Our Strategy

At KaBOOM!, we frequently talk about the equal importance of both the community-build process and the playspace product of our work. These two elements jointly address the problems that KaBOOM! seeks to alleviate: both a lack of places to play within walking distance of every child and a lack of community engagement.

Why play?

"Since play is a fundamental need, playgrounds should be provided for every child as much as schools. This means that they must be distributed over the cities in such a way as to be within walking distance of every boy and girl, as most children can not afford to pay carfare." − Theodore Roosevelt

Ask any adult to recall a favorite childhood memory and they'll likely include one from the playground or ball field. Unfortunately, too many kids today are missing out on this critical childhood experience. Play is a crucial factor in the overall well-being of children. It affects their development and the level of quality of life they will enjoy. Yet, in many cases, play has been pushed to the back burner.

Why aren't kids playing as much as they used to? There are at least four big reasons why. First, kids are spending more time inside in front of the television or computer. Second, there are fewer community playspaces. Third, organized sports are replacing free, unstructured play. Fourth, schools are cutting down on the frequency and time kids spend in recess. Read more about why play matters!

Why community build?

KaBOOM! has recognized that there is often a void of community engagement when it comes to addressing the need for places to play.

What does a community build entail? It's similar to an old-fashioned barn raising that calls on everyone in the community to pitch in, building lasting relationships while building the playspace. Community build means that volunteers from the community are involved in planning, fundraising, design, construction, maintenance, and programming for the new playspace.

The KaBOOM! Social Change Model

KaBOOM! has built a platform of three strategies with interconnected activities that will maximize the scale of our impact.

The KaBOOM! model for social change starts with what KaBOOM! sees as the problems we are trying to solve, our Theory of The Problem, followed by the primary levers that we can use to cause changes, our Theory of Change, which are manifested in our unique strategies and activities for maximizing scale of impact, our Theory of Action.

Theory of the problem: What does KaBOOM! aim to solve?

KaBOOM! addresses three interconnected factors that contribute to undermining the well-being of children across the United States and the health of their communities.

Lack of play is linked to important social problems

People are often surprised to learn that increasing play can help prevent important social problems such as childhood obesity, underachievement in school, youth violence and crime, in addition to others. Furthermore, many people do not recognize how essential play is to the development of every child. Play not only improves the lives of children in all areas of child development, it gives them the foundation to be healthy and successful participants in their communities and world. [Learn more]

Play is on the decline

In 2002, nearly two out of three children age 9-13 in the United States did not participate in any organized physical activity during non-school hours, and nearly one out of four children had no free-time physical activity. There are several barriers to play contributing to its decline, including lack of playspaces, unsafe playgrounds, sedentary lifestyle, unsafe neighborhoods, and decline of school recess. [Learn more]

Community inaction is common

A healthy society depends on the active engagement of its citizens. However, five major factors contribute to community inaction in many cities and towns, undermining children's right to play: civic withdrawal, "my backyard" perspective, unawareness of play's importance, too few local advocates, and low confidence in community action. [Learn more]

The link to KaBOOM!

Ultimately, KaBOOM! works to help individuals think about the children in their community, and eventually, all children. KaBOOM! believes that many more people can become vocal advocates to increase the space and time for children to play.

Theory of change: What are the levers for positive change?

The KaBOOM! Theory of Change has a dual mission that balances the product and the process. The KaBOOM! community-build process achieves important individual, institutional and community outcomes that increase civic engagement among communities and corporations alike, build social capital, and improve the lives of children and young people.

The KaBOOM! Theory of Change is built upon the belief that the process of organizing a community-build playspace is as important as the product: the playspace itself. There are three pillars that support our Theory of Change:

• Collective Cause: Like teammates on a sport team striving to win a game, a diverse group of volunteers use their different skills to collaborate and achieve the straightforward and simple goal of building a playspace in one day for the universal cause of children's well-being.
• Achievable Wins: Community development research has shown that an important step in community empowerment is to achieve a small, probable "win." A community group that has successfully built a new playground or skatepark is more likely to believe they can individually and collectively make a difference. And they are more likely to act on future community needs.
• Cascading Steps of Courage: Small steps of courage lead to greater acts of courage. Researchers have explored what has caused people to take significant courageous actions to benefit others and one of the leading factors for such acts was the presence of small, civically minded steps early on in life, which helped shape personal values and, over time, progressed to greater, civically-minded acts.

Collectively, these pillars help KaBOOM! activate powerful citizenship.

KaBOOM! believes that, together, we can achieve it by pursuing smaller common goals: a playground, skatepark or field complex, toward collective causes - the well-being of children, a one day build (that results in achievable wins), all through the small, yet courageous act of volunteering. This is how KaBOOM! activates powerful citizenship.

KaBOOM! takes our Theory of Change to scale by leading builds, providing resources to support communities that build playspaces on their own, and advocating for better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide.

Theory of action: How does KaBOOM! solve the problem?

To make our Theory of Change a reality, we've developed three different mechanisms to create mass action for the cause of play. At KaBOOM!, we:

• Rally communities to achieve better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities through the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play
• Provide online and other resources, including trainings, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own
• Bring together companies and communities for KaBOOM!-led playspace builds