KaBOOM is a cool new site I have been hearing a lot about lately. It is a national non-profit that empowers communities to build playgrounds. The reason for it is that they believe unstructured play in particular helps make children happier, fitter, smarter, more socially adept and creative.
You can join as a member and find playgroups in your area, playgrounds and play places, and add ones in your area that you know about for the benefit of others. You just enter a zip code and see what it is in your area. I was suprised to see several places in my area already on the map.
KaBOOM is asking parents to help map online 100,000 playspaces in 100 days. Here’s what counts as a playspace: a playground, field, a skate park, roller hockey rink, lake, dog park, community center, basketball court or ice rink – any place where kids can engage in unstructured play for free or a nominal fee. A playspace listing on KaBOOM! consists of an address or cross street and a description, one photo and one rating. KaBOOM! has made creating this playspace listing easy: either a quick fill-in on their website or even easier – a twitpic from your cellphone.
Start mapping your area today and help ensure kids have places to play!
