Playful City USA

Playful City USA was a recognition program, running from 2007 to 2017, that recognized and honored the cities and towns that ensured kids in their communities, particularly kids from low-income families, were getting the balanced and active play they need to thrive.

Closing the Playful City USA program

We are so proud of the work we've done together to ensure kids have great places to play across the country through Playful City USA. To better focus our efforts on serving kids with the greatest need across the country, we've decided to discontinue the Playful City USA program.

The success of the Playful City USA program is due to the dedication of cities in every corner of the United States making sure all kids have access to safe, great places to play. We want to thank every community that participated in the program, sharing stories of success, helpful best practices and the triumphs over struggles shared with us and the entire Playful City USA community.

Our work moving forward

Over the last year, KaBOOM! has been focusing on building strategic relationships with local government leaders to create public private partnerships in cities across the US.

In order to serve the kids most in need, KaBOOM! needs to work closely with city government leaders to bring play infrastructure to public spaces. We're partnering with local governments, community members and funders to implement initiatives that increase our impact by creating more safe places to play and decreasing disparities in access to play, especially among kids of color.

KaBOOM! has recently partnered with city agencies and systems in Detroit, Baltimore and Boston to create play infrastructure in public spaces such as parks, public schools and public housing developments in historically disinvested neighborhoods.

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