Park-A-Day Summer Challenge: New Parks Every Weekday in August

Guess what?  In honor of summer and play and KaBOOM’s Park-A-Day Summer Challenge — I will be putting up a NEW park post every weekday in August (starting tomorrow).  As if my summer weren’t busy enough!

Those of you subscribing to my Play Trips newsletter know all about the KaBOOM Park-A-Day Summer Challenge.  Basically, I’m part of a small group of parents across the country who agreed to visit playgrounds this summer and either add them or review them on KaBOOM’s Map of Play.

It’s not a competition!  It’s just an effort to inspire play in our own community.  I already write about it on Twitter under the #parkaday hashtag and I started up with the photo-based social network called Instagram (inspired by my favorite OCFamily.com bloggers/photographers Noel and Lindsey).  Stacy from KidsStuffWorld.com (@Steet) is a #parkaday Challenger on Instagram with me. We’ve been tossing play and playground photos back and forth to each other.  The photos in this post are a few of the ones I’ve taken while out playing this summer.

Here’s what all the Challengers have been asked to do (from KaBOOM):

• “Take your children to as many local parks, playgrounds, or other public playspaces this summer as you can. (No, you do not need to visit a park every day. But if it works for your schedule, you can try!)
• Add and/or review each playspace on the KaBOOM! Map of Play.
• Swap stories and advice with other Summer Challengers in our Park-A-Day Summer Challenge Discussion Group.”

My goal in participating is the same as KaBOOM’s (from KaBOOM):

• “Help KaBOOM create a comprehensive map of parks and playgrounds in my hometown.
• Highlight areas where playspaces are lacking or in need of improvement.
• Inspire other local parents and kids to get outside, play, and explore this summer.
• Inspire ME to become a champion of play for your community.”

I know some of my readers are also taking on the challenge and visiting new parks every week this summer!  Emily told me:

“Your blog is absolutely fantastic! You take all the guess work out of park exploration! Honestly, with 22 month old twins, there’s no way I’d have time to pre-check parks for safety, parking, bathrooms etc online before heading out the door. You’re amazing! You’ve inspired me, too…we’re at a park literally everyday… checking out at least two new ones a week. You’re truly an inspiration. Many sincere thanks for all you do!”

And those of you who get the newsletter know that Cory says:

“I love, love your blog! It is my new, most favorite resource! I have even gotten my friends involved and we are planning on visiting as many of the parks you’ve listed as we can! It’s a fun to do list for us! I especially love that you have categorized the parks by north, south, etc. Most places don’t do that, and that is a HUGE perk for me!“

Read more testimonials from readers HERE.  My family isn’t making it to a NEW playground every day, but we are playing outside every day and trying to squeeze in time to update that Map of Play!

Please help me!!!

• If you go to a playground that’s not on my site then email a “pretend-you’re-me” review with 3-5 photos. Just send it to ocplayparks@gmail.com and I’ll make sure it gets on my site and KaBOOM’s Map! (Think about me and the load just ONE person would take off me if you volunteer to take over just ONE review in August).  See, I’m not above guilting you into this!
• Tell a friend about this site, our page on Facebook, and our Play Trips newsletter! Maybe another family will be inspired to take up the challenge?