Concordia Place Fall Into Fun

We are planning a Play Day as a first step towards our fundraising goal to renovate our playground.  Our current playground was installed more than 20 years ago, and it has experienced significant wear and tear.  The equipment is outdated and does not meet the developmental needs of the children of our community.

Our Fall into Fun Play Day will help us rally our families and friends in the community to support our improvement goals.  This will help us build and strengthen relationships between the children, families, and staff of Concordia Place and the community. 

During the Play Day, participants will help improve our playground by painting and planting flower boxes, which will be hung on the playground fence.  To further beautify the playground, children will tie colorful ribbons to the fence.  The multitude of colors will symbolize the diversity in our community and welcome all of our neighbors into our playground.

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To improve our playground, we will start by replacing our playground equipment, which is 20 years old.  A new play structure will include a slide, two climbing apparatus, a tunnel, and other age-appropriate play equipment.  Other equipment, such as a play house and sensory table, which will encourage children's use of imagination, will be added.  Lastly, we will replace our woodchip playground surface with a rubberized material.  This will help us to continue to meet safety standards, while addressing maintenance issues.

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"Our playground is not only used by the children at Concordia Place, but it is also open to the community because we believe that outdoor play is essential for children's health and well being.  The time children spend outdoors is just as important to their learning as the time they spend indoors.  The playground is an important part of our school and community as the nearest public playground is 8 blocks away and is too far for young children to walk.

Outdoor play enhances children’s social/emotional development by engaging children in purposeful activities, such as setting up the play house with equipment for cooking and picnicking or setting up a restaurant or store. These activities encourage a sense of accomplishment and growing competence in their abilities. Social skills grow as children share equipment, work together and follow safety rules.

Children develop their gross motor skills, take risks, and try out new skills as they run, leap, hop, jump, climb and slide. Children develop small motor skills with gardening and playing with sand and sand toys. Children also use the playground to enhance cognitive development as they study bugs, plant seeds, and play in sand and water. They count the seeds they plant, note patterns on butterflies, and learn how to make water and sand run through a plastic rain gutter.

Outdoor play supports children’s development and learning. For example, children learn the names of insects and plants. Children develop language and expand their vocabulary when they learn words to describe characteristics, such as fuzzy, striped, shiny, fast, slow, shiny, hard, and soft.

Improvements to our playground would help us continue to provide an attractive outdoor play space that is engaging and fun for children of all ages and abilities.

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