Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
We want to learn more,
What's KaBOOM! got in store?
Check out all their winter webinars!

Gone away is our playground,
We must build a fun-n'-games-ground,
But we don't know how,
So let's learn how to now,
Regist'ring for winter webinars!

In our city we can build a playground,
Then our kids will laugh and run around,
They'll say "Can we play more?
Love this playground!"
And we'll build it all thanks to
kaboom.org!

But for now, as we wander,
On these topics we must ponder.
To face unafraid,
The plans that we made,
Let's register for winter webinars!

Thank you!

Now that "Winter Wonderland" is stuck in your head, go register for our fantastic webinars, covering the following topics:

• Finding Play in Playful City USA Communities: The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder and Widget
• Extra! Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Working with the Media
• How to Rally Your City to Become a Playful City Part II: Developing an Action Plan for Play
• KaBOOM! Success Stories: Washington Mutual and McKinley Elementary
• Playgrounds, Mental Health and Brain Development
• Success Stories: Volunteer Recruitment with Mara Kaplan
• Grant Writing 101
• Incorporating Service Learning Into Your Build
• Success Stories: Revitalizing your Playspace on a Shoestring Budget
• Making Your Build Day Green
• Fundraising 101
• Volunteer Recruitment: Managing the Process
• The KaBOOM! Road Map
• Safety, Surfacing & Vendors...Oh My!

By Todd Redenius and Deb Dyar
City of Ankeny

Residents of Ankeny, Iowa get a unique opportunity to contribute and become involved with the city’s decision-making process when it comes to new parks and playgrounds.

When planning a new park or playground, we first mail a conceptual plan and a letter announcing a park development neighborhood meeting to each property owner within a four to six block radius of the park that is being developed.

At the park development meeting, neighbors review the plan and give their input on the process, and we invite people to leave their name, address and email address, which provides a great volunteer base for landscaping and fundraising.

During the neighborhood meeting, we discuss people’s desired amenities for the park playground, including play equipment, colors and styles...

Selling food is always a good way to raise funds. Consider selling subs at sporting events. Better yet, have a three-foot sub sale on the day of a special sporting event, like World Series games or Superbowl Sunday. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the wiki.

By Mara Kaplan

Mara just finished a playground build for her daughter’s school, Community Day in Pittsburgh, Penn. Below, she shares her best volunteer recruitment strategies for the 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.

1. Recruit a grade captain for every grade or every homeroom, depending on your school. The build chair can then communicate with the grade captains, who can do more personal outreach to the parents in their child’s class. Also, if you’re working with a private school, enlist someone as a liaison to the board of directors, and don’t forget the faculty! If you can get a teacher to ask their peers to volunteer, it will make it easier to get them excited about the project.

For once, being arrested, escorted to and locked up in jail is fun and beneficial to your community!  Popular “jail and bail” fundraisers involve arresting citizens and playspace supporters on trumped up charges, escorting them to a public space (jail) and having them make calls to friends and families for “bail.”  All bail money supports your project!

The event usually begins with someone calling “criminals,” informing them of their “arrest.”  Off-duty police officers or volunteers “arrest” the unsuspecting participant, serving them with a warrant. He or she is then whisked off to “jail."  An alternative is to have people make a donation, thereby earning the right to choose someone who will go to jail.  That person then has to either raise enough contributions to match their friend’s donation, or match bail set by a judge.
 
When the participants arrive at the “jail," their bail is set by a volunteer judge. With telephones and telephone books, the jailbirds make pledge calls to friends, relatives and co-workers to earn their bail. Most incarcerations last for one to two hours. [Learn more]

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Turn Build Day into a team-building and social opportunity for new associates, summer interns and/or paralegal staff.

Liability is a big concern for many skatepark organizers. Seek the pro-bono counsel of a lawyer (bonus points if he/she is a skater!) who can help you navigate the in's and out's of park liability. [More]

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Know someone whose cooking gets rave reviews? How about someone whose desserts are out of this world!? Invite them to host a course of your progressive dinner party. Recruit host and hostesses that live in a close proximity to one another to open up their home in support of your playspace build. The amount of courses you have is endless. Go to one house for soup, then mosey to the next for salad. Don’t forget about appetizers. Then there’s dinner and, most importantly, dessert! [Learn more]

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If you know someone with a knack for growing a mustache, you may just have the makings for a playground fundraiser!

You start this fundraiser by making everyone shave (if necessary) and then bringing them in once a week to measure their mustache length. Set up a website with photos for people to comment and make donations under individual participants. When all is said and done, host an event where awards are given for the longest mustache, celebrity lookalike mustaches, and pair that with a silent auction or other fundraiser. Learn more.

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Zen meditation activities have become very popular, especially with seniors. Bring a Zen Master in to teach relaxation techniques to planning team members. Once the playground is built, transform your playspace into an inter-generational community space by asking a local Zen Master to hold free T'ai Chi or meditation classes at the site. [Learn more]

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Barter for bucks! This fundraiser works to provide folks with services they need in order to give children the playspace they need. Community members inform you of a service that can provide or need. Donors buy a service they need which is provided by a volunteer. Payment for the service is made to your playspace fund. For example, a community member donates their time to babysit on a Friday night. Another community member who needs a babysitter signs up for the service and pays for it by making a donation to the playspace. The amount of the donation depends on the service. [Learn more]

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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! 

