Do you remember playing stickball or jumping rope in the street? Neighborhood streets used to be children playgrounds, but traffic was the problem. Now one organization wants to bring those back to kids by temporarily closing local streets to traffic and letting kids play outside.
Playing is important but community buildings end the fun. So here came Play Streets. It began in Bristol in 2009 with just one street Encouraged by the success, the idea grew. It really took off in 2011 with support from The Funding Network and now thousands of people across the UK are taking part in the activity and playing in the streets. Later, Play Streets became a global movement and moved across the pond to US communities in San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle. Now Play Streets is spreading like wildfire.
"Our society has changed and communities are having higher levels of isolation than ever before and kids aren't playing outside as much either. But Play Streets gives people a place to have street meetings and parties, or simply a place to play for a few hours," Valli Morphett, the chief executive of CoDesign Studios said.
You can bring Play Streets to your street in your neighborhood too. Get a group of neighbors together to organize activities and you can even ask local schools to help plan your activities. But you just can't put up a sign and close your street to traffic. Before you start, you should consider the following question to make sure Play Streets will go well. Is the local government supportive? You should handle the necessary paperwork with the local government so that rules are followed. The local government is normally receptive to the activity and likely to make it easy to close the street. Once the permit has been approved, ifs time for fun. Gather a kit of toys and supplies, get the word out, and get each organizer to take on a role to share the load.
