The Play Make Learn (PML) Annual Conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, research/practitioner partnerships, and arts in education (formal and informal spaces). PML creates an inspirational space for preK-12 educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work.
The PML 2026 Conference will be held on at the Memorial Union (800 Langdon St.) in Madison, WI, on July 9th and July 10th. You can check out more information at the Play Make Learn website. We believe that everyone has unique contributions to bring to the conference. PML aspires to foster a learning community that has a diversity of perspectives and practices. Are you a first time presenter, young person, or practitioner considering submitting for Play Make Learn and need additional support? Reach out to our planning team at: conferences@education.wisc.edu!
News
Play Make Learn 2026: Registration Open NOW!
Calling all creatives, educators, librarians, games & learning practitioners, and education researchers!
Play Make Learn is getting ready to bring you the best in research and practice on educational games, making, arts, playful learning, creative education, and more! The Play Make Learn Conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, and arts in education. PML creates an inspirational space for preK-12 educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work – each year!
Play Make Learn 2026 will be hosted on July 9th and 10th (with optional pre-conference activities on July 8th) the at the beautiful Memorial Union on the historic University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in Madison, WI.
- Register Today! Don't miss out!
- Registration is open now (until we sell out) — but don’t wait! Register by May 29, 2026 to secure the Early-Bird discount. Play Make Learn has sold out for multiple years in a row; don’t miss your chance to attend! We have different pricing options available.
- This year's conference theme: “Scrappiness”
- Setting out to create something involves both big dreams and many obstacles. We quickly run into time constraints, limited materials, access challenges, administrative rules, and the inertia of how things have always been done. We push against that resistance. We fight to get in and get on with it. We are scrappy. We pull from the bottom of our own buckets of energy. We are outsiders, leftovers, left-outs. We are educators who deserve more but make do. We are makers who build with the materials at hand. We are inventors who cobble together rules to turn our surroundings into a game.
- “Scrappiness” means using whatever is around us—the trash, the leftovers, the scraps. We cut construction paper and leave tiny bits behind. We make a meal and compost eggshells and orange peels. Those leftovers become opportunities to make again, to play, and to learn. A cardboard box becomes a rocket ship. Compost becomes soil for a community garden. From scraps, we create beautiful art, meaningful experiences, and community.
Questions? You can email organizers at conferences@education.wisc.edu.
You can also connect with Chris Baker (Public Library Consultant / Games & Learning Consultant, Bureau of Libraries) at Chris.Baker@dpi.wi.gov.
Wisconsin Connections
Wisconsin is fortunate to be a growing hub for these topics and resources. Here is a short list of some free example resources. Find or share more in WISELearn Resources.
Field Day
Our design and research lab at UW-Madison creates and studies games. All of the games we create are free to play.
- Our collection of games covers a range of subject areas and grade levels. Play them here.
- Join a Field Day Fellowship to help co-design a new game or work with other educators to develop strategies for using our current games with students.
- Learn about the research Field Day is doing to better understand how games can be used for teaching and learning.
- Read about Headlines and High Water, which won two awards as part of the Games For Change Festival.
- More at fielddaylab.org!
Filament Games
Filament's mission is to "create playful experiences that improve people's lives." Although most of their content has a cost, free resources include::
- Explore iCivics - a suite of games for inspiring and learning about civics.
- Play Robot Champions on Roblox, a game that teaches engineering and robotics concepts.
- Check out the Hero Elementary games made in collaboration with Twin Cities Public Television, featuring STEM-based learning adventures.
- Check out the Smithsonian Science Education Center Game Collection, featuring select games from Filament.
- Find resource roundups - like this one on game-based learning and STEM - on their blog.