Last week at the State College YMCA, Naudy Martinez asked a group of children how often adults heed their input and advice.
The response was unanimous.
“Today is your chance,” Martinez said.
Martinez is project manager of KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit that travels across North America building playgrounds. This spring it has come to Happy Valley, and the community is joining together to bring something very special to State College.
About 30 area children gathered Wednesday for a “design day,” in which they had the opportunity, using crayons and paper, to illustrate their dream playgrounds.
Hosted by the Pennsylvania Municipal League (PML), the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Borough of State College, Centre Region Parks and Recreation, and Highmark Blue Shield, plus organizers from KaBOOM!, design day allowed children roughly one hour to sketch out pictures, ideas and plans of what they’d like to see in their playground.
“It’s up to them how they would design the playground,” Martinez said. “There’s so much energy, there’s so much creativity.”
In her many years of working at KaBOOM! and helping to design playgrounds for children, Martinez said she’s seen a variety of ideas, ranging from hot chocolate swimming pools to marshmallow slides, and even wireless Internet on the monkey bars. The kids’ ideas, she said, can often be described as “old school fun mixed with new technology.”
“It’s hard to pinpoint what they would say,” she said.
Part of what makes design day so special, Martinez said, is it allows those who will actually use the playground to invent it, which creates a sense of ownership among the children.
On June 25, these creations will become a reality when mayors and city officials from across the state – who will be in town for PML’s 114th annual convention – as well as community volunteers, will build the playground at Orchard Park.
Build day is expected to draw some 200 volunteers, and is held in conjunction with the kickoff of this year’s PML convention, PML’s Director of Development John S. Brenner, said.
In a different location each year, the convention includes a variety of speakers and seminars. This year’s conference will feature KaBOOM! founder Darell Hammond, who will share his story of “play deficit,” and how kids today are not as active as they used to be, Brenner said.
Enabling children to be included in the design of the playground will encourage them to look after it and keep it well-maintained, as well as inspire them to play outside, he said.
“Getting kids involved in their playground is a great thing,” Brenner said.
Some playground ideas he’s heard so far, he said, are zip lines and rocket ships.
“It’s really wherever the child’s imagination leads them,” he said.
Niki Tourscher, CRPR program manager, said this project is valuable to the community because in her years of experience in recreation, she’s seen the wonderful reaction a new play piece can bring.
“Just to see the faces of the public when we can offer that new equipment for them,” she said.
Letting children design their own playground gets them outdoors and into parks, Tourscher said.
“It’s why we’re here,” she said.
And having the community involved, from start to finish, she added, is “amazing.”
Following the design portion, parents and community members gathered later at South Hills School of Business and Technology for the first meeting of the playground planning committee. They’ll work for the next several weeks to plan and prepare for the construction of the new playground.
The playground will be made possible by contributions from the borough, PA DCNR, Highmark and the PML.
Volunteers are needed for build day. For more information or to volunteer, contact Courtney Hayden, communication and special projects coordinator for the State College Borough, at (814) 278-4723 or chayden@statecollegepa.us.
KaBOOM! has built more than 2,000 playgrounds across the county. For more information visit www.kaboom.org.
The Pennsylvania Municipal League, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, aims to strengthen, empower and advocate for effective local government. For more information visit www.pamunicipalleague.org.
Centre Region Parks and Recreation currently operates 908 acres at 54 sites across the region. For more information visit www.crpr.org.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources maintains 120 state parks, manages 2.2 million acres of state forest land, and provides information on the state’s ecological and geologic resources. For more information visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us.
Highmark Blue Shield serves approximately 1.1 million members. For more information visit www.highmark.com.
