社区黑料

Kids need to put the devices down and to play outdoors more. This isn鈥檛 just another parent waxing nostalgic about capturing fireflies鈥攊t鈥檚 science.

And where鈥檚 the best place for play to happen? The short answer is: anywhere outdoors. Of course, there鈥檚 nothing like a playground to really get the heart pumping and the synapses snapping.

Drustva Delgadillo prescribes two hours of outdoor playtime daily. Director of strategic partnerships for KaBOOM! the national nonprofit devoted to addressing inequitable access to play spaces, Delgadillo views playgrounds as gathering places for the entire community, whether that means toddlers taking their first steps, teens barreling along an American Ninja Warrior-style adventure course or seniors knitting. She says that to bring about the kind of transformation, community engagement in the design and planning process is necessary to ensure community needs are met, 鈥淭he quality of age-appropriate outdoor play spaces has to improve.鈥�

鈥淧lay is how children learn,鈥� she continues. Among the benefits that are especially relevant for young children, she mentions:

• Improving gross motor skills through climbing and sliding
• Brain-building through parent-child interaction (which I鈥檓 pretty sure means the parents have to put their devices away, too)
• Promoting reciprocal play鈥攎ake-believe is always better with a friend
• Building sensory awareness鈥攆or example, through equipment that makes music
• Developing cognitive ability through puzzle manipulation

For Joe Marinucci, CEO of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, playgrounds matter for economic reasons. 鈥淭his is part of keeping families downtown,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of making a walkable downtown.鈥� Marinucci activated the young professionals organization is his city to address a playground deficit and attracted philanthropic support from the Joseph H. and Ellen B. Thomas Foundation. A design firm called helped to develop a nautical theme to complement the restored steamship in the harbor. Marinucci has tapped , a local nonprofit dedicated to community-centered design, for a subsequent project.

New York City comptroller Scott Stringer conducted an ambitious citywide survey of the playground landscape in the Big Apple, and last year issued the , which found that its playground-per-capita ratio lags behind Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis, and 44 other U.S. cities. Affluent neighborhoods have more鈥攁nd safer鈥攑laygrounds than those that need them most.

I spoke to Adam Forman, Stringer鈥檚 chief policy and data officer, about New York City鈥檚 particular challenges and opportunities. 鈥淐ities change,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut that doesn鈥檛 mean they can鈥檛 plan.鈥� Given the extensive development across the five boroughs, he continued, planners must 鈥渓ook to existing, publicly owned spaces and repurpose them for the local community.鈥� At the same time, cities of all sizes should be receptive to partnerships that make their playgrounds more inviting. For example, Pampers, the diaper company, donated 600 changing stations, making the city鈥檚 parks considerably more baby-friendly.

State of Play calls for a revival of the sort of mid-block playground that came about in the 1960s when Robert F. Kennedy (then a U.S. Senator), architect I. M. Pei, and others put their heads together in the Bed-Stuy Crown Heights neighborhood. Forman notes that in the subsequent half-century, the model has been attempted in other communities, but somewhat haphazardly and 鈥渨ithout intention.鈥�

According to Forman, playgrounds don鈥檛 necessarily have to be expensive, or overbuilt and fussed over. He mentioned the temporary 鈥渁dventure playground on Governor鈥檚 Island,鈥� made up of cardboard boxes, fabric, markers, string, and tape that periodically arises.

Ever since 1996, when Darell Hammond founded KaBOOM! the organization has prioritized community co-creation. (He stepped down in 2016, and James Siegal is now CEO.) Delgadillo describes inviting kids to draw their dream playground. 鈥淭hey say, 鈥榃e need more slides鈥� and presto!鈥攁 three-slide structure arises.鈥�

The children are the experts, but KaBOOM! has developed a slightly more boring but no less essential quality鈥�23 years of permitting and play infrastructure experience鈥攚hich makes it an attractive partner for communities that want to put up a playground but lack the administrative or execution capabilities. Delgadillo says the organization is moving toward addressing play space equity by building parks across communities where the need is the greatest.

鈥淭hat way,鈥� she explains, 鈥淚t鈥檚 more than just a one-off engagement, but has the potential to impact an entire city or system, not to mention the cost savings.鈥� Delgadillo is especially excited about long-term partnerships with NYU Langone Health, the Baltimore City Public Schools (), and the William Penn Foundation and the Playful Learning Landscapes in Philadelphia.

Fundraising is another valuable tool in KaBOOM!鈥檚 toolbox. Philanthropy such as the kind that Marinucci found is just one possibility. Delgadillo recommends the Bipartisan Policy Center鈥檚 for examples of federal-, state-, and local-level models across government, foundation, and public-private partnerships. 鈥淲e wait until the dollars are in place before we engage with a community,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to break our promises.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 社区黑料. Learn more here.