Commitment 5 

Proclaim and celebrate an annual "Play Day." A Play Day is one day when the community gets together to celebrate and recognize the importance of play for children of all ages.  

• For seven years in a row, Rochester, New York Parks, Recreation and Human Services Department has hosted "Main Game," where it marks off two blocks of Main Street and invites families with children to play and learn more about play opportunities and spaces. Five thousand adults and children attended last year. Some of the activities include basketball tournaments (with the court painted on the street); boxing matches; tree climbing expeditions; martial arts demonstrations; medieval dancers and fighters; an antique train set; board games; inflatable play structures; juggling; a dunking booth; and many other attractions that are also available to the public all year long. The purpose of the event is to bring the parks and recreation department to people who might not be aware of its extensive programs and resources. 
  

• New Yorkers for Parks holds an annual event to celebrate the rebirth of a rehabilitated park.  Everyone who cares about the park attends the event: grade schoolers, teachers, parents, the parks commissioner, city council members and supportive community organizations. The celebration helps draw attention to volunteers' work in planting daffodils in children's parks and the results of a successful community build.
  

• The Neighborhood Parks Council, a coalition of 120 community park groups in San Francisco, holds an Annual Stewardship Luncheon for 4,000 park and playground volunteers. This event recognizes the hard work of the city's volunteers and gives $2,500 prizes to three groups to help continue their park improvement projects. Volunteer projects range from weed pulling, litter pick-up and planting to fundraising for park improvements, all of which help attract more children to the city's parks and playspaces. This type of event might be too ambitious for new groups to try, but the idea of recognizing volunteers at an annual celebration is a good one.  
  

• Philadelphia does not have a single Play Day or observance of play, but it has several days devoted to play! Every summer, the Recreation Department sponsors four "Fun Days" in different districts and one citywide "Fun Day" at the end of the season. Last year, the citywide Fun Day was held at the Strawberry Mansion, a historic building with a big front lawn within the Fairmont Park system. The Recreation Department rents 10 to 15 pieces of equipment, including inflatable houses, giant slides and a moon bounce. Common Fun Day activities include water balloon fights, sack races, egg and spoon races and free ice cream.