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
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: 404-546-6813
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.
In the News & ATOP Partners
ATOP IN THE NEWS
Atlanta Business Chronicle: ABC-Private Grants Help Deliver.pdf
Atlanta Magazine: Play With A Purpose, Why Kids Need Recess
KaBOOM! Playmaker of the Month
Recreation & Parks in Georgia Magazine: Creating Partnerships in Atlanta
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Centers of Hope Good for Atlanta's Kids
YouTube
ATOP in Metropolis
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 - Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, Georgia State University; Former President, International Play Association
Orland Esval, Director of eCommerce, AT&T
George Dusenbury, Commissioner, Parks, Recreation + Cultural Affairs, City of Atlanta
ATOP PARTNERS
City of Atlanta
KaBOOM!
Playful City USA
Park Pride
Camp Twin Lakes
Playworks
Central Atlanta Progress
Tool Bank
Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates
IPA/USA
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Playscapes
PlayableDesign
Blog Posts
Happy Mothers' Day
Happy Mothers' Day to all the Moms out there who take their children to the playground after school or after work, even when they'd give anything to just go home and relax for a while.
Happy Mothers' Day to all those Moms who don't get upset when they find the dining room chairs upside down and covered…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on May 12, 2013 at 1:22pm
ATOP's Woodruff Park Playground Named #1
By Cynthia Gentry, Founder & Executive Director, Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP)
Atlanta, GA April 5, 2013
We are so proud that in their April 2013 edition Atlanta Magazine named ATOP's Woodruff Park Playground the #1 thing that every Atlantan (and hopefully visitors, too) must…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on April 5, 2013 at 10:30pm — 1 Comment
ATOP Updates
A few notes:
1.) PlayAtlanta.org has been under attack by spammers. They are trying to gain access to website members so they can email current members. If you have received spam from anyone that is a member of PlayAtlanta.org please let me know ASAP. For now, we are doing the best we can to catch them before they bother you.
2.) Spring is here, but you wouldn't know it from walking out the door. The cherry tree blossoms in our front yard tell me that warmer weather…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on March 27, 2013 at 6:52am
Come to the Always Inspiring Park Pride Annual Conference
Sign up today for the annual Park Pride Conference. It is always fascinating and inspiring, and this year deals with the effect of play on a healthy community. Also, Park Pride awarded an ATOP project, Play Chastain, with the first-ever Legacy Award of $100,000 for the amazing treehouse soon to be installed in the park. Thank you Park Pride. See you at the…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on March 12, 2013 at 3:31pm
"Dear Mr. President, We Need a New Playground!"
Photo: Brant Sanderlin (bsanderlin@ajc.com)/AJC
Chastain Park resident, 10-year-old Leland Jones, wrote the President of the United States of America asking for new playground equipment for Chastain Park. According to…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on February 20, 2013 at 1:48pm
"Summer's Treehouse" To Be Built in Memory of Chastain Park Teen
"Summer's Treehouse" will be built in Play Chastain in memory of 16-year-old Chastain Park neighbor Summer Dale who died from cancer on November 11, 2012. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today has an…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on December 17, 2012 at 1:30pm
The Wall Street Journal Cites Play Chastain's Innovation
Innovations in play have gone mainstream!
The Tuesday, November 20, 2012 edition of The Wall Street Journal highlights Atlanta's ambitious new Play Chastain project as a leading example of the…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on November 20, 2012 at 12:53am
Kids Playing With Fire...A Good Thing??
Back by popular demand. (Originally posted August 2009)
The other night, during a neighborhood yard party, the kids started a fire and I was pretty happy about it. Really!
Fire is a dangerous and potentially fatal force, but it is undeniably mesmerizing to kids. They all seem to play with matches at one time or another, and that easily strikes fear in the heart of every parent. So, I was shocked to read a while ago that fire was an…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on October 10, 2012 at 9:30am
Does a Child Have the Right to Play?
A cloud of the most frequently used words in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
In 1989/90, the…
ContinuePosted by Cynthia Gentry on September 15, 2012 at 10:30am
Photos
Events
Fun Play Ideas
PLAN a PLAY DAY
Find an Atlanta Playground on KaBOOM!'s Playspace Finder
Sports4Kids' Power of Play Training Guide for Atlanta
Build a fort Building a box fort Decorating your fort
Climb a tree!
Build a sandcastle
Play Frisbee
Build A Treehouse
Find a Trail
Campout In Your Backyard
Watch Clouds
Explore Your Backyard
Design your own constellations! CampoutStars.pdf
Take A City Nature Walk
Take A Backyard Bird Walk
GREAT PLAY RESOURCES
FANTASTIC blog about playgrounds: Playscapes
FIND A PLAYGROUND!!
Click for the Find a Playground app to put on your phone.
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.
Playgroundology, an emerging social science.
Play Champions of the Year
There just aren't enough words to thank the folks at Landscape Structures for all they are doing to make creative play happen for the children of Atlanta.
LSI took the new playground at Woodruff Park off of the drawing board and made it come alive. They made the PlayChastain Exploratorium happen for the families and children of north Atlanta.
Landscape Structures has gone above and beyond and their efforts are greatly appreciated.
Congratulations to LSI, ATOP's Play Champions of the Year 2012!
Videos
DONATE
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!
My Face Having Fun
© 2013 Created by Cynthia Gentry.
