KaBoom!

KaBoom! Have you heard of this organization? If not, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with them. KaBoom's tagline is "it's starts with a playground." Simple, sweet, and packed with much more than one might think.
The story of KaBoom began in 1995 when a young man, Darell Hammond, read a story about two children who suffocated while playing in a car because they didn’t have anywhere else to play. With a vision to provide every child in America access to a great place to play, Darrell started KaBoom, one playground at a time.

Now a nonprofit, KaBoom is in its thirteenth year of service having constructed over 1,300 playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields, and ice rinks across North America. KaBoom rallies "communities to achieve better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide; provide resources, including trainings, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own; and bring together children, business and community interests for a select number of community playspace builds each year." 

Making KaBoom especially unique is that each facility is designed by children and built by the communities (volunteers) who will use them. Nearly every aspect of the design and construction relies on the investment of the surrounding community. What a fun way to bring a community together!

In addition to building play spaces, KaBoom offers a PlaySpace Finder. The PlaySpace Finder is simply a map allowing the viewer to locate playgrounds in their area. Users can also add playgrounds, rate them, post pictures, and share comments. 

And as if that wasn't enough, the KaBoom website is packed full of other exciting resources including: a list of do-it-yourself side projects (chessboard tabletop - how cool?!), community involvement and play advocacy trainings (making your build day green - who isn't a fan of the 3R's?), fundraising ideas (a flamingo hop? you know you want to know more!), and other exciting resources.

Many kudos to KaBoom's founder, Darrell Hammond, and the entire organization. Who doesn't love to play?

Going green to save our children

I recently read an article highlighting the Love Canal, a Niagara Falls neighborhood built atop tons of chemical waste. While reading this article, I became quite upset for two reasons: 1) We still have children attending schools near or on toxic waste, and 2) The toxic waste could have been prevented if only we had been taking better care of our environment.

Fortunately, we can prevent future schools from being built atop chemical landfills. Thanks to a nationwide awareness of environmentally safe(r) products and choices, we have access to many items and ideas that contribute to a green lifestyle. 

I absolutely believe that children should not be spending 35+ hours a week on top of chemical waste - that is irresponsible and possibly deadly for the children and school personnel. But ideally, the chemical waste would not be there to begin with. Of course, that is best-case-scenario, but reducing our carbon footprint should be a priority. Does it enrage anyone else that we have children literally seizing because they are exposed to such pollution every single day??? 

Being green isn't hard, but I recognize that it isn't easy either. I only ask that you think about one or two ways that you can make eco-friendly choices - it just might save our next generation of young people.