PlayAtlanta

ATLANTA TASKFORCE ON PLAY

Welcome to PLAYATLANTA.ORG


We want Atlanta to be a great place to raise your children, and that means having great places to play.

Who We Are

PlayAtlanta.org is a project of the Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP). ATOP was founded in 2007 to apply to KaBOOM!’s Playful City USA competition on behalf of the City of Atlanta. Working closely with the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, ATOP was successful and Atlanta became one of the 31 Founding Playful Cities and went on to win first prize in the PCUSA video grant competition. Check out ATOP’s winning video .
ATOP is a fiscal partner of the local 501(c)(3) nonprofit Park Pride.

For info: Cynthia (at) PlayAtlanta.org

To REPAIR/BUILD Playgrounds

REPAIRS: See something that needs to be fixed in a City of Atlanta playground? Please report it to Parks Dept. Customer Service at: 404-817-6813


BUILD A PLAYGROUND:
If you would like info on building a playground in an Atlanta City Park contact:

Design & location:
Pat Katz at PKatz(at)AtlantaGa.Gov
or
Paul Taylor at pataylor(at)atlantaga.gov

Funding ideas:
Alvin Dodson at
adodson(at)atlantaga.gov

Everything you ever wanted to know about HOW TO BUILD A PLAYGROUND can be found on the
KaBOOM! ROAD MAP.

In the News & ATOP Partners

ATOP IN THE NEWS

NEW: YouTube
NEW: ATOP in Metropolis
NEW:Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CNN iReport
Delta's SKY Magazine
ArchDaily
The Treehouse in the News
ATOP/SCAD's Sculpture Department Project at Camp Twin Lakes
Camp Twin Lakes' News Splash p. 3-4
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CNN
KaBOOM
New York Times
National Cities Weekly
Georgia Front Page
Southeast Green
Atlanta Board of Education's Khaatim El - blog

ATOP Advisory Board
Dr. Arthur Wendel, CDC
Medical Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -
National Center for Environmental Health, Public Health and Built Environment Initiative
Tom Walsh, Founding Principal, Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
Olga Jarrett, PhD - President, International Play Association; Associate Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, Georgia State University
RoseMary Hamer, Principal, Bethune Elementary School
Orland Esval, Director of eCommerce, AT&T
George Dusenbury, Executive Director, Park Pride

ATOP PARTNERS
City of Atlanta
KaBOOM!
Playful City USA
Park Pride
Camp Twin Lakes
Playworks
Chattahoochee Nature Center
CNN Fit Nation
Tool Bank
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
IPA/USA

WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Playscapes
PlayableDesign

Members

  • Dennis
  • Ralph
  • Adrien
  • Kent
  • Arnold
  • Hal
  • Everett
  • Buying online tramadol Buy Trama
  • Vance
  • Chapman
  • Theobold
  • Cuthbert
  • Gerald
  • Vincent
  • Paul
  • Fox
 

Blog Posts

Cynthia Gentry

Could Play Be the World's Common Language?


These children from the Acholi Quarter in Uganda spent their afternoon yesterday drawing pictures for the Playable Kids International Design Competition. They are lovely pictures and we are so happy to have them be a part of Playable Kids.



Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on March 6, 2010 at 11:55am

Cynthia Gentry

If Only I Could Read Polish


I was looking to see where most visitors to our Playable 2010 website came from and discovered that a blog from Poland was one of our biggest sources. It's the blog for Pracownia K. Arch

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Posted by Cynthia Gentry on March 5, 2010 at 3:30pm

Cynthia Gentry

What Is It About a Snow Day?


I've been so concerned about kids not playing outdoors anymore. I've been pondering how to change things, so I decided to look at when kids voluntarily dash outside. I've noticed two basic times: (1) when they are at school and it's time for recess, and (2) when it's s

Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 14, 2010 at 12:30pm

Cynthia Gentry

5 Year-Old from Istanbul, Turkey Enters Playable Kids International Design Competition


This wonderful drawing about "My Idea of Fun" comes from Ada, a 5 year-old from Istanbul, Turkey. It is an entry into the Playable Kids design competition. The whole point of Playable Kids is to get children to inspire the architects, designers, artists, and

Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 12, 2010 at 9:26pm

Cynthia Gentry

PLAY CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA - MARCH 10-13, 2010

Urban Play Conference SCHEDULE.pdf


A conference that is an incredible opportunity to learn more ab

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Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 12, 2010 at 12:30pm

Cynthia Gentry

WHEN I WAS A KID, I USED TO.......


This picture doesn't look like a significant memory, but it is one. I remember how triumphant I felt reaching the top of that great height (even with my grandmother behind me and my mother in front of me). As I got older, it wasn't the playgrounds that drew me in. The g

Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 5, 2010 at 2:08pm

Cynthia Gentry

PLAYING TO LEARN

The importance of play and creativity are stressed in creating a successful environment and process for children to learn in this article from the New York Times, Playing to Learn.

An excerpt: "During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from buildi… Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 4, 2010 at 9:00am

Cynthia Gentry

3 1/2 WEEKS LEFT TO ENTER KIDS' PLAY DESIGNS


When you've seen a child's drawing become a real treehouse that serves an entire camp, you understand that we seriously believe that kids are the experts on play.
Get every child you know to enter the PLAYABLE KIDS International DContinue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on February 2, 2010 at 8:30am

Cynthia Gentry

Cool Playspaces on Playscapes Blog

You never know what incredibly innovative playspace will be highlighted on the PLAYSCAPES blog.


Norwegian Storytelling Playspace

Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on January 11, 2010 at 9:00pm — 1 Comment

Cynthia Gentry

Playing Outdoors Helps Children's Eyesight

Nearsightedness is on the rise. Researchers are finding that playing outdoors may greatly reduce your child's chances of developing nearsightedness or myopia. Check out this story on NPR.

"If you have two nearsighted parents and you engage in a low level of outdoor activity, your chances of becoming myopic by the eighth grade are about 60 percent," he says. "If children engaged in over 14 hours per week… Continue

Posted by Cynthia Gentry on January 11, 2010 at 5:10pm

Photos

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GREAT PLAY RESOURCES

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITIONS:

PlayableKids

Download: KidsEntrySheet.pdf
How To Enter PlayableKids.pdf

COMING in MARCH 2010
Playable 2010


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FANTASTIC blog about playgrounds: Playscapes

Great information on Nature Deficit Disorder

Pretty much everything you ever needed to know about play.

And, of course, KaBOOM! Find a playground, plan a Play Day, how to build a playground, and much, much more.



Play Champion of the Month


TUNNELL-SPANGLER-WALSH

Many thanks to Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh , community design and architecture firm extraordinaire. TSW is developing Playground Design Guidelines that will be on this website soon . Then, you'll be able to post information about your playground project and get input.

Thanks so much to TSW for understanding the importance of play and contributing to improving the quality of play in Atlanta!

DONATE

Ethan E., our first donor

CLICK TO DONATE!

Ethan's grandmother gave him a gift of $25. He gave $20 to ATOP so more Atlanta kids will have great places to play. He kept $5 to get something cool for himself. We think Ethan is pretty cool!

Playground of the Month


BETHUNE Elementary School This month, our Playground of the Month is one that has not been built yet. Students, parents, staff, and volunteers are busy at work preparing for an awesome playground to be built in the Fall of 2009. Congratulations to the students for their great playground designs! We'll keep watching your progress. To help on the Bethune project, contact us at Cynthia (at) PlayAtlanta dot org.



 

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