Welcome to Imagination Playground : Testimonials

What people have to say about Imagination Playground

“You don’t have to have a specially built playground - you have this rolling box that’s almost like a magician’s chest of loose parts. It’s amazing to see the kids interact with the things.”

— Adrian Benepe, Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, New York, NY

“I was surprised by the level of creativity unleashed in the children when they played with the vivid blue blocks. Some played together building homes, slides, and a seesaw. One little girl constructed a stage and a microphone into which she sang. Another boy circled the others holding a rectangular block with a small round piece sticking out of the end.”

— Cynthia J. Gentry, Chairwoman of the Atlanta Taskforce on Play, Altanta, GA

“Turn kids loose with sand, water, and simple stuff they can move around – and then get out of their way. In no time, they’ll create their own world of castles, fanciful creatures, and vehicles powered by their imagination.”

— Suzie Boss, Putting More into Play,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, (Fall 2009)

“Site visitors commented that they’d never seen so much sharing on a playground. We saw buildings built, ball-runs created, children built into small spaces with walls that came crashing down as they broke out, lots of capes, some parading,etc. They were loved from early childhood to middle school.”

— Jessica Wodatch, Executive Director, public charter school, Washington, DC

“The open-ended nature of Imagination Playground in a Box ensured that the children had endless opportunities to experiment, construct, explore and invent; the children eagerly shared their excitement about Imagination Playground… at every visit.”

— Abby Thorman, Educational Consultant, Thorman Strategy Group, Miami, FL

“They have a chance to come out here and just be free and just envision all that you can do. Here, life is unlimited.”

— Play Associate Jamaal Pinckney, New York, NY

“Watching the children play with the blocks you can see creativity, problem solving, and teamwork at work all at once. Children of all ages (and us grown ups too) can all enjoy the blocks in their own way. Whether prompted with a challenge to create something specific, or if the children just explore the materials on their own, you can see that they are learning from the experience while having tons of fun. The fact that children are out in rain, snow, sleet, you name it to play with the blocks is a testament to the appeal they have.”

— Staff member, Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk, CT

“The box creates one more opportunity for our children to get out, become active and use their bountiful imaginations in this visionary play space.”

— Becky Chavez, director, Yuma Parks and Recreation Department Yuma, AZ

“As a mother, you know what intrigues your child’s mind. These things really seem to help her create and to gear minds toward thinking about new possibilities.”

— Karen Fugh, parent, Brooklyn, NY

“This is offering kids a chance for creative and imaginative play... When I showed up with the pieces, the kids ran over and started building castles, fortresses and bridges. They love it.”

— Wanda Mojica, program coordinator, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, New York, NY

“It helps the kids not only physically but just mentally and emotionally. They learn to have fun together, they learn to use teamwork.”

— Matt Don, Tucson Parks and Recreation, Tucson, AZ

“This is the best part of my summer. For smaller ones, it’s fantastic, you can watch them and their imaginations grow. Some days I stop and take pictures of what the kids make.”

— Jessica Freemon, District 4 Park Supervisor, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, New York, NY

“When you do this for a community, you bring down crime and bring up creativity.”

— Councilman Charles Barron, Brooklyn, NY

“Instead of plummeting down slides or dangling from the monkey bars, children…built polyethylene palaces from blocks shaped like triangles, clovers, rectangles and cylinders. They became instant abstractionists, using sturdy brushes to mix heaps of wet sand with colored chalk on the cement. And the urban planners-in-training among them took turns toying with hoses and blocks to create water irrigation systems.”

— Javier Hernandez, “A Playground Where Creativity can Run Wild,” The New York Times (July 14, 2008)

“It allows them to come together and create something…It builds skills.”

— Susan Moreno, parent, Staten Island, NY

“Oh, it is so colorful!...It is just so unique. Children can use it to build whatever they imagine.”

— Debbie Wendt, recreation superintendent, Yuma Parks and Recreation Department, Yuma, AZ

“I like that she can use her own imagination in the playground and gets a chance to explore.”

— Tanya Barach, parent, New York, NY

“This leads to a great sense of cooperative autonomy unlike any other park I have visited.”

— Amiyr B., Commenter on yelp.com

What Kids Are Saying

“I could be anything I want to be. I want to be in the Olympics and do the long jump,” he said right before leaping over a practice stunt jump that he build out of big blue foam blocks.”

— Sayquin Carlton, age 11, Brooklyn, NY

“I’m building a castle, and tomorrow, I’m going to build a spaceship!”

— Remel Isli, age 6, Brooklyn, NY

“It was really fun because you get to build stuff like castles, buildings, cars, hotels or whatever you can imagine...just imagine”

— Chance Labriola, age 8, Staten Island, NY

“I like to draw, and I like to sew. This helps me be a designer so I can be on TV and have the best design.”

— Kamai Pugh, age 7, Brooklyn, NY