Photo courtesy of ABCreative
As your playground starts to near completion, don’t forget one very important step – celebrate the opening and all the hard work that has gone into it! See the previous steps here:
- Step 1 - Concept & Budget
- Step 2 - Surfacing & Shelter
- Step 3 - Play Equipment
- Step 4 - Installation
Many communities celebrate a new or renovated park and playground with some type of launch or dedication ceremony. It’s a great way to get the community out to see what has been accomplished.
Seeing improved amenities, new playground equipment, and new surfacing gets kids and their families excited and encourages more park use by families and the surrounding community. Often, this represents months of effort by a variety of stakeholders such as the parks department, city government, community volunteers and more.
Whether small or large, rural or in the city, when the playground is complete, it is time to celebrate!!
- Invite the community to a ribbon-cutting or dedication ceremony.
- Invite the media.
- Take pictures or video of the event to share on social media.
- Distribute a press release.
- Talk about the playground or park – what is unique about it, why was it renovated or newly built, what is the history of the area, what has been changed or made safer, who was involved.
Teach Children to Use the Equipment Safety
We have worked with schools who take the time to teach the kids the right way to play on new playground equipment. These rules keep the playground safe and clean
- One on the slide at a time.
- No climbing or jumping off the slide.
- Three at a time on the spinner.
- No pushing on the spinner.
- Count to 20 for the next turn on the spinner.
Having playground rules that are specific to your playground and equipment that the children learn to follow is proven to:
- Improve active recess involvement by more kids
- Increase the comfort level and participation from the shyer or less coordinated kids
- Reduce bullying
- Increase confidence and comfort with the play equipment
- Reduce playground injuries
Take a look at some ABcreative playground launches and grab some ideas for when you launch your playground!