WORK BEGINS ON NEW CHILD-INSPIRED PLAYGROUND

March 3, 2005

MARCH 3, 2005 Special to the Daily World

If a child could design a playground, what would it look like? Would it have swings that reach to the moon? Would there be a slide with more twists and turns than a roller coaster? Would there be more colors than a box full of crayons? 

Children at Atlanta?s Premier Academy-Angier Avenue Center will find out tomorrow, as volunteers build a new child-inspired playground in the city?a whimsical space they helped design themselves in an effort to create a quality outdoor learning and playing environment at the center. 

The Premier Academy playground project marks the kick-off of Play Smart, an innovative new program that will help design, fund and build 14 more child-inspired playgrounds at early care centers throughout Atlanta over the next three months. 

A collaborative effort between Smart Start Georgia, Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (Bright from the Start) and KaBOOM!, Play Smart aims to provide high-quality outdoor play spaces that will help prepare the children who attend those facilities for future educational success. 

?When parents think about quality child care, reading, writing and arithmetic are usually the first things that come to mind,? said Sharen Hausmann, director of Smart Start Georgia, an organization dedicated to programs that improve the quality of early care and education for children in Georgia. ?While these activities are vital to building a solid foundation for learning, parents also need to understand the important role that outdoor play has on a child?s development.? 

According to KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization that brings communities and businesses together to build safe, much-needed play spaces for children, time spent outside provides children with unique sights, smells and sounds that help a child?s development. ?Building this new playground will give children at Premier Academy a safe, fun and educational place to play, and it?s a major step in improving the quality of early care and education in Atlanta,? said Darell Hammond, CEO, KaBOOM!.

The playground at Premier Academy was designed according to the wishes of the students, ages 2-5 years, who months ago took crayon to paper to sketch their ideal play space. Based on the children?s drawings, the bright red, yellow, and blue playground will include swings, a double slide, see saw, crawl tube, drum panel, sand and water table and much more!

Play Smart, Premier Academy-Angier Avenue Center and community members will partner Saturday, March 5, to build a new playground in less than eight hours for the children of Premier Academy! Smart Start Georgia coordinated the collaboration and private funding, Bright from the Start provided expertise regarding quality early learning and KaBOOM! offered logistical expertise.

For additional information on Smart Start Georgia programs or how to become involved, please call 1.877.STARTGA or visit www.smartstartga.org. 

â?? This article reprinted courtesy of the Atlanta Daily World.