Entries in the play category Learn about the challenge.

American Heart Association

Community STEPS

The vision of Community STEPS (Strategic dialogue That’s Empowered by Public Safety) is to bring law enforcement and the community together to create a safe space for dialogue and exercise. We walk together in the Jackie Tatum Harvard Park neighborhood to connect, discuss issues and work toward solutions while getting exercise. The program includes healthy activities for all ages as well as wellness events to include health information booths and blood pressure screenings.

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City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks

Mobile Recreation Program

The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) will launch a Mobile Recreation Program to bring a variety of outdoor activities to children and families in underserved communities. Each Mobile Recreation Vehicle will provide differently themed activities ranging from sports to drama and dance to STEM activities. The program will commence on the weekends at four LAUSD elementary schools in high park-need areas through the Departments Community School Parks Program.

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Crayon Collection

Creative Play After School Programming

Our after-school program would serve Title 1 schools in LAUSD. Many children do not have access to after school care. We seek to implement Crayon Collection teachers inside the schools to work on creating PLAY with the would-have-been-trashed crayons we have collected from local LA restaurants to benefit vulnerable students in Los Angeles. The projects we offer students are created in partnership with professional artists offering deep learning experiences that are fun and developmentally rich.

Harlem Lacrosse

Harlem Lacrosse - Los Angeles

Harlem Lacrosse - Los Angeles is a sports-based youth development organization that provides opportunities, relationships, and experiences that put youth on a path to success as students, athletes, and citizens. Led by professionals with years of lacrosse training and urban education experience, our innovative school-based model uses sports and mentorship to help students break the cycle of poverty by providing wrap-around programming in a safe, structured, future-focused, and fun environment.

play Winner

Los Angeles Audubon Society

LA Audubon Urban Nature Network

Urban Nature Network will connect students, families, members of the public to outdoor experiences at parks, beaches & open spaces. The program will also provide thousands of youth (grades 3-12), many from under-served communities, with nature-based field trips and after-school programs. Students will participate in stewardship training as paid interns, leading habitat restoration events that engage their communities and improve the quality of parks and open space for people and wildlife.

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Los Angeles County Grand Park Foundation

Grand Park Rangers Expeditions

Marketing technical support to enhance awareness throughout Los Angeles County about the Grand Park Rangers Expeditions free to all ages and all walks of life -- by further developing the program mascots-"The Feather Patrol"; web site pages and app that extend the fun learning and exploration at Grand Park.

Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation

BIGGER THAN BASEBALL: Creating Major League Communities

Through Dodgers Dreamfields, we create vibrant spaces for communities to play and provide ample opportunities for community involvement at these sites. Through Dodgers RBI program, we aim to increase participation in baseball/softball by utilizing fitness clinics, baseball/softball clinics, mini festivals and MORE! We are confident that we will create access for over 310,000 youth this year alone, along with their families across 50 Dreamfields and 85 baseball/softball locations in the LA area.

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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Community Science Connects Angelenos to the Nature In Their Neighborhoods

NHM works with underserved communities to reimagine their environments as vibrant spaces for play through inspiring programs that encourage everyone to explore the nature right outside their doors. Not only are these experiences empowering to the people participating, but when shared with NHM’s researchers, their observations become data points in studies that inform public policy about sustainable land use and turn everyday Angelenos into advocates for the green spaces in their communities.

play Winner

SCV Adventure Play Foundation

Adventure Play in the Parks & Play in our Everyday!

Piloting a year long program of free weekly pop-up adventure playgrounds at LA County Parks for 1 to 3 month periods. During each site’s program we will hold free workshops for families and youth workers about supporting self-directed play in their community. This will include playwork philosophy, research, and methods for allowing children access to play which is not dictated by adults.

Stoked Mentoring Inc

STOKED Skate Club

STOKED Skate Club is an afterschool program that inspires and empowers kids to skateboard in a safe, creative, and positive environment. STOKED partners with schools and community organizations to use skateboarding as an effective tool for promoting positive youth development, physical literacy, safe play spaces, and the celebration of alternative sports to keep kids active. STOKED will serve over 1000 new students in LA by expanding the STOKED Skate Club to 15 new site locations.

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The Fit Kids Foundation

Fit Kids LA

The Fit Kids Program is an innovative, structured physical activity curriculum designed for underserved children aged 4 to 13. Fit Kids increases activity levels and builds fitness, motor and social-emotional skills. We want to expand programming in LA by partnering with more afterschool sites serving at-risk kids.

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Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers

City of Butterflies / Cuidad de Mariposas

City of Butterflies / Cuidad de Mariposas empowers children to become environmental stewards who make their communities safer, more life sustaining, and playful by planting butterfly gardens to enjoy with their families and neighbors. Youth will develop a relationship with the natural world while learning how native California plants support butterflies and activate vacant space with color, fragrance, and life.

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Youth Policy Institute

MacArthur Park Green Team

The Green Team will revitalize and activate MacArthur Park in Central Los Angeles using a holistic, community-based approach to improving public safety. A team of local, at-risk youth will lead efforts to reclaim the space and partner with park maintenance and local businesses. They will host events to activate the park as a community gathering space while building relevant skills for career success. The Green Team helps youth advance sustainable change in their community and at MacArthur Park.

play Finalist