KaBOOM! homepage feature archives from the past 30 days

Earn community service credit through the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder!
Did you know you can earn community service credit for adding playspaces to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder? You can! It's a great project for a youth group or high school class. [More]

Learn how to build a playground at WE Play! Phoenix and San Francisco!
Learn how to fundraise, build and advocate for great places to play in your community! KaBOOM! Workshops Entirely on Play are one-day, FREE regional trainings packed with interactive sessions. [More]

KaBOOM! and Stonyfield Farm to award two new playgrounds!
Organic yogurt-maker Stonyfield Farm is teaming up with KaBOOM! to provide much-needed places to play for two deserving schools or youth organizations! Learn how your organization can enter to win. [More]

Win a speaker backpack and an iPod!
This week, one lucky person will win a Targus SonicPak backpack and an iPod Shuffle! All you need to do to enter is add at least one playspace, with a photo, into the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder before 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, Oct. 6. [More]

Houston folks: Need a volunteer? How about 30 volunteers?
New kaboom.org member Jon Eberle has a group of 30 folks who are looking to volunteer for a project! Know someone who could use some help on a playspace cleanup to repair project? Let him know in the Forums. [More]

Even a hurricane can't stop this playground project!
KaBOOM! community member mathgirl6 reports her playground project in Kemah, Texas will continue despite the destruction of Hurricane Ike. Learn how you can help this playground project come to fruition. [More]

NBA star Antawn Jamison builds with KaBOOM! and KOOL-AID in Washington!
Washington Wizards star and All-Star Playmaker Antawn Jamison helped to build an amazing playground Sept. 20 in Washington, D.C. Read his blog post about the day and see some photos! [More]

Worldwide Day of Play is Sept. 27!
How are you going to celebrate? See if your community is hosting a Play Day, or maybe try a new outdoor game with some friends. The important thing is to get out there and have fun! [More]

Win a Kodak Easy Share camera!
How awesome is this digital camera? Very! And what's even more awesome is how easy it is to enter to win. Simply add at least one new playspace with a photo to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder by the end of the day Monday! [More]

KaBOOM! and America's Promise Alliance award a new playground to...
Playful City USA community St. Peterburg, Fla. just won a brand-new, community-built playground in recognition for their work to ensure that all children in their community have a safe place to play. [More]

New webinars announced!
They're here! They're free! They're chock-full of knowledge! We've just announced webinars about why play matters and how to rally your city to become a Playful City USA. Register today for one of these free, one-hour, online classes and prepare to learn. [More]

KaBOOM! celebrated its 1,500th playground build Sept. 20!
At the end of the day Sept. 20, after building brand-new playgrounds in Chicago, Gulfport, Miami, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! celebrated building over 1,500 playspaces! [More]

Tips and tricks for planting trees
Trees on the playground contribute to kids' health and well-being. Learn how to make sure those trees stay healthy, too, in this new article from Jared Liu of Alliance for Community Trees. [More]

Are you ready for Worldwide Day of Play Sept. 27?
Worldwide Day of Play is swiftly approaching, but you can still plan a Play Day for your neighborhood with our great tools and resources. [More]

Win a portable photo printer!
Imagine playing with your kids on the playground, taking photos of them with their friends, and then printing the photos right there for them to take home. You could do just that if you win this week's KaBOOM! Playspace Finder Sweepstakes! [More]

Brand-new KaBOOM! Playspace Finder launches
With interactive maps, more playspace details, better search, and more opportunities to rate a playspace, the new KaBOOM! Playspace Finder is all-new and all-awesome. Check it out today! [More]

Playworkers manage the spaces for children's play
The term playwork is a deliberate oxymoron. It is a craft filled with paradoxes, for in an ideal world playworkers would not need to exist. Their work needs to be as invisible and unobtrusive as possible. [More]

KaBOOM! names 67 Playful City USA communities
In honor of their innovative approaches to make play a priority, KaBOOM! has named 67 cities and towns across the country Playful City USA communities for 2008. Congratulate a Playful City USA community near you and learn about the innovative ideas that make these cities playful! [More]

