Stratford Community to Build New Playground at Sterling House Community Center

Submitted press release

Sterling House Community Center is thrilled to announce that a brand-new, kid-designed playground will be built on Sterling House grounds on Nov. 14 in partnership with MetLife Foundation, Barnum Financial Group and KaBOOM!.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play is critical to healthy brain development. It allows children to use their creativity while simultaneously developing imagination, dexterity and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Yet today’s children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation. In building this playground together, more than more than 5,000 kids in Stratford will have access to a new playspace where they can learn, play and thrive.

The 8-10 week playground project kicked off with a Design Day event last week at Sterling House that gathered children and families in the community to participate in the planning process. Children put crayons to paper and drew up their dream playground and adults held their first meeting to determine how best to create and catalyze the new playspace so kids can get the balanced and active play they need to thrive. Elements of their drawings will be incorporated into the final playground design that will be built on Saturday, November 14.

“We are so very excited that finally we will be working with MetLife Foundation, Barnum Financial Group and KaBOOM! to construct a new playground for Sterling House programs and the children and families of our community,” says Lou Perno, executive director of Sterling House. “We are seeking members of the community to volunteer to help design and build the playground on November 14. It will be a fun day and a wonderful project for Stratford families to get involved in.”

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Diane Sheridan, Director of Community Development at 203.378.2606 x105, dsheridan@sterlinghousecc.org or Amy Wiltsie, co-chair of the planning committee at aewiltsie@gmail.com.

About KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build, open or improve nearly 16,000 playgrounds, engaged more than one million volunteers and served 7.4 million children. KaBOOM! creates great places to play, inspires communities to promote and support play, and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy lives and communities. To learn why #playmatters: visit kaboom.org or join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom or facebook.com/kaboom.

Pictured: Photo collage of a previous KaBOOM! playground build.