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Today, 82 percent of parents believe children don’t spend enough time playing outside^. But 93 communities across the nation have taken innovative approaches to make play a priority for the health and well-being of their kids. Communities large and small, urban and rural, have created initiatives to increase the quantity and quality of play and playgrounds and improve access to existing play opportunities.
KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to bring play back into children’s lives. It honors cities and towns for making this commitment to play by naming them “Playful City USA” communities. In 2009, Indianapolis, San Antonio and Fishers were among 39 new communities honored for the first time for making a commitment to children.
Each 2009 Playful City USA community demonstrated creative commitments to the cause of play in the areas of quantity, quality and access. Quantity relates to the number of usable, open play spaces. Quality involves subjective factors that encourage repeated use and make playspaces engaging, exciting, interesting and fun. Access entails the ability to get to a play space (roads, trails) and a lack of barriers to the play space (cost, safety, traffic, locked gates, and equity).
KaBOOM! selected Fishers for its dedication to play. In June 2009, Fishers hosted a National Trails Day event that encouraged hiking and outdoor play and promoted a heightened awareness of the Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve. The Parks and Recreation Department is developing an off-trail nature play area to allow children to interact with nature in an unstructured, hands-on fashion.
The KaBOOM! vision is a great place to play within walking distance of every child. Playful City USA communities create best practices to reach a similar goal. They serve as role models for other communities and prove that enhancing children’s well-being by increasing the opportunity for play is an attainable goal for every community.
“Our country is facing two monumental deficits: a lack of unstructured play among children and a lack of resources to address this very issue,” said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! CEO and co-founder. “Fishers took a stand and determined that the future of their community%u2014their children%u2014deserve a commitment to the cause of play. This is an investment in the future – not an expenditure. Cities and towns across the country can replicate initiatives from these Playful City USA communities so that they too can bring play back into the lives of their children.”
http://www.fishers.in.us/egov/docs/1251836825783.htm
^ 2009 Harris Interactive Poll |
