Push 4 Parks

PlayCore has partnered with the Natural Learning Initiative, College of Design, NC State University to offer an educational resource designed to help professional and community activists promote playful trails and greenways across our nation. The partnership also included collaborations with Advisory Committee of experts from American Trails. Pathways for Play intentionally integrates play into community pathway networks to provide opportunities for playing along the way and encourage use by children and families. The purpose of Pathways for Play is to integrate play – critical for children’s health – into walkable, bikeable, shared use community pathway networks infused with “play pockets” providing opportunities for playing along the way. In the last 40 years, the number of children and adolescents in the United States walking or bicycling to or from school has dropped from approximately half to fewer than 15%. Innovative pathway designs infused with play is a paradigm change that could increase children’s walking and biking habits by offering a network of intriguing linear play environments connecting children’s homes to playgrounds and other meaningful, daily life destinations.