Kanics Inclusive Design Services, LLC.

Kanics Inclusive Design Services, LLC. Inclusive Play in every community! Ingrid M. She was senior play environment specialist at the Center for Creative Play, Pittsburgh, PA.

Kanics, OTR/L is an Occupational Therapist who has worked for 10 years helping communities create and run amazing places where all children can play together. During that time she worked with numerous communities and children’s museums helping them expand their understanding of Universal Design and the importance of Sensory Play in every childs’ development. She continued this work as Therapy Director at Hattie Larlham, Mantua, OH, where she oversaw therapy and recreation programs for children of varying abilities. She now owns her own consulting business (Kanics Inclusive Design Services LLC) focusing on creating great play spaces in communities where everyone can play. She has presented at local, state, and national conferences on the topics play, sensory integration and Universal Design. Conferences include the Association of Children’s Museums, American Occupational Therapy Association, Parents As Teachers, and National Association of the Education of the Young Child (NAEYC).

12/18/2025

FYI! 😉

11/29/2025

"Borrowing our calm" is co-regulation. It helps children of all ages understand and begin to manage their emotions, especially in tough moments. Over time, it leads to strong self-regulation. Image courtesy of The Contented Child, Child Wellbeing Consultancy Thank you!


11/21/2025

We talk about wanting creative, curious, confident thinkers, yet the way we teach young children often does the opposite.

Creativity and problem-solving don’t grow from worksheets, crafts, or "measurable results." They grow from experimentation, flexibility, and play. When learning becomes about right and wrong, children stop taking risks. They stop wondering. They learn to please rather than to think.

The data is clear that play-based environments build stronger executive functioning, lower stress, and spark higher motivation. Creativity, one of the strongest predictors of future innovation by-the-way, thrives when children are free to explore and make mistakes. But when we overstructure early learning, we train compliance instead of curiosity, and that has lifelong consequences.

The foundation of learning is not rote drills, worksheets, crafts, memorization, or performance. It is the process — the trial and error, the problem solving, the self-discovery that builds the brain for all future learning.

If we want lifelong learners, we have to stop valuing products over process and start protecting the very experiences that grow creative, resilient, and adaptable minds.

Join us for our upcoming webinar, “Rethinking Early Learning: More Than Crafts and Worksheets,” where we’ll explore how real learning happens and why play-based, brain-aligned experiences create the outcomes we actually want to see (Nov 26, 2025 12:00 PM EST).

FREE REPLAY FOR EVERYONE WHO SIGNS UP!

Join for FREE: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DfJ26HjERJSlS4BOhSgQ8w #/registration

Get CERTIFIED: https://www.weskoolhouse.com/store-webinars

11/13/2025

Another great quote from Richard Louv!

Oh, the importance of free play! Are you making time for “unstructured, imaginative, exploratory play”?

There's a lot to gain from participation in organized sports, but let's try to find a balance with a healthy dose of UNorganized play as well!

11/13/2025

Every climb, scrape, and splash helps kids grow.

Outdoor play doesn’t just build muscles — it builds confidence, independence, and good judgment.

Let’s give them the space to explore, take risks, and learn what they’re capable of.

11/12/2025
11/05/2025

Imagine if kindergarten were actually built for children.

More movement. More play. More joy.
Fewer delays. Fewer referrals. Fewer “behavior issues.”

Brains would wire the way they’re meant to.
Teachers could breathe again.
Children would love school instead of surviving it.

It’s not radical. It’s developmentally appropriate.

We don’t need to invent a new solution. We just need to return kindergarten to what worked, before we complicated it into something it was never meant to be.

11/05/2025
11/03/2025

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Our Story

Ingrid M. Kanics, OTR/L, FAOTA is an Occupational Therapist who has worked for 15 years helping communities create and run amazing places where all children can play together. She was senior play environment specialist at the Center for Creative Play, Pittsburgh, PA. During that time she worked with numerous communities and children’s museums helping them expand their understanding of Universal Design and the importance of Sensory Play in every childs’ development. She continued this work as Therapy Director at Hattie Larlham, Mantua, OH, where she oversaw therapy and recreation programs for children of varying abilities. She now owns her own consulting business (Kanics Inclusive Design Services, LLC) focusing on creating great play spaces in communities where everyone can play. She has presented at local, state, and national conferences on the topics play, sensory integration and Universal Design. Conferences include the Association of Children’s Museums, American Occupational Therapy Association, Parents As Teachers, and National Association of the Education of the Young Child (NAEYC).