FAQ

What is an adventure playground? What is The Yard?

An adventure playground is a place dedicated to play, where young people have ownership over how the space is built, altered, and enhanced. It might look like a junkyard; it is filled with materials, usually removed from the waste stream, over which children have complete control. An adventure playground is a child-led zone, where children can play, supported by trained playworkers. 

The Yard is play:groundNYC’s flagship. It was founded in 2016 and is NYC’s only adventure playground; but it wasn’t the first! Originally suggested by Danish architect Carl Theodor Sorensen in the 1930s, the first adventure playground opened outside Copenhagen in the early 1940s. The concept eventually caught on in other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the United States. New York City had several adventure playgrounds during the 1970s. The first adventure playground in the USA, opened in Minneapolis in 1949, and inspired our location’s name!

What programs do you offer? 

The Yard is open every weekend, from April to November, for free. We also support play during the week, by providing an after-school program and welcoming field trips from schools based all around NYC. In the summer, and for most of the public school closures, we offer camp programs on Governors Island. Since its founding, The Yard has welcomed more than 30,000 young people. 

Outside of The Yard, play:groundNYC partners with community organizations in diverse neighborhoods across NYC to provide play pop-ups in public spaces, provide professional development to educators and caregivers, create spaces for young people to play, develop school programming, and train a new generation of playworkers.

WHAT IS PLAYWORK?

Playwork is an approach to working with children that removes their barriers to play. Trained playworkers support all kinds of play through active engagement and awareness. They assess the benefits and risks involved in the play, on physical, social and emotional levels. They do not interrupt, offer unsolicited advice and suggestions, or break the flow of play. You can learn more about our approach to playwork here.

HISTORY

In 2014, a community engagement artist (Eve Mosher) and a youth rights advocate (Alex Khost) began holding pop-up adventure play events in public parks in hopes of opening a rooted adventure playground.

Inspired and trained in playwork by Pop Up Adventure Play, they were joined by a circus educator (Yoni Kallai), a researcher (Reilly Bergin Wilson), a playground designer (Robin Meyer), an arts educator (Jackie Katz), a former NGO project manager (Anne Morosini), and a democratic educator (Philipp Klaus). In 2015, the group collectively formed the organization play:groundNYC. As the pop-ups grew in popularity, Governors Island invited play:groundNYC to host a two-day play event on the island. The success of the adventure play pop-up events resonated with New Yorkers. They expressed their gratitude for the profound impact self-directed play had on their children. A year later, play:groundNYC partnered with the Trust for Governors Island and opened The Yard, New York City’s only adventure playground. play:groundNYC continues to offer loose parts materials play to children throughout the city, giving them spaces to play freely without judgement.

Without the passion of our founding board members, play:groundNYC would not be the robust organization providing free play across the city it is today: Yoni Kallai; Jackie Katz; Alexander Khost; Philipp Klaus; Robin Meyer; Eve Mosher; Anne Morosini; Reilly Bergin Wilson.