging and playful inquiry that champions community leadership.
ERIN EDWARDS
Erin’s Session: Play and Mental Health in Education: Beyond Learning to Wellbeing
Erin is a registered play therapist, teacher and psychotherapist with 25 years’ experience in early childhood. She holds a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) and a Master of Child Play Therapy. Erin specialises in child-centered play therapy and filial therapy, with a focus on attachment, trauma-informed care, therapeutic play, and neuroaffirming practices. She is passionate about equipping educators and caregivers with practical strategies to support holistic development and connections. Her work is grounded in unconditional positive regard and the belief that children thrive when they are seen, safe, and supported. Erin runs "The Playful Life" in Brisbane, QLD and specialises in supporting children between birth and 7 years and their families and support systems.
ISAIH TUETA
Isaih’s Session: Faith in Play: Play as Pilgrimage.
Isaih has over 15 years experience as an on the floor playworker. As his roles have developed within the industry, he has juggled both Playworker responsibilities as well as being the service program manager for Camp Hill OSHC, a service with a capacity of 310 children. In his extensive tenure within the industry, Isaih has honed his expertise in practically implementing Playwork Principles and pedagogies within the OSHC sector. Since the formation of The Outsiders, Isaih has taken this passion beyond Camp Hill to the wider childhood care and education sector, and his very own suite of Outsiders OSHC services. Isaih's knowledge is grounded and extensive and can be a benefit to anyone working with children.