KaBOOM! helping build playgrounds to address the Play Deficit

Hey, the folks at KaBOOM! do a great job, getting playgrounds built at low-income schools across the country, and figuring out how to replicate that.

Turns out that that this is a really big deal, there’s kind of a “play deficit” in our country.

Our children are playing less than any previous generation, and research clearly shows this lack of play is producing profound physical, intellectual, social and emotional problems for today’s kids. Yet too many see play as a luxury, rather than a necessity that ensures children’s health and well-being.

In 1995, Darell Hammond read a story in The Washington Post about two young children who suffocated in a car on a hot summer day in southeast Washington, DC. In the absence of a playground, they had climbed into an abandoned car to play. Hammond was inspired to found KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit builds and improves playgrounds through the participation and leadership of communities, with an ultimate vision of a playground within walking distance of every child in America.

Hammond’s story demonstrates how one idealist can change the world and how small, civic-minded steps create a ripple effect that can transform communities. “KaBOOM!” is a call to action that inspires by challenging traditional notions of community and social change.

The soon-to-be-released book, “KaBOOM!,” tells the uplifting journey of a man who grew up in a group home with his seven brothers and sisters and went on to build a world-class non-profit that harnesses the power of community to save play for America’s children.