Kids aren’t getting enough playtime, so KaBOOM!, the national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of children, is giving communities free kits to host KaBOOM! Play Days. From Sept. 19-27, communities across the United States will host free, fun-for-the-whole-family events that focus on the important role play plays in a child’s life.
To support the cause, NFL PLAY 60 is offering Play Day communities $25,000 in grants to come together to improve their local parks and playspaces with clean-ups and simple enhancement and construction projects. NFL PLAY 60 is the league’s youth health and fitness campaign aimed at getting kids active for at least 60 minutes a day.
KaBOOM! Play Days are sponsored in part by by KOOL-AID and are fun free ways to get the kids outside and active. They’re also a great way to get a local park or playground some much-needed TLC.
Sign up to host a KaBOOM! Play Day in your community, you’ll receive a free Play Day kit full of games, activities, and improvement projects.
Here are the details about the grants:
Two $10,000 “Playspace Improvement” grants will be awarded
- “Playspace Improvement” grants will be awarded to the top two vote-getters in the “Best Play Day” voting competition, which will run from Nov. 3 through Dec. 1.
- To be eligible for the voting competition, Play Days must include a park improvement or spruce up project as part of their Play Day.
- All competing Play Days will have to meet all KaBOOM! grant eligibility requirements and will need to be pre-approved by both KaBOOM! and NFL PLAY 60 prior to voting.
Five $1,000 “Play Day Award” grants will be awarded
- “Play Day Award” grants will be decided by KaBOOM! and NFL PLAY 60.
- These smaller awards are for Play Days that did not necessarily complete a spruce-up project, but rather for Play Days that were impressive in their own way. It could be that these Play Days had the biggest crowd, the best photo, or the funniest games. More details will be forthcoming – the key to winning these awards is to make your Play Day unique and extra special!
Timeline
Starting Sept. 28, people who host Play Day events can visit kaboom.org/playday to download the grant application. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 23.