What is a non-event? It’s a made-up event that doesn’t really exist. What is great is that 100% of the proceeds go directly to your playspace! [Learn more]

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Ask a local musician to provide entertainment at Build Day or for fundraisers. Entertainers can be the children's choir, church groups, mariachi bands, blue grass bands, jazz musicians, blues, etc. Recruit popular local bands to participate in a friendly competition, a "Battle of the Bands." This has proved to be a great fundraiser for many skatepark groups. [Learn more]

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Subscribe to tips and ideas from KaBOOM! by email!

A recent KaBOOM! build at the Marsha Barbour Community Center in Pass Christian, Miss. featured a unique side project - a brightly-colored, kid-sized maze!

The kids and adults came up with the idea during their Design Day, and Justin Fitzgerald, KaBOOM! Project Manager, took on the task of creating the plans and figuring out the logistics to create it.

The maze, which measures 25 feet by 30 feet, was made of 4x4 pieces of lumber and 4-foot tall sheets of plywood. On the outside of the maze, kids painted beach-themed murals, and on the inside of the maze, they painted bright, solid colors.

On Prep Day, volunteers dug holes for the 4x4 posts, primed the plywood sheets and sketched the kid-designed murals onto them. On Build Day, they assembled the maze and as soon as each plywood sheet was attached, the kids began to paint it.

"People loved it," said Justin. "It turned out well."

Check out more photos of the maze, and other side project ideas - we hope to post the maze plans soon!

A high school or university coach can encourage team members to volunteer on Build Day as part of a team-building or publicity events. A coach also has access to a number of things that might come in handy on Build Day: whistles, first-aid kit, orange cones, megaphones, etc. [Learn more]

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By Rachel Warner Blosser

Our best fundraiser to date has been a murder mystery dinner called “Montana Marie Gets Gunned Down at 3!”

Many participants wore their best western apparel for the event. The performers greeted the guests in character at the “chili bar.” Following their western buffet dinner of pulled pork, barbecue ribs and chicken, the show began. With props, sound effects and tremendous ad-libbing, the performers presented the show while interacting with the dinner guests. The guests kept track of various clues throughout the show, and prior to intermission, the audience was given the opportunity to question the cast and determine the murderer and motive. After intermission, the murderer was revealed, and prizes were given to the super sleuth who figured out “whodunit” as well as the best-dressed cowboy and cowgirl.

With Scrabulous currently disabled on Facebook, people are looking for ways to show off their vocabularies and word-game skills...and this fundraising event will let them do just that! 

Register individuals and assign them to a team, or register whole teams of four, six or eight. Seated at different tables (each with a Scrabble board and all the letters available), each team starts with the same opening word, and has 20 minutes to fill the board with high-scoring words. [Learn more]

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This hilarious, interactive game can result in huge donations for your playspace project. Community members such as students, parents, etc., pay to have a big pink flamingo in their neighbor’s or schoolmate’s front yard. In order to have the flamingo removed, the person that received the flamingo has to pay $5 to have it removed and placed in another yard. You’ll need more than one flamingo to start this game, or you can use your school’s mascot or anything else that has meaning to your community. Folks will love going out in the morning to see who got “flamingoed” the night before. [Learn more]

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Real estate agents are connected to LOTS of people. Get them involved in volunteer recruitment: maybe they can distribute information and sign volunteers up at their next open house. [Learn more]

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Get local celebrities to dance for your playground! One playground committee had a disco theme and paired their event with a silent auction, raising $15,000! Encourage collaborative dances from various city officials. Choreography isn’t necessary – a lot of people know (but may not admit they know) how to do the Electric Slide, the Hustle, and the Macarena! [Learn more]

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Children LOVE trucks—their flashing lights, big wheels, loud noises! Bring the excitement of real trucks to children in your community. Families will appreciate the opportunity to let kids see and touch for themselves! [Learn more]

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An artist can supervise/design artistic play environment projects, like murals and mosaics, or help design publicity materials. Artists might have studio space available that can be used for meetings and creative fundraisers. [Learn more]

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Every one loves balloons and prizes. Put the two together and you have a “popping” good time! Insert a slip of paper into each balloon. Some slips of paper will be blank while others list a prize the lucky popper has won. Prizes can range from the very simple, like candy or small toys, to money. It’s up to you! [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the KaBOOM! Fundraising Ideas wiki.

Ask your local grocery store to support your project by allowing you and other volunteers to bag groceries for an afternoon and collect tips for your playspace. Give each bagger a tip jar and display signs to tell customers what you are doing by the check-out aisles and the front of the store. This is a great way to heighten your community’s awareness about your project. [Learn more]

Add your own fundraising ideas to the KaBOOM! Fundraising Ideas wiki.