Peaceful Playgrounds all started 20 years ago, while Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer was serving as Principal at E. Hale Curran Elementary School in Murrieta, California. Dr. Bossenmeyer created and tested a recess program designed to get more children involved in physical activity rather than waiting in line for their turn or just standing around talking while on the playground.
After seeing successful results with eliminating lines outside of her office after recess, and seeing more active children out on the playground, Dr. Bossenmeyer realized she was onto something. Dr. Bossenmeyer aka The Recess Doctor ("@recessdoctor") made a commitment to share the benefits of her program Peaceful Playgrounds Recess with schools across the nation.
It was in 1998, through her understanding of physical activities and infrastructure of the playground (from a principal's perspective), Dr. Bossenmeyer began to identify "what went wrong on a typical school playground" and began to put solutions to those problems in place. Research on the components combined with on-going feedback from the school community lead to distributing the Peaceful Playgrounds Program to K-8 schools. The impact was immediate and word started to spread about the benefits. Read the full story
here.
2018 marks the 20 Year Anniversary of Peaceful Playgrounds!
To celebrate, Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer is thrilled to announce the transition of Peaceful Playgrounds, Inc. into the Peaceful Playgrounds Foundation. The
mission of the Peaceful Playgrounds Foundation is to create a safe play environment, support healthy active kids, and advocate for recess and free play. We believe the benefits of free play are best accomplished by enhancing the play environment and allowing children lots of choices. These our core values and beliefs remain within the Foundation and will serve to focus Foundation staff and funders on the outcomes of the program.
Lots of changes are in place and we are planning for some new ways to serve schools, youth centers, YMCA's and afterschool programs. We are always open to your ideas and suggestions. Share your thoughts at
[email protected]
In 2018 we will also reconnect with site license holders to bring additional benefits and support designed to re-invigorate your programs. Watch for an announcement coming soon.
Peaceful Playgrounds has one of the busiest physical activity sites on the World Wide Web. We will continue to provide relative content and support for schools and playgrounds as we begin our third decade of service.
#PlaynicePlayoften
