THE YARD IS OPEN!
2025 Spring and Summer camp registrations are NOW OPEN!
Check out our updated Camps page for all the details you will need to be Camp Ready!
Photo by Tova Friedman
FREE WEEKENDS AT THE YARD
There is nothing like a junkyard playground!
We are so excited to open The Yard for our 10th season on Governors Island from March 29 - November 16, 2025.
Join us every Saturday and Sunday (rain or shine) from 12pm-4pm for adventure play. Always free of charge and all young people are welcome!
Photo by Tova Friedman
Our playworkers
When you visit The Yard, you’ll see a few playful adults mixed in with the young people. These are trained Playworkers whose specific quality of attention helps create a safe, supportive, and uninterrupted experience for up to 50 young people at a time on our site. They are identifiable by their “I (hammer) play:groundNYC” shirts, and we think they are wonderful.
Playworkers are always muddy!
our history
play:groundNYC is a nonprofit dedicated to transforming New York City through play. The organization was founded by artists, researchers, and advocates for children’s rights who wanted to create the conditions for adventure play in NYC. This type of play has tremendous benefits for young people’s lives, and their future outcomes. We began with a series of pop-ups in city parks; in 2016, play:groundNYC was invited by The Trust for Governors Island to open The Yard, a publicly-accessible adventure playground. We have welcomed more than 60,000 children and young people to The Yard for free open weekends, after-school activities, field trips and summer camp.
