Play isn’t a distraction from healing. Sometimes, it is the healing. Today, is the unitednations International Day of Play, so I shared a new piece about why play is a public health issue and why we need to start treating it like one on my Substack. We talk about childhood mental health, resilience, and healing. But we don’t talk enough about the role of play. Play helps children process trauma, regulate emotions, build confidence, and feel a sense of control in situations where so much is out of their hands. It is one of the most powerful, and most overlooked, tools we have in healthcare, education, and public health. At momentofmagicfoundation , we’ve seen how play transforms a hospital room. We’ve seen what happens when a child who hasn’t spoken in days starts laughing during a visit. We’ve seen how joy returns when a child is reminded they’re not just a patient, they’re still a kid. Not every child has access to those moments. But they should. If you care about childhood, men...