Vermont Business Magazine A pilot kids’ play theater is launching on Main Street in Bethel this month, after Vermont-based consulting firm Community Workshop was selected as a winner in the Play Everywhere Challenge last fall. The $1 million national competition awarded funding to 50 innovative ideas to make play easy, available, and fun for kids and families in cities across the U.S. The Challenge is hosted by KaBOOM!, a 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.
Community Workshop designed a small, portable play theater that can be set up on a sidewalk, at a bus stop, Laundromat, grocery store, or other public space. They installed the theater this month in a formerly vacant space in downtown Bethel between Washburn Laundromat and the Silver Fern Antique Shop. They will officially launch the project onSaturday, May 20from1-3 PM, with the Randolph-based Arts Bus offering free kids’ mask-making and improv theater activities.
The Pop-Up Theater was selected as one of 50 winners out of a pool of more than 1,000 applications nationwide and is one of the few rural projects selected. Other winning ideas include outside-the-box play opportunities like sidewalk games, slides built into city streetscapes, and portable kits to build parks and play spaces.
Bethel’s pop-up theater is a pilot project, in place temporarily to allow Community Workshop to test the design and installation. After the pilot run, the theater will be available for other events and locations, and plans for the theater will be freely available online for others to download and use to build their own. Community Workshop partnered with local fine furniture maker Lindley Brainard of Living Edge Woodworking to develop a simple and flexible design and easy-to-follow instructions, which will soon be available at communityworkshopllc.com.
“We’re lucky that most Vermont towns have playgrounds and open space,” said Community Workshop Principal and project creator Rebecca Sanborn Stone, “but not all kids have access to them. Creating simple, colorful play spaces in our downtowns or business areas is a win-win situation: it makes our streetscapes and business areas more appealing and attractive, while providing healthy places for kids and families to play.”
Research shows play is vital to healthy brain development and is pivotal to how kids learn problem-solving, conflict resolution, and creativity--in other words, the skills they need to succeed as adults. Yet today, too many kids, especially those growing up in poverty, are missing out on opportunities for play because of families’ time pressures, the lure of screens, and a lack of safe places to go. Meanwhile, evidence shows missing out on play time puts kids at risk for challenges ranging from obesity to anxiety to trouble adjusting in school.
Another partner on the project is the Upper Valley Haven, which provides food, shelter, education and other support to people in the Upper Valley struggling with poverty. The Haven serves thousands of families and households each year at its food shelf and shelters, including many kids who lack opportunities for play and creativity. The Haven will use Community Workshop’s plans to build a pop-up theater on its campus as well, further testing the design and providing a new play opportunity for kids.
“The Haven is excited to be bringing a play theater to its site. As a program dedicated to making safe spaces for children and supporting kids in acquiring the skills for success in adulthood, we are always glad to find unique ways to help kids be active and creative,” said Sara Kobylenski, Executive Director of the Upper Valley Haven.
The Play Everywhere Challenge, developed in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Target, Playworld, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the National Endowment for the Arts, attracted an outpouring of creative ideas to spark kids’ imaginations and get their bodies moving. Community Workshop’s idea came from a passion for creating dynamic, playful communities where kids and families can engage with each other and lead active lives.
“Winners like Community Workshop are at the vanguard of building kid-friendly cities that meet the needs of families and enable kids to thrive,” said James Siegal, CEO of KaBOOM!. “By integrating play into everyday spaces in such an innovative way, Community Workshop’s project is a great model to inspire other cities across the country to follow suit.”
To learn more about the Pop-Up Theater or Community Workshop’s work building vibrant communities, visitcommunityworkshopllc.comor contact Rebecca Sanborn Stone at[email protected].
To learn more about the Play Everywhere Challenge, and view a gallery of winning ideas from cities across the US, please visit http://kaboom.org/playeverywhere.
About Community Workshop
Community Workshop is a small consulting firm that specializes in bringing creative engagement, planning, placemaking, and effective communications to towns, cities and non-profit organizations across North America.
Source: BETHEL –Community Workshop