Trees on the playground = healthier kids
Trees and landscaping are often considered “extras,” and are first on the budget chopping block, but they can help keep the kids who play on your playground healthier and provide much-needed shade in hot summer months. [More]

Encourage kids of all abilities on the playground
A mother of an autistic child writes about her experiences with other families on the playground. "If you see a child who is struggling, don’t just walk away, give that child an emotional boost," she says. [More]

Six great volunteer recruitment strategies
Mara Kaplan writes about six volunteer recruitment strategies that worked for her project. “We had 180 people show up on Build Day, over 220 people volunteer on the project, and 41 percent of our school families participated,” says Mara. Learn how! [More]

Fundraising idea: Sub sale
Selling food is always a good way to raise funds. Learn how you can put together a sub sale for the next big sporting event with our fundraising ideas wiki, then add your own fundraising ideas! [More]

Win a message center with digital photo frame!
You can enter to win this snazzy piece of technology by adding playspaces with photos into the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder! Learn more about the sweepstakes and enter today! [More]

NBA star Antawn Jamison blogs for KaBOOM!
Washington Wizards star Antawn Jamison is working with KaBOOM! to build two playgrounds, and he's blogging his experience right here. See what he's written so far! [More]

ABCD Institute study shows KaBOOM! is changing communities!
The KaBOOM! Community-Build process creates a lasting impact on the communities it partners with, according to a recent study by the ABCD Institute. [More]

Get on board the webinars train! Destination: KNOWLEDGE.
Lots of new webinars have just been announced, covering a wide array of topics, including fundraising, do-it-yourself building, why play is important, and how to become a KaBOOM! Community Partner. [More]

Today Show segment says kids need more unstructured play time
The Today Show featured a story about the need for more unstructured play time in kids' lives. "In the last two decades, children have lost up to 12 hours of free time a week," they say in the segment. Watch it online. [More]

Forums user mara shares her volunteer recruitment best practices!
Check out the Forums to read mara's success story about recruiting volunteers for a project at a school! She created a multi-faceted recruitment and public relations strategy with lots of fresh ideas. [More]

To 501(c)(3), or not to 501(c)(3)...
What are the advantages and disadvantages of setting up a 501(c)(3) for your playspace project? How do you go about getting one? People in the Forums are talking about it - join the conversation and throw in your two cents! [More]

Hey, WE Play! participants!
Got new ideas? Lingering questions? Want to collaborate on a project with the cool people you met at WE Play!? We've got the solution for you. A special area of our Forums is dedicated to WE Play!, broken out by region. Check it out! [More]

Fundraising idea: Mustaches! (Really? Mustaches? Yes, mustaches.)
If you know someone with a knack for growing a mustache, you may just have the makings for a playground fundraiser! Consider hosting a mustache-a-thon! [More]

Making public spaces more playful
Bruno Taylor, who just completed a masters degree in industrial design, has been hijacking public spaces to make them more playful, adding swings to London bus stops and creating a bouncing bench. [More]

Win a digital camera!
Every week between Aug. 19 and Dec. 29, we're offering great prizes for people who enter playspaces in the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder! This week's prize is an 8MP Digital Camera. [More]

Kids make quilt to raise funds for playground
First-graders at Rockport Elementary School took fundraising for a new playground into their own hands when they combined their efforts to create and raffle a quilt. [More]

Game time! Play Hangman with other Forum users!
We have some exciting news coming from KaBOOM!. To make it interesting, we've set up a game of Hangman in the Forums. Everyone's invited to guess letters and help find out the big news! [More]

Reverend Run blogs again!
"Justine and I had a wonderful time visiting Cleveland and building a magnificent playground in Old Cedar Estates in Cleveland, Ohio," he says. "We were overjoyed by the way we were greeted by the community." Read about his experience! [More]

Keep your volunteers hydrated!
Volunteers working in the hot sun all day need water - and plenty of it. But how can you get enough water donated to keep them all hydrated, all day long? Forum user afortune has a great idea. [More]

Raise money for a playground by letting people stay home
Non-events have become very popular fundraisers. With so many choices and event ideas available, you’ll be surprised at the number of people who will donate just for the opportunity to stay home! [More]