The sound of children at play is a sweet one because it invokes memories, and memories are why we grownups often decide to do things.
Do you recall a favorite park in your town? I do. It had a wooden teepee for adventurous climbing, monkey bars that left rough callouses on my hands and an enormous metal slide.
Located next to the local library and a Little League baseball field, it sang with the shouts and laughter of 1970s-era kids year-round, rain or shine. I cried when they moved it 100 feet to the east and created an urban, modern look in the 1990's.
Playgrounds are more than simple spaces to burn off restless energy after school or on weekends. They are sanctuaries of childhood. The world of pretend lives there in the form of fantasy lava beds and fairy forests, freeze tag and treasure hunts, far away from the box-filled schedules that make up the average kid's day.
223 city parks
Anchorage is home to 223 parks, and, according to Anchorage Park Foundation executive director Beth Nordlund, every one has the potential to be someone's outdoor happy place, thanks to opportunities for exploration and stewardship at home. An online directory to all the parks is here.
Through community challenge grants, the Anchorage Park Foundation has helped fund the revitalization of several parks and play spaces via a program called "Neighborhood Park Fix-Its," bringing families together with other neighbors in an all-out bonanza of painting, planting and playing.
"What does this do? It brings people together in the spirit of 'I built that' ownership," says Nordlund. "We go where there is a committed group of neighbors who have applied for a grant. They choose the theme, the equipment, and do much of the work."
But the entire Anchorage community reaps the reward. The investment of volunteer sweat equity pays off in all sorts of ways, from all-inclusive turf to climbing ropes meant to attract tweens to a push for Alaska-themed playgrounds featuring our more famous creatures.
App helps find parks
Technology has made a positive impact on our city's parks and open spaces, allowing for more of us to find them, given the myriad locations across the Anchorage Bowl. The Park Foundation's Find a Park app, available for iPhones, provides a swipe-by-swipe directory of every Anchorage park, including its features and a handy mapping tool offering easy directions.
Nordlund wants Anchorage residents to take advantage of the unique partnership between the foundation and the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department. Her favorite parks make up a list that runs a gamut of locations, from northeast Anchorage to virtually all of our city's neighborhoods. They're diverse, too, with trails, open spaces, and playgrounds making up a patchwork of active family fun guaranteed to last at least until your kids become teenagers, and perhaps beyond.
The point, she says, is to get out and explore your parks and be glad this remnant of our own childhoods is alive and well.
And maybe even worth a game of freeze tag.
Erin Kirkland is author of Alaska on the Go: Exploring the 49th state with children, and publisher of AKontheGO.com, Alaska's only family travel resource. Connect with her at e.kirkland0@gmail.com.
ANCHORAGE PARK ROUNDUP
New or recently revitalized theme playgrounds:
• Suzan Nightingale McKay, 201 W. Cook Avenue. One of the newest parks, featuring a woolly mammoth theme. Accessible synthetic turf. Two play spaces for kids 2-12.
• David Green Park, 3681 Macinnes St. Synthetic turf for accessibility; a walrus-themed park for kids 5-12.
• Dave Rose Park, 201 Lane Street. Aviation-themed park with play space for kids 5-12. Synthetic turf.
• Fairview Lions Park, 1201 E. Eighth Avenue. Get back to nature with this fireweed-and-bug-themed park, complete with a community garden. Play structures appropriate for kids 2-12.
• Balto Seppala Park, 3360 Wisconsin St. Iditarod-themed trail near new playground equipment due to be finished this fall. American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant Oodle Swing (for multiple kids), play spaces for kids 2-12.
• North Russian Jack Springs Park, 801 Pine St. The first themed park to be completed in Anchorage, with a giant polar bear head and slide. Play spaces for children 5-12.
• Stephenson Park, 13024 Stephenson St. Accessible park with ADA-compliant Oodle Swing, a treehouse and play spaces for kids 2-12.
• Oceanview Park, 1200 Oceanview Drive. Accessible play equipment for children 2-12. Also has an Oodle Swing as well as an assisted and non-assisted ziplines.
• Cuddy Family Midtown Park, 201 E. 40th St. Installed in 2013, this is an accessible park space for children 2 and older.
• Campbell Park, 2365 E. 48th Street. Salmon-viewing, accessible play spaces for kids ages 2-5.