Promoting OC Kids Playgrounds and Play Ideas

I started blogging OC kids playgrounds on the original OC Play Parks in April 2008. Like my old look?

I kept at the blogging and thought the site deserved a new look and name in January 2009. I made it a blog-site called Play Parks Central where I wrote:

• about unstructured play ideas on “FindaKidsPark” dot com
• about Orange County playgrounds on “FunOrangeCountyParks” dot com
• about Colorado Springs playgrounds on “Fun Colorado Springs Parks” dot com
• about the site background info at “Play Expert” at blogspot dot com.

I stuck with Blogger as a platform.  Many of you were in love with Play Parks Central and the whimsical talent of Shannon at Eight Crazy Design.

I loved Shannon’s design, too.  I can’t say enough about her professionalism and creativity. She went far beyond any expectations I had of a designer. In September 2009, she tried to talk me down from my crazy idea of tackling this redesign by myself.

I tried to stop. I wanted to wait . . . to squeeze into her schedule. But my brain just clicked along and I couldn’t keep myself from tinkering with Photoshop and WordPress. This computer stuff is my idea of fun. What you see on your screen is the result of playing with platforms and programs new to me. Play. It’s what I love to do – online and off. Regular readers discovered my new look around the last days of September.

This new format is less about look and  more about  focus and function. It may not be as pretty, but it’s better when my readers can actually find their parks.  These are the changes you see:

• I stepped away from the idea of Play Parks Central. It’s been done. I don’t think it provides the focus to cover the local playground scene well. Putting all my focus on OC kids makes the content better.
• I thought my Fun Orange County Parks readers would enjoy the play ideas and more posts during the week.
• You can now easily access the “Recommend a Park” form from the tab on the main menu. We LOVE getting recommendations.
• Hopefully you can find playgrounds more easily between the menu bar, search feature, and playground map.
• Dara now contributes one playground post per week and may be doing more as time goes on.

I started this fun Orange County project with one specific goal:

• Promote play by: playing, encouraging others to play, and providing a place for sharing our experiences.

I want everything we do here to reflect that goal including our sponsors and our links.  Over the next month, we’ll be rolling out a new sponsorship program to support local OC businesses.  Tuesdays will be our sponsored post day with a very playful spin. I want readers to get to know the people behind the businesses and learn about play in their lives.

I usually point out when payment, goods, or services have been exchanged for a post.  Sponsors are important to us because their dollars allow us to: make improvements to the site, cover our operating expenses, and spread the word about the importance of unstructured play. We regularly donate a portion of our proceeds to non-profits, mom clubs, and parenting groups. Besides, our sponsors are our neighbors and we’d like to support them.

Thanks very much for visiting and I hope you find much inspiration for play. Please share your play experiences in the comments section. I post links to interesting play articles on Twitter and you’ll find a slightly more personal side of this website on our Facebook fan page. Note: Still a bit more formatting to do on some of the older posts. We’ll be working on it in the background. Thanks for your patience.

Have fun, play often!