Every child deserves a safe and fun place to play, regardless of where they live or what their lives are like.  But for the 90 students with a variety of disabilities who attend Rock Creek School in Maryland, the playground is more of a disappointment than a delight.  Not only was the outside playspace built in the early 1970's (which means decades of rust and disrepair), but it was not designed with the abilities of all of its visitors in mind.  Parents are worried that more pressing maintenance issues in their district will delay much-needed improvements to the playground once again.  Click here to read more about this ongoing struggle for a developmentally-appropriate and stimulating play environment at Rock Creek.

Beltsville Girl's Gift to 'Katrina Kids'
Raising Money for Others, One Paper Fan at a Time

By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
December 20, 2007

Seven-year-old Kamilah Bryant just wanted to help children devastated by Hurricane Katrina get their stuff back.

Last year, the Beltsville girl sat down with some colorful paper, crayons and markers and began making hundreds of accordion-style fans. Over the next several months, she sold them for $1 each at church and in the lobby of the Forestville apartment complex where her great-grandmother lived.

Kamilah Bryant, 7, decided last year that she would raise money for children affected by Hurricane Katrina by creating and selling fans.

Her ingenuity resulted in a $1,000 donation to a Washington-based nonprofit group called KaBoom, which used the money in October to purchase a new slide for a playground that the group built to bring smiles back to the faces of children in a New Orleans neighborhood.

...

For many adults, the onset of winter means frozen car locks, fender bender causing ice, and a sore back from shoveling snow. For a child, however, winter means snowball fights, snowmen, eating icicles, and (hopefully) at least one day off school.

Out of the thousands of different ways to play in the snow, my absolute, number one, king and queen of activities has always been and shall forever remain sledding.

Oh, if there were only a way to reproduce that terrifying and exhilarating rush of cold air and snow slicing into your face as you rocket down a miniature mountain of compressed snow and ice on a $15 piece of plastic or decades old toboggan sled.

TAMPA, FL - The small park maintained by the Palmetto Point Civic Association isn't particularly large or famous, just a gathering spot for local kids.

But after a swing set collapsed Sunday afternoon and left a 2-year-old girl with severe brain damage, the Manatee County park has become the focus of new concerns about the safety of private playgrounds that are open to the public.

Unlike 17 other states, Florida does not require regular safety inspections of private playgrounds to make sure they meet standards set by national organizations.

That means hundreds of local playgrounds run by neighborhood associations, churches and even day cares are not required to have certified inspections proving they are safe for kids, said Scott Burton, a licensed playground safety expert and the president of the St. Petersburg company Safety Play.

LONGVIEW, TX - The bone-chilling mist in 42-degree weather didn't seem to bother about 400 Hudson PEP Elementary School students Thursday morning.

Instead, they were focused on their 10-minute break from class to test drive the school's new playground equipment.

Situated on the south side of the gymnasium, the set of plastic structures includes a glider, climbing wall and three "racing" slides, Principal Sue Wilson said. Perhaps its best feature is the X-wave, a teeter-totter that offers multiple motion for up to 20 kids at once, she added.

Above the playground equipment, a canopy of charred pine branches still remain from a fire Aug. 4 that destroyed the previous playground — a $34,000 structure built two years earlier through PTA fundraisers.

DENVER, CO - Money won't be an issue for a high school civics class trying to bring a playground back to the Perk Hill Coffee House.

The nonprofit that owns and produces the annual Colorado Garden and Home Show is giving the students a $10,000 grant to get the project off the ground.

"We love the idea that we do the show and it avails our opportunities to provide these horticulture scholarships and grants," said Jim Fricke, executive director of Colorado Garden Show Inc.

The grant is contingent on the city of Denver making it possible for the popular playground to be re-installed, Fricke said.

"If we take money out as an issue, then the kids can still continue to do their civic duty to try to make it happen, and the city of Denver can take a look at it and not have to worry about the financial aspects," he said.

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- New Orleans is on the road to recovery from Hurricane Katrina, but there is still a lot of work to do. I know this, because I live here. Houses weren't the only parts of neighborhoods destroyed by floodwaters—we lost our places to play.

