Safety at Home

UL and KaBOOM!: Saving Play

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The sound of children laughing and the sight of them running, jumping and climbing are among the simple joys of parenthood. As a mom, you know instinctively how important play is to your kids’ health and well-being, and the facts back you up. Play is vital to addressing important problems from the childhood obesity epidemic to poor school performance. Play teaches children how to negotiate, respect one another, and think and plan on their own.

Unfortunately, play is on the decline in America. Not enough play spaces are being built and those that do exist are often in disrepair. Consider these facts:

• Fifty-nine percent of parents say their kids don’t have access to a playground. The number goes up to sixty-nine percent in low-income neighborhoods.¹
• Ninety-two percent of parents say their kids play outside less than they did when they were kids.²
• Eighty-two percent of parents believe children today don’t spend enough time playing outside.³

In support of EDN’s Billion Acts of Green Initiative™, UL is partnering with KaBOOM!, a national non-profit making children and communities healthier by creating great places to play, to challenge 5,000 moms to pledge support for local play areas via the KaBOOM! Playspace finder. The relationship focuses on one of moms’ top concerns – the idea of healthy play spaces that allow children to exercise their imaginations. Moms see playgrounds as both part of their communities and part of their environment, and more than 80 percent are willing to take action to increase time or space availability for children to engage in outdoor play.

UL is also helping KaBOOM! launch their campaign to “Save Play” for one million children this year. To do so, UL is sponsoring a national contest where communities can enter to win an eco-friendly and innovative Imagination Playground in a Box systems. Imagination Playground in a Box is a play system that offers a changing array of elements that allow children to constantly build and re-build their play space.

Click here to enter the contest.

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