Springfield College

Pop Up Play

Does your Rural Community Lack the Facilities to Promote Play?

Indeed, rural communities often lack the facilities that would traditionally host programs like fitness classes or youth sports in an urban area. However, recreation and leisure activities still play a crucial role in living a healthy and balanced life. As community leaders, we must focus on removing barriers to recreation and leisure and expanding access. In addition to a lack of facilities in rural spaces, transportation can also be limited. "Pop-up Play" removes both of these barriers by bringing recreation and leisure to the consumer. Play on the go allows us to expand access and make it easy on the consumer. With proper planning, even an empty parking lot or open field is perfect for safely hosting various programs.

Available Resources

National Recreation and Parks Association

1 in 3 persons living in America do not have access to a park within 10 minutes of their home. Can you imagine what this number might be in a rural community lacking facilities and transportation? The NRPA champions rural communities and believes in the need for recreation. In the linked article, you can learn more about the barriers to play in rural communities and potential solutions to overcome them.

Highlighting the "Power of Rural" | Open Space | National Recreation and Park Association (nrpa.org)

United States Department of Agriculture - Rural Development

The USDA Rural Development division is committed to making funding available and affordable for rural communities to build, purchase, or improve essential community facilities. If your community doesn't even have the basics, it might be hard to promote recreation entirely. While "Pop-up Play" can help provide one aspect of a healthy life, it is important we also focus on improving access to our libraries, playgrounds, clinics, public safety stations, etc.

Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program | Rural Development (usda.gov)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse