About Child’s Play NY
Child’s Play NY is an award-winning theater education company that runs acting classes, productions, residencies, assemblies, and professional development in New York City. Since our inception in 2009, our award-winning program has touched the lives of thousands of students. At every step we encourage them to explore the creative process, become engaged participants in their world and tap into their intrinsic sense of play through theater.
At Child’s Play NY, we believe in the transformative power of imagination and the profound impact theater can have on young minds. We create joyful, meaningful experiences that help children thrive. On stage, in classrooms, or through video resources, our programming fuels optimism and self-efficacy.
Founded by a professional actor and educator, Jocelyn Greene, our company is built on the idea that theater belongs to everyone. Our programs bring stories to life while nurturing empathy, collaboration, confidence, and self-expression. In today’s modern world it is these very skills that will make our young people successful in their futures.
Our Commitment to Classrooms & Communities
We partner with schools across New York City to create original theater curriculum that meets educational goals and learning outcomes. Our programs are responsive to each classroom’s unique needs, while providing an artistic way into supporting social-emotional learning, literacy, and academic ability. Whether we’re helping kindergarteners act out feelings or connecting history and playwriting for elementary students, our residencies make academics more joyful and effective.
Our Team
Child’s Play NY teaching artists are working actors who bring their training and passion for education to the work. They are endlessly inspiring and draw on their vast performance experience to lead our dynamic programming. Their diverse skill sets and profound commitment have shaped Child’s Play NY into what it is today.
Resources That Count
We are committed to bringing theater games and creative tools into all homes and classrooms. To that end, we have intentionally made our theater games video guides free on our blog Child’s Play in Action. To support classroom educators and parents, Founder Jocelyn Greene, has created articles and videos with Edutopia and Mount Sinai Parenting.
The content is rooted in developmental research and years of our own practice, making it easy for anyone to harness the power of play. Jocelyn is a frequent guest on podcasts, speaking about the intersection between theater skills and child development. You can hear her on Cult of Pedagogy, The Executive Function Podcast, Fraction of a Teacher and Popular Podagogy.
Commitment to All Students
We are passionate about bringing our theater education to all students. Our programming connects drama to ELA, social studies and even math and science curriculum. These responsive residencies bring the arts into communities where access can be limited.
Child’s Play NY works hand-in-glove with dozens of NYC schools. We often win grants to apply through the DOE for performances and residencies. Our work supports Multi-Language Learners and Students With Disabilities, as they use theater to expand academic engagement.
For our summer and after school programs, need-based and tuition-reduced scholarships are offered to students from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Why We Play
At Child’s Play NY, play isn’t just fun—it’s foundational. Our theater programs are designed to nurture the whole child. They support emotional intelligence, communication, confidence, and collaboration through imaginative storytelling and performance. Research in developmental psychology shows this approach helps students thrive far beyond the stage.
Here’s what the science – and our own classrooms – have proven to us time and again:
Presence and Poise
Kids develop vocal clarity, physical confidence, and presence. Whether they’re delivering a Shakespeare soliloquy or “writing on their feet” in an academic residency, they are building real-world communication skills that translate into academic victories and leadership.
Executive Functioning in Action
Theater work requires focus, memory, impulse control, and flexible thinking. These core executive functioning skills, shown to be vital for academic success, are naturally exercised through the experience of our work.
Empathy Through Imagination
When students step into someone else’s shoes, they activate their “theory of mind”. When children understand their character’s motivation, they’re rehearsing how to consider another person’s perspective.
About Our Founder
Jocelyn Greene is the founder and executive director of Child’s Play NY, an award-winning theater education company based in New York. Since 2009, she leads the organization in providing dynamic theater programs to thousands of students across 40 schools, offering in-school residencies, productions, after-school classes, summer camps, birthday parties, teacher training.
Jocelyn partners with educators to connect social-emotional learning (SEL) with academic goals, designing original curriculum and leading professional development that helps educators harness the power of imaginative play in their classrooms. A career highlight for Jocelyn is leading the extraordinary team of Child’s Play NY teaching artists – working actors who bring joy, rigor, and heart to everything they do.
She draws on a rich background as a performer and educator, with an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program and a BA from Wesleyan University. She is a member of Actor’s Equity Association and has performed at The Public Theater and Shakespeare Festival LA. As a teacher she has worked with acclaimed organizations including Will Power to Youth, Oddfellows Playhouse, and Epic Theater Ensemble.
