Volunteers build student-designed playground in Fort Worth neighborhood

A new playground at one North Texas elementary school was designed by kids and built by volunteers so that everyone could have a place to play.

A team of more than 50 volunteers worked together to build the new playground at S.S. Dillow Elementary School in east Fort Worth. 

It’s in a neighborhood that really lacked play spaces for children. The goal was to provide a fun spot for kids who may not have otherwise had easy access to a playground.

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It was all part of a nationwide effort to combat play space inequality. Kaboom, the group behind the initiative, said many communities of color especially lack places for kids to just have fun.

The project gives more than 450 students access, including those with disabilities. The kids also got the chance to help design the playground. Organizers integrated the ideas with parent and community feedback.

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"We know that if kids help to design the play space, they’re going to love playing on it," said Kathryn Lusk, the senior director of programs for Kaboom. "We had kids drawing some musical instruments and then just swings, swings, swings. So that was the number one thing kids were drawing, we knew we had to make sure there were swings. And, actually, quite a few kids drew shade."

The school will also be getting a covered garden to help with some outdoor learning.