Washington-based non-profit KaBOOM! has named 12 local initiatives that exhibit best practices in increasing the quantity of available play space and the quality of children’s playtime in their areas. Listed in “Play Matters,” a new report commissioned as part of KaBOOM!’s Playful City USA campaign, the 12 programs are:

• Ankeny, Iowa’s Parks and Recreation Department’s public engagement efforts to build a sports complex.
• Baltimore’s Playworks program, which sends coaches into low-income schools to facilitate play during recess and the rest of the school day.
• Boston’s Schoolyard Initiative, which has improved the outdoor physical space of more than 70 Boston schoolyards.
• Boulder, Colo.’s Freiker (short for “frequent biker”) Program, which uses incentives and technology to increase the number of children regularly bicycling and walking to school.
• Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s “Switch What You Do, View, and Chew” Program, which aims to increase children’s physical activity, decrease their television viewing time and increase their fruit and vegetable consumption.
• Denver’s Learning Landscapes, a public-private partnership that designs and builds comprehensive outdoor play spaces at schools across Denver.
• Greenbelt, Md.’s efforts to keep local Home Owner Associations from removing playgrounds by forming public-private partnerships to help pay maintenance costs.
• New Yorkgrassroots advocacy groups and community members’ efforts to increase applications for block parties and high profile street closures.
• San Francisco’s Neighborhood Parks Council’s development of ParkScan, a tool that lets residents document, report, and track park maintenance issues online.
• Seattle’s High Point Housing Project, a mixed-income and intergenerational planned community that was designed with a focus on healthy living.
• St. Petersburg, Fla.’s Play’n’ Close to Home initiative, which aims to create a playground within a half mile of every child in the city.
• Tucson, Ariz.’s joint-use agreement between the city and its largest school district through which the schools open their playgrounds and athletic fields to the public while the city pays for the playgrounds’ safety upgrades and upkeep.

More information on the best practices are available at http://kaboom.org/help_save_play/playful_city_usa/best_practices_play.