To remedy that situation, NBA (National Basketball Association) Cares and the New Orleans Hornets have teamed up with an organization called KaBOOM! to build new playgrounds throughout the city.

On December 8, volunteers from New Orleans and around the U.S. joined members of NBA Cares and the Hornets to help build a playground in an empty lot in the Broadmoor neighborhood. The work goes fast—the playground was built in just eight hours.

(The writer of this article is 11-year-old Abigayle Lista who is interested in science, wants to become a marine biologist, and likes to play with her dogs and surf the web in her spare time.)

Read more of her article here.

ASHEVILLE, NC -- Playing on a playground increases your child’s strength, endurance and flexibility. A family trip to the playground at your local park is a great outing that gives your kids the opportunity to be more active. Simply playing on a playground helps your children get their recommended amount of exercise each day.

There are many exercises you can add to a trip to the playground to make it even more beneficial for your child’s health. You may even want to try the following exercises yourself for a challenging workout.

If the playground isn’t too crowded, view it as a circuit. In other words, set up stations and certain exercises using each piece of equipment with a starting point and an ending point. Always remember to begin with a warm-up by briskly walking or jogging around the perimeter of the playground for about five minutes.

NORWOOD, NJ -- Borough parents teamed up to build a new playground for Norwood Public School so that children could have a better place to swing, slide and climb.

The school recently held a ribbon-cutting for the Game Time playground, which has six slides, two sets of monkey bars, three rock-climbing walls, six swings and other equipment for climbing, exploring and learning.

The face-lift extended to the basketball court, where four new padded posts and backboards were installed. The surface was resealed and striped in the school colors with a large monogram for Norwood stenciled in the center.

The new playground is designed for ages 5 through 12. "The previous one was at least 15 years old and starting to come apart," said Principal Betty Johnson. "Everyone loves it. The children are so excited about it. It has more areas for them to go on."

MOUNTAIN FALLS, VA — Dianna Tate remembers when there were only six children her age in the Wilde Acres housing area of Mountain Falls Park.

In those days, the children shared a school bus with the residents in Shawneeland.

Sometimes Tate, 39, still can’t believe how much her Frederick County community has changed since the 1970s when she walked the woodland trails and caught salamanders with her small circle of friends.

"The community has grown tremendously," she said.

Approximately 350 families live there now — and nearly 40 elementary-aged children pack an entire school bus.

Those children of Mountain Falls Park need a nice place to play, she said, and she’s hoping a revamped playground could provide that.

The list of cities where KaBOOM! has funding opportunities for playspaces has changed recently.

Community Partners are organizations interested in providing safe places for children to play. We work with a myriad of types of organizations, including non-profits, schools, parks, municipalities, neighborhood associations, and other youth-serving organizations. Each Community Partner for KaBOOM! projects must have access to a good location for a playground and bring the energy and enthusiasm needed to plan, fundraise, and actually build the playground.

Think you have a good project for this opportunity? Click here and see if your city is on the list.

WAHPETON, ND - Central and Zimmerman elementary schools in Wahpeton are still waiting for new playground equipment. However funds continue to come in to help toward the Playground Improvement Group's goal of $70,000 by August 2008. Currently, the project has brought in just over $30,000 through fundraising events, business and service organization donations, families of students and students themselves. More than 15 sources have contributed to the project so far.

Although a total of $30,034 has been raised for the project since January 2006, only $25,700 sits in the project's account due to a few items that were already purchased for the two playgrounds. Handicapped access swings were purchased for both elementary schools and the student council purchased a Huskie bench. Also, a new teacup spinner, similar to a smaller sized merry-go-round, has recently been added to the playground at Zimmerman Elementary. The six foot spinner accommodates up to six children at a time, and Elaine Klocke, Playground Improvement Steering Committee member, said the children were all excited about the new addition.

"I don't know if all the kids got rides," she said. "The lines were so long."Now that a few smaller additions have been taken care of, Klocke said they are pushing to get the $70,000 by the end of summer 2008.

NOBELSVILLE, IN - Parents and others looking to smoke while nearby children are at play at Noblesville’s playgrounds will have to step away a few paces in the near future.

The Noblesville Parks Board approved a proposal this week to ban smoking in playground areas of city parks.

