jenlesh

Hi Juniper Gardens! Hope your design day with the kids from across the community went well. There are a lot of opportunities to continue including youth in the organizing, planning, and leading of your project once the design has been selected. There's a helpful link on our website for service learning activities to keep young people engaged at: www.kaboom.org/servicelearning. There's also a webinar on Incorporating Service Learning into Your Project, at http://www.MyEventPartner.com/KaBOOM/EC54DF8386. Happy planning.

Dave, hope you had a good time at last week's build. There's another one just around the corner in June right in the city of Pittsburgh. Please remember to be a visitor to the playground you helped build in Braddock Hills. It's open to everyone. Thanks again for volunteering on the build. In play, Jen

A study, soon to be released in the February 2012 issue of Pediatrics, has found that young players often go under-challenged by the equipment on playgrounds, thus becoming less active and interested in play. While communities are committed to creating safe playgrounds, there's room to create play spaces that can be stimulating, engaging, and safe for players - all at the SAME time. With so many injuries the result of inadequate ground surfacing (low levels of engineered wood fiber, exposed hard surfaces) - there are alternatives to simplifying the acutal play structure. Ensuring proper levels of safety surfacing can reduce injury. With a routine maintenance plan and consistent supervision, time and energy can be redirected towards challenging and prompting inspring play for youth. Exciting play ideas and exchange with others can be found throughout the website, but also in our library of "Hot Topics in Play": http://playschool.kaboom.org/series.php?id=1111.

• LEARN Hunter Perkins Campus
• Ford Park
• Atlanta Preparatory Academy
• Mayfair Memorial Playground (next to Abraham Lincoln's Pool)
• Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation
• Rainbow Village Adam's Circle Playground

If you've got chess boards or gametops in your playspace, you can easily engage players and visitors with a game day, lessons, or strategy session. A most fantastic KaBOOM! community partner in Philadelphia (Mayfair) - has done just that. The impromptu gathering of experts and novices made for a family fun afternoon. If you don't have gametops, don't let that stop you. In my travels abroad, I've seen chessboards made out of recyclable materials, bottle caps, pennies, and stones...so be creative and play!

Wooo hoo! We built a great playground this week! Come by and see this amazing new playspace and community park. I can't wait to see what's next.

For all you great adult Play Advocates out there, don't forget to play for yourself. I just saw an article about adult recess -- proving that no matter what age, PLAY is key.

If you're looking for some ways to engage youth around honoring the Anniversary of 9/11, Youth Service America (ysa.org) has a great resource called "We Serve to Remember." As we work to strengthen community ties and fabric, involving our youth leaders (of all ages) is a great way to promote community, leadership, and rememberance.