By Matthew (MJ) Kurs-Lasky
I want to tell you about the exciting new KaBOOM! Play Day program, and how your community can get involved to make play a priority.
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit bringing play back into the lives of children. At KaBOOM! we passionately believe that play has purpose, and that unstructured play, in particular, helps make children happier, fitter, smarter, more socially adept, and creative.
Host a Play Day and you’ll be a hero with the kids in your community! By advocating and celebrating play you’re sending the message that it’s important to get outdoors and be active and that play has purpose in children’s lives.
By hosting a Play Day you’ll be joining thousands of other communities, across Canada and the United States, in making a stand for play. Taking place any day from September 19th through September 27th, a Play Day is a free, fun-for-the-whole-family outdoor event.
It’s a block party, a back-yard BBQ, and a service day all rolled into one—a turn-key event that helps you rally your community around play.
A Play Day is a day to gather at your favorite park or playground and literally play with your community. Create a painted rock garden, hold 3-legged relay races, or even organize a park spruce-up. How you do it is up to you – the only rule is to have fun.
You can plan your Play Day for children of any age and can include all sorts of activities. The KaBOOM! Play Day Planner will help you plan, organize, and execute your Play Day.
This tool walks project planners through the entire process from fundraising to picking children’s activities.
Complete your planning using the tool and your will receive a free Play Day activation kit complete with games and gear, including a deck of cards full of ideas for great children’s games, fun activities, and spruce-up projects. Host a KaBOOM! Play Day in your neighborhood and make sure everyone has a day to experience the importance of play. For more information or to start your own KaBOOM! Play Day, visit kaboom.org/playday
This post was written by Matthew (MJ) Kurs-Lasky, an employee at KaBOOM!, the national non-profit that empowers communities to build playgrounds. MJ is working on the KaBOOM! Play Day initiative—a program to engage communities in a free, fun-for-the-whole-family outdoor event that celebrates and advocates for play.
