Eastern Cooperative Recreation School is a nonprofit organization founded in 1940 to provide cooperative recreation as a way to rest and refresh, to add richness and depth to living, and to aid the development of communities and humanity at large.

For almost seventy years, ECRS has offered recreation leadership training based on the belief that recreation is an important tool for teachers, social workers, and anyone else who works with people, either on a volunteer or paid basis. Attendance is open to members and non-members, to individuals and to families, and to those interested in recreation leadership training and those who just want to participate and have fun.

Frequently Asked Questions »

» About Our Programs

ECRS chooses a variety of beautiful and informal country settings that lend themselves to the spirit in each of our annual events. A typical year includes a 7-day Summer School, a 5-day Winter Workshop, and a multitude of camping weekends, single-day town events, and retreat-style weekend programs. Each event offers classes that draw from the basic six forms of recreation (games, dancing, singing, drama, crafts, and theory), as well many other structured and free-time activities and a special children's program for participants 11 and under.

The ECRS Experience »

» About Our Philosophy

ECRS is based on the principle that play is an important part of the human experience. Play benefits us in many ways; it builds community, stretches personal abilities, and helps us explore new ways of functioning as people and as groups. The kinds of play activity taught at ECRS provide a refreshing contrast to society's current performance orientation in which we go to watch experts sing, dance or act instead of doing these things ourselves. ECRS is for participants, no matter what level of skill or experience.

Of Play and Playfulness »