In this session, the importance of supporting children’s social-emotional learning through play will be explored. Children who have experienced adversity will be given a voice throughout the presentation, with an emphasis on what their stories teach us about resilience and the importance of the teacher-child relationship as the foundation for social-emotional learning. Powerful and inspiring video of the presenter and early childhood educators implementing the strategies will be shared to demonstrate how to use play to support children’s expression, establish a safe and secure adult-child relationship, empower children with a sense of control, help them manage strong feelings, acquire new social skills, learn to tolerate frustration, and manage challenging behaviors through play. The presenter will dedicate several minutes to a fun and engaging experiential exercise where he will enlist participation from the audience in practicing setting limits on his play behavior, in the moment!