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| this tree was once filled with at least a foot of broken glass, which was put there years ago to keep termites from eating the tree (??). It is now a nice little duck-off personal space spot for kids. |
"PlayBuild transforms under-utilized urban spaces into exciting kid-friendly environments for play and learning. In August 2013, after 8 months of planning we opened our flagship site in Central City." Playbuild does afterschool programming with schools in Central City, teaching students about their built environment through play and creation.
In April 2014 I led a team of volunteers from Kaiser Permanente alongside HandsOn New Orleans to make PlayBuild's Thalia St site more kid-friendly and functional. This involved defining realistic projects to tackle with volunteers, compiling materials lists + budget for HandsOn, putting together easy-to-use instructions for tasks, and showing volunteers how to build correctly and safely. It was a blast.
We built a fence (with openings and trellis material), cleared debris to make the shaded portion of the site usable, and built tables and benches. Kids from the neighborhood hung out and helped, excited about their play space getting improved (surrounded by the busy Claiborne Flyover, Earhart Expressway, Home Depot, and a junkyard). There is always something special when kids can lend a hand in creating the spaces that they use, so often missed these days... this is what makes PlayBuild tick
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| PlayBuild in action. Drawing and building things on the tables, with chalkboard tops. |
A short video of the build.