This National Academies' Transportation Research Board report explores the link between the "built" environment—buildings, roads, parks, and other structures that
physically define a community—and physical activity levels.

Parks give kids good places to play outside, but - based on the experience of a new generation of youth programs in urban parks - they can also go far beyond recreation to provide high-quality programs that foster healthy youth development, according to an Urban Institute report published in June 2004.

Remember your first trip to the top of a really tall playground slide? Remember the kid who got to the top of ladder, but couldn't get up the nerve to slide—or climb back down? Modern safety concerns have made this particular rite of passage rare, and raise the question, does a safe playground have to be boring? By Rob Capriccioso.

Former editor Richard Louv looked at why so many children today lack opportunities to explore, play and dream in the natural world—and what they have lost as a result. This time, he offers suggestions for bringing children back to nature.

Helping kids get back to nature can be a community activity. Artist Rusty Keeler designs playgrounds with the help of families, educators and our natural surroundings.

Playgrounds are a place to break down barriers of race, culture, age, and income, while building community, having fun, and staying safe. KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit that inspires individuals, organization, and businesses to join together to build much needed, safe and accessible playgrounds. Explore the KaBOOM! online action network and join the commitment to inspire 1,000 community-built playground projects by the year 2000.