1 Jun 2009
National Wildlife Federation is partnering with KaBOOM!, an organization that helps build playgrounds in neighborhoods that need them. They also have a cool website where you can look up "playspaces" (parks, playgrounds, nature centers, etc.) near you.
Right now KaBOOM! is hosting a challenge called 100,000 Playspaces in 100 Days. For every playspace that gets added to the website, Julianne Hough, from the T.V. show "Dancing with the Stars," donates $1 to charities like NWF. If NWF's team gets the most playgrounds registered, the organization earns an additional $20,000.
I'm a mom with two kids -- Nora age 5 and Russell age 2. We go to lots of playgrounds, and I like to take photos. I figured I would do my part and register about 10 playspaces. Quickly I found we already had photos from more than 30 playgrounds!
I thought we would stop after 30. But while surfing around KaBOOM!'s map, I kept seeing other playgrounds to check out. So one weekend, I mapped a route and told the kids we were going on a playground scavenger hunt.
The kids loved it and surprisingly, so did my husband. If you don't have plans for the weekend, you can create your own adventure by going on a playground scavenger hunt of your own!
It's true that our destinations are the playspaces, but along the way we learn about cool restaurants, stores and other things we would never have known about -- even though they're not far from our house.
We have gone on a playground scavenger hunt almost every weekend (and some days after school) for the past 6 weeks, and we just registered our 112th playspace. We've got 30 days left in the KaBOOM! challenge -- you can help NWF win the competition by going on your own playground scavenger hunt. Here's a handy step-by-step guide (PDF/25K) to help you register playgrounds for NWF!
Tips for having a playground scavenger hunt:
Search and discover: Look on KaBOOM! at neighboring towns. Find playspaces that you want to try out. We zone in on elementary schools because on the weekends, they are empty, and most are not documented yet in KaBOOM!
- Print and Go: Print the KaBOOM! map view of that area and circle the playspaces. We usually spot lots of undocumented playgrounds and parks from the car window as we drive. Hint: if you have a good map of the area you are exploring, look for green areas and elementary schools -- those are sure signs of a playspace nearby!
- Plan side-trips: If you are ambitious, cross-reference the KaBOOM! map with other stops. We like to visit the Parks and Recreation Department website for that town, which usually lists the playgrounds. We also look for children's museums and libraries.
- Picnic time: Pack a picnic so you can eat wherever your kids find their favorite playground.
- Bring an umbrella: You can do this activity in the rain. Bring raincoats, rain boots and some extra pants, underwater diapers, socks. The kids don't mind a wardrobe change after each playground and some play spaces are actually more fun in the rain if there's a nearby stream or mud.
- Let the kids set the pace: Parents: bring something to do! My husband brings his MP3 player and his Suduko puzzles. I bring stitching or a magazine. Sometimes we're busy exploring and taking photos, but sometimes the kids play independently -- a good skill for them to cultivate.
- Multi-task: Sometimes we use playground scavenger hunt as an enticement for good behavior when we have errands to run. We already save up our errands as much as possible to reduce car trips, so this just adds one more layer of planning -- to look for playspaces along the route.
- Bring small toys: Sometimes the kids transform a dull playspace into something cool if they explore it from the perspective of a small toy. You can also bring chalk to do sidewalk drawing.
- Play-mates: Encourage your kids to talk with other kids they meet. We find our kids get a better reception when they say "Let's play X" rather than "Do you want to play X?" because many kids just freeze when you ask the latter question. If your child has a challenging social interaction with a child who is shy or a bully, this is the moment to sit down and role-play how it could have gone better.
- And of course: Be open to stopping for ice cream along the way!
We have learned a lot about what makes a "good" playground and we are especially impressed when we see an element we have never seen before. It's also given us a new appreciation for playgrounds designed for wheelchairs with ramps and special swings. Our favorite playgrounds are those with nature nearby, especially if we luck out and see wildlife.
Sometimes we wonder if we are a bit too obsessed with this new hobby. We get very excited when we see a new playground -- maybe even more excited than the kids? When friends send photos of their kids, we scan them for playground images. Just to show how crazy we are, we are going to Scotland in June for a wedding and my husband was already scoping out playgrounds in Edinburgh! (You can register playspaces from any country in the world.)
Hopefully that gets you excited about registering playspaces. Start uploading to KaBOOM! today, and join the National Wildlife Federation team. We want to win the 100,000 playspaces in 100 day challenge. You'll see our family's posts -- our username is "brownc"!
Carla Brown is a web producer for the National Wildlife Federation. Find her family and their 112 playspaces on NWF's team at KaBOOM.org.
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