KaBOOM! recently announced its Playful City USA honorees: communities that are leaders in “playability,” the commitment to providing balanced and active play to children.

The KaBOOM! Playful City USA program honors cities, towns and communities across America that are taking bold steps to ensure that all children, especially the 16 million American kids living in poverty, have easy access to balanced and active play in their communities. 241 cities nationwide have been recognized this year, 14 of which are in Arizona.

Playful City USA honorees include major cities such as Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago. In Arizona, these honorees include cities and towns across the state. They range from nine-time honorees like Chandler, Gilbert, and Tucson, to first-time recipients like Avondale, Florence, and Queen Creek.

Tempe is once again recognized by KaBOOM! as a Playful City USA for its commitment to keeping kids active through accessible playspaces and youth sports programs.

These Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to transform their communities to become more playable by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community. Listed below are the Arizona cities that were given the “playful” title and the number of years they have won:

Avondale: 1

Buckeye: 4

Casa Grande: 7

Chandler: 9

Coolidge: 8

Florence: 1

Fountain Hills: 5

Gilbert: 9

Mesa: 7

Oro Valley: 5

Prescott Valley: 2

Queen Creek: 1

Tempe: 7

Tucson: 9

Playful City USA Honorees in Arizona: 

To see the full list of the 241 communities named 2015 Playful City USA honorees, or for more information on the Playful City USA program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.

Photo Courtesy of Town of Fountain Hills

The Fountain Hills Fountain helps bring people together. Given that it is shoots as high as 330 feet (560 feet at its highest), the white plume of the fountain is visible far beyond Fountain Hills.

The Fountain operates each hour on the hour for 15 minutes from 9 am – 9 pm.

When the Fountain operates at night, lights illuminate the plume from top to bottom. There are lights installed on the concrete fountain head that not only light the structure itself but also shine up on the rapidly ascending stream of water.

The Fountain helps remind people the connection between them, even when far away. When you look at the Fountain, you can be comforted by the knowledge that someone else has their gaze fixed on it, too.