What Happens When Kids Design Playgrounds?
The New York Times spotlights Trust for Public Land’s community schoolyards work.
Published June 29, 2026
What if the best people to design a schoolyard are the children who use it every day?
That’s the question at the heart of The New York Times’ recent feature on TPL’s community schoolyards program—and one TPL has been answering for more than two decades. Rather than asking adults to imagine what children want, TPL invites students to become “junior landscape architects” through our participatory design process. They identify challenges, dream big, test ideas, gather feedback from classmates and neighbors, and help shape the final designs that transform schoolyards into greener, healthier, and more welcoming places.
The results are both imaginative and deeply practical.
A pink basketball court gives girls a space where they feel more confident playing. Tiered seating offers students a comfortable place to braid each other’s hair during recess. A wish for a petting zoo evolves into a pollinator garden. Life-sized chess boards, mushroom-themed stepping stools, and playful “Floor Is Lava” graphics create opportunities for creativity, movement, and connection.
Each feature reflects something only the people who use these spaces every day could have imagined.
That philosophy has guided TPL’s community schoolyards work for more than two decades.
Since 2002, TPL has partnered with New York City schools, communities, and city agencies to transform 225 Community Schoolyards, converting asphalt into vibrant outdoor classrooms, neighborhood parks, and climate-resilient community spaces. Together, these projects represent nearly $200 million invested in places that serve students during the school day and remain open to surrounding neighborhoods after school, on weekends, and throughout the year.
The Times feature is a powerful reminder that great public spaces don’t begin with a blueprint—they begin by listening.
When students are trusted as partners in the design process, they don’t just create more joyful playgrounds. They create places that reflect their lived experiences, foster belonging, and strengthen entire communities.
For millions of students, hot, uninviting, even dangerous patches of asphalt pass as public schoolyards and play spaces in the U.S. They look and feel like afterthoughts, even though we have research, data, and evidence that healthier schoolyards lead to healthier students and communities.
We can and must do better for our kids. Trust for Public Land is the nationwide leader of a movement to transform America’s schoolyards into high-quality vibrant outdoor spaces that are climate resilient, support student learning, and improve the health and wellness of local communities.
Donate to become a member, and you’ll receive a subscription to Land&People magazine, our biannual publication featuring exclusive, inspiring stories about our work connecting everyone to the outdoors.
