20 Playful Ways You Can Advocate for Play in your Community

1. Educate yourself and others about the importance of play! Visit kaboom.org to gather research and resources about the importance of play for all children.

2. Email and call friends and family. Reach out to everyone you know and rally them to support promoting the importance of play. You are creating an ad hoc "play committee" responsible for spreading the word and mobilizing others. There is power in numbers! Once you have a committed group, make it formal. Establish a consistent meeting time, day and agenda to ensure your outreach and awareness raising efforts remain strong, creative and playful!

3. Research the status of play in your community. Assess the number of playgrounds in your community and their condition. Take pictures to help build your case for improving playspaces and ensuring a great place to play is within walking distance of every child in your town.

4. Host a coffee, tea, or BBQ. With your new wealth of information about the importance of play, host a meeting that shares the information you feel is most relevant for your community. Invite friends, neighbors, colleagues and even elected officials to a casual coffee/tea or even a BBQ. Make sure the event is reflective of the topic — make it playful!

5. Write about play on your blog. Many of the most effective advocacy campaigns are online efforts. Don't miss the opportunity to spread your message far and wide.

6. Find parents and teachers. Work your magic to get 5 to 10 minutes to share your research and commitment to play at PTA meetings. Ask members to write a letter of support for your cause.

7. Look in your backyard for supporters. Share your message on your neighborhood listserv, at church or book club. Let them know how they can get involved in your effort to promote play.

8. Organize a playground clean-up! Work hard, have fun, maybe even go to a local grocery store or restaurant and garner their support by contributing food. And remember to have activities for kids. Make it a family affair and at the end of the day not only will the playground look great, you will have also built community.

9. Make play a community builder! Organize a weekly parents at the playground event. One evening a week, after work, establish a meet and greet, a regularly scheduled opportunity for the neighborhood to come together and celebrate community while listening to the laughter and joys of your children playing together. A playground can truly become the heart of a neighborhood.

10. Educate local public officials. To find local and state representatives, try the Library of Congress State and Local Governments Resource page http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/stategov/stategov.html. Write a letter, send an email or go and visit. Be prepared with facts about play, the status of play in your community, and most importantly, what you would like them to do to demonstrate their commitment to play and the healthy development of children in your community.

11. Support candidates who support your cause! When you are ready to advocate for play from a legislative standpoint, you can find the voting records of your local and state candidates and current legislators at: http://thomas.loc.gov/. Look for legislators who are committed to fighting childhood obesity, reducing violence among children and the overall growth, development and role of children in our society.

12. Host a letter writing campaign. Provide snacks and drinks and reach out to those officials who can best help you advocate for play. Be specific about why play matters and how you would like them to demonstrate support. The more specific your request, the more likely it will be granted.

13. Invite supporters of play to a KaBOOM! playground build in your area! Contact the KaBOOM! national office in Washington, D.C. to find out when the next playground build is near you. When public officials work on a build, magic happens and the inspiration will ripple through your community.

14. Host a play day! Invite your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues and their children to a BBQ, party, or play day in the park. Have the old-fashioned favorites, including bubbles, Frisbees, yo-yos, Twister, and a sprinkler of course. Make sure you have materials to give them about the importance of play and the status of play in your community. Have them write or sign a letter of support to top it all of!

15. Organize a playground watch. Safety is first when it comes to our children and our neighborhood. Having adults present at a playground is a deterrent to others who are looking for a place to congregate. Approach your local law enforcement to rally their support for this effort. Regularly scheduled patrol of a playground will ensure safety for all!

16. Start a press clippings file. Fill it with local, regional and national articles and news about the importance of play, what young children need to grow up healthy and happy, and anything else that will support your advocacy for more play in childrens lives.

17. Pitch a news story, interview or op/ed piece for your local newspaper. Take it one step further and write your own piece about play, either as a response to a recent article or a piece that relates to current trends or legislative activities. Sign your work "Yours in Play, NAME." For additional help on media outreach visit the Kellogg Foundation's Media Toolkit.

18. Speak at a town hall meeting with your local lawmaker. Bring your research on play, a concise and compelling statement about its importance on the local, national and global level, and help spread the word!

19. Have a face-to-face meeting with your local lawmaker. Meeting in person with your local elected officials is the single most powerful grassroots action you can take to fight for the issues you care about. Be prepared and be specific. If your argument is strong and your request for action is specific, you are assured at least a follow-up. From there, build on your wins, follow up and the ripples of action by local government will continue.

20. Make advocating for play fun! Play is serious business, if we want to raise healthy and productive children. However in the spirit of play, we need to rally with enthusiasm, commitment and in a spirit of fun!