The D.C. playground will be one of 13 built by KaBOOM! and Knight Foundation this year, including this pictured build from Detroit earlier the year.

At KaBOOM!, we believe in the importance of play, and we also believe in the power of civic engagement. That’s why we build playgrounds. We actively involve local communities in the planning and building process, inspiring them to engage with and care for their playspaces for years after the concrete sets.

On ‘Make a Difference Day,’ this Saturday, October 23, more than 500 volunteers from the White House, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Knight Foundation will join us to build a playground, along with the parents, staff and students of Hyde Leadership Public Charter School. This will be the 1,894th build KaBOOM! has led over the past 14 years, and is one of 13 to be built by KaBOOM! and Knight Foundation this year.

Planning for the playground began at a Design Day event held in August at Hyde-DC when students, parents and local community leaders met with organizers from KaBOOM! to design their dream playground. The students’ drawings were then used to create the final playground design.

As much as kids love swings and slides, we also want to encourage more creative and cooperative play. In addition to the community-built playground, the new play area will also include an Imagination Playground in a Box. Complete with custom-designed blue foam blocks and elements that encourage sand and water play, Imagination Playground in a Box allows children to constantly reconfigure their environment and design their own course of play.

We’ll be building the playground this Saturday in just six hours, but we know it will serve as a catalyst for community engagement, physical health, and creative growth for years to come. That’s why we say, ‘It starts with a playground.’