Parks Director Don Seal presented the idea to the five-member board and said the idea originated from a concerned mother who wrote the department a letter. It stated since “No Dogs” signs were placed in the playground vicinity last summer, the department should take it a step further and place no smoking signs near the area, as well.

BREMERTON, WA - Woodlands Elementary School students have a new playground to enjoy thanks to a down-to-the-wire construction job that was pulled off Friday. Volunteers from several local Home Depot locations, the Navy’s SeeBees and members of the PTA worked all day to get the playground built by the PTA’s Saturday deadline.

“It’s a labor of love, it really is,” playground project coordinator Cindy Kleinfelter (aka,cekleinfelter) said.

To qualify for their $5,000 Home Depot-KaBOOM! Community-Build Playspace and Field Refurbishment Challenge Grant, the group had to have the playground constructed by Dec. 1.

Fortunately, everyone on hand was eager and willing and some even had personal ties to the project.

Cindy is a regular on the KaBOOM! forums. Woooo Hooooo! Yeah, Cindy! You did it!! Congratulations!

Log in and add your congratulations to mine! 

WASHINGTON, DC - A young girl has done something no one else has ever done for a D.C. based non-profit group that builds playgrounds all across the county.

Kamilah Bryant was five years old when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast; a kindergarten student too young to even get a weekly allowance. But like most kids, she had a box of crayons and a pad of paper and that was enough to help her get to work and help hurricane victims get to play.

Kamilah said, "my great-grandmother was telling me about Katrina kids, and I thought I could make more so they could have their stuff back."

She began folding fans and honing a sales pitch. She started selling them at her church last year and then moved on to her community. "I selled them for $1 and people game me $20's and $5's and $10's." She said business is in her blood. "Well, I'm pretty good at business because my dad is a CPA."

BELLEVIEW, FL - Red and green monkey bars, a rocket and slides were just a few things children in Belleview said would make up their dream playground.

Dakota Carpenter wanted to see a pool, along with an excavation pit at the playground.

On Thursday, seven children participated in the design phase for a $100,000 interactive playground to be built at the city-operated Cherokee Park a few blocks west of U.S. 441.

FAIRFIELD, IA - When the weather outside is frightful, one local group would like children to have someplace to play that's warm and delightful.

The Fairfield/Vedic City Moms Group has teamed with Beth Alonso, a local mother of two, to establish The Play Room, Fairfield's Indoor Playground.

Approximately $20,000 is needed to renovate an upstairs room of the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center, which the Fairfield Park and Recreation Department has offered for use. The money also will go toward floor padding and playground equipment.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Standing next to an aging playground, surrounded by cracked and crumbling pavement, neighborhood leaders and elected officials gathered at Cabrillo Playground in the Richmond District Saturday morning to kick off the campaign for Proposition A, a bond measure that would pour $185 million into San Francisco parks.

Organizers acknowledged they have a lot of work to do in the eight weeks until the Feb. 5 election, but said they are confident they will be able to persuade two-thirds of San Francisco voters to approve the bond, which earmarks the bulk of the money, $117.4 million, for projects at 12 neighborhood parks.

STRATHAM, NH - While looking at a sort of nothing article announcing some fundraising efforts for the Stratham Playground at Stevens Park in Stratham, NH, I found an interesting blog. It's a simple thing, created from a standard template on a free "blog" system, but it's a nice looking site.

http://www.strathamplayground.blogspot.com/

They've got the details of their fundraising, including scanned advertising materials. There might be some hints for other communities here.

Here are some other nice web sites that people have created on the KaBOOM! site:

• Broadmoor in New Orleans
• Hailey's Wish of Westminster, MD
• Willett Playground Project of Attleboro, MA
• The St. Stephen's Elementary Playground Project in Halifax, NS
• CC Meneley Elementary School's Slide Into Spring effort in Gardnerville, NV

You give to us, we give to you – it’s that simple!  At KaBOOM!, we actively seek to give the gift of play to children and families across North America and now we’d like to provide a token of our appreciation to you! 

For any donation of $50 or more made to KaBOOM! during the holiday season, we’ll send you our new 2008 KaBOOM! desktop calendar!  Not just a run-of-the-mill calendar, this inspiring collection features striking photography of children at their happiest: when they’re playing! 

