From April 10 to 12, Denver will host a new edition of the international project P.E.R., Play, Explore, Research, promoted by Fondazione Reggio Children with the support of The LEGO Foundation. The event brings the core of the Reggio Emilia Approach to the United States, an educational vision that sees play not only as a break, but as a form of knowledge, connection, and possibility.
The opening ceremony, scheduled for Thursday, April 10, with the participation of Mario Alberto Bartoli, Consul General of Italy in Chicago, will kick off two full days of workshops and open sessions—registration required—designed for educators, teachers, researchers, families, and children. The title of the U.S. edition, “Growing worlds together through natural digital dialogues”, reflects the goal of weaving together nature and technology in educational environments that connect rather than divide.
Key partners in the initiative are the University of Colorado Denver, School of Education & Human Development and the Boulder Journey School, which hosted the first U.S. edition of the exhibition, The Hundred Languages of Children back in 1998. That idea—the hundred languages with which each child interprets and transforms the world—remains central to a pedagogy that places play, creativity, and freedom at the heart of learning.
“We believe that play is a strategic lever for learning and the engine of educational innovation,” says Francesco Profumo, president of Fondazione Reggio Children. This vision is shared by Carlina Rinaldi, honorary president and long-standing voice of the Reggio philosophy, as well as by a network of U.S.-based organizations engaged in education and social impact.
These include The Clubhouse Network, creative communities launched with the support of the MIT Media Lab; the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, working alongside Native families; the Creative Communities of the University of Colorado Boulder; the Center for Playful Inquiry, which bridges art and care; History Co-Lab, focused on democracy and belonging; and the national network Education Reimagined.
For Sam Hall, Executive Director of the Boulder Journey School, and Lori Ryan, faculty member at the University of Colorado Denver, the event represents a concrete opportunity to strengthen relationships, foster dialogue, and inspire new educational practices. Following the Denver gathering, the project will continue in Kenya, Vietnam, and Denmark, carrying forward a vision of education as a universal right and a shared public good. The full program is available at events.frchildren.org. All activities scheduled for April 11 and 12 are free and open to the community, with the aim of building, through play, new ways to grow together.
