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Vibrant colors, plus plenty of seating and playthings, make the PS 197 playground an all-ages pleaser.

PS 197's Kid-Crafted Playground Redesign

The redesign plans began a few years ago, when my daughter was still in elementary school, and the school invited students from across the grades to come up with design ideas for their dream playground. Several kids from each grade were then selected to work on the final design and draw up official plans in collaboration with the Trust for Public Land and several city departments charged with bringing their vision to life.

The result is a vibrant, colorful new space that's a huge improvement from the original, uninviting, asphalt-dominated playground. The park now features large swaths of turf, dedicated fields for soccer, tennis, and basketball, a new and improved jungle gym, and much more. Throughout the park, you'll find playful touches, like cute kid-drawn artwork and interactive play spaces.

There are also more spots for downtime, like a little gazebo for relaxing in the shade that welcomes kids and the parents or staff who supervise. Everything is bathed in bright, inviting colors, with a community-centric mural also created by the kids at the project's heart.

The PS 197 playground is bathed in bright colors and sunshine.

Innovative Design Elements at the PS 197 Playground

The new playground is certainly kid- and family-friendly, but it's also weather-friendly. Designing features to cater to a changing climate was always on the table, and kids were just as involved in designing the sustainability features as they were in designing the cute drawings along the floor.

The schoolyard features 18 new shade trees. More impressively, the playground is designed to ease flooding in the area by collecting 1.7 million gallons of stormwater annually. This number means the park will be central to the community for years to come. And, it was definitely popping when I stopped by. Before the new playground debuted, kids and parents went straight home after school; now, the park is lively and filled with kids and families long after the school bell rings.

Access to the PS 197 School Playground

School playgrounds are often overlooked as public spaces in favor of NYC's many excellent neighborhood parks. But, the PS 197 schoolyard and many other school playgrounds are open to the public outside of school hours. According to the NYC Parks website, schoolyards are open Monday through Friday from school dismissal until dusk and on weekends and holidays from 8am until dusk.

The PS 197 playground offers plenty of options for play, from imaginative activities to rough-and-tumble sports.

In recent years, many playgrounds have received similar renovations to PS 197 through programs like Schoolyards to Playgrounds and Community Schoolyards. So, take this as your reminder to pay your local school playground a visit the next time you need a change of pace. And, if you're in the nabe, stop by the kid-designed PS 197 to add a splash of color to your day.

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Photos by the author except where noted otherwise