At KaBOOM!, we strive to make a difference in the lives of children across North America and your contributions directly lead to happier, smarter, fitter, creative and socially adept children everywhere. Click here to donate!

EMPORIA, KS - One child’s dream of having a massive playhouse could come true this holiday season.

Williams Automotive, Sutherland’s, Countrywide Home Loans, Bill Redeker Construction and Deputy Police Chief Mike Williams teamed up to build the ultimate playhouse to be raffled off. Tickets will go on sale tonight at the Emporia Christmas Parade.

For $5 a ticket, with donations going to the Peter Pan Playground Fund, the playhouse will be going home with someone. The playhouse is eight feet high inside, 11 feet high outside and 12 feet long with a front porch and a shingled roof.

Mike Williams said he hopes the playhouse’s appearance in the parade will generate some interest in it.

“In the end we’ll be able to get enough out of it to make a substantial donation to the playground at Peter Pan Park,” Williams said as he nailed shutters on the playhouse Monday afternoon.

AMHERSTBURG, ON -- The Rotary Inclusive Playground Project continues to move forward with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in Spring 2008. The Playground Committee continues to plan for fundraisers throughout the winter months. On November 30, 2007 we will be participating in the “PA Day Fun “at the Amherstburg Area. Children will be able to take part in public skating and other fun events with part of the proceeds to go to support the playground project.

On Dec. 1 and 2 Meadows by the Lake (9278 County Rd. #41) will be hosting a couple of fundraisers to support the project. On Saturday night December 1st “WhaddaKnight DJ” Reg Minor along with live entertainment will be featured and on December 2 from 4-8pm there will be an All-U-Can Eat Buffet, with part of the proceeds from both events to benefit the playground.

In the new year we will also be moving forward with a couple of additional fundraisers.

GAUTIER, MS -- The chilly weather didn't stop Martin Bluff Elementary students from enjoying the official opening of their new playground Tuesday morning.

About 30 screaming, laughing children scrambled onto the playground after the 9 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony for a new $25,000 playground donated by the BP Pascagoula gas processing plant.

After some students played for a few minutes, all 469 students who were gathered outside paused to yell "Thank you" to BP. The new play area has stairways, tunnels and two slides that were available for all students that afternoon during their normal recess time.

Martin Bluff's playground still has the 16 swings and an old wooden fort from when the school was built seven years ago.

Tracy Walker, president of the school's parent teacher association, said the school applied for a KaBOOM! playground in August 2006, but that plan fell through.

BP "stepped up and said they wanted to be involved in the community," Walker said.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Never has the link between poverty and child obesity been more apparent.

A new report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shows that the richest cities with the most public open space have the lowest rates of obese children. By contrast, cities with larger low-income populations, such as Hawthorne, Lawndale, Carson and Gardena, have more overweight kids.

"Poverty is one of the determinants of obesity, there's no question about that for a whole bunch of reasons," said Dr. Jonathon Fielding, the county's director of public health and lead medical officer.

For the first time, the county used information on obesity rates from the California Department of Education and compared it to a number of factors that contribute to economic hardship, such as unemployment rates, education levels and households that earn less than the federal poverty line. The report also included the amount of park and recreation space within each of 128 cities in the greater Los Angeles area.

BLOOMINGTON, MN - Bloomington is a city rich in parks, but that doesn't mean the city is flush with cash to maintain them.

A new parks master plan estimates Bloomington needs $27.6 million in new funding over the next five years to renovate existing facilities, complete trails and finish parkland acquisition.

The new plan, the first done in more than 30 years, is a blueprint for a park system that is nearly complete and is starting to show its age, said Randy Quale, parks and recreation manager.

Our online training sessions, a.k.a. “webinars,” are the latest, greatest way to get information on planning, funding, and building playgrounds.  Even superman would be amazed.  You just need a computer (with Internet) and a phone.  The next three webinars are:

• The KaBOOM! Road Map: An Introduction to Planning a Playground Project, Making the Ask: Getting Business Sponsorship for Your Playground Project, and Grantwriting 101. 

Click here to learn more and register.