Playing in the Street
Have you ever wanted to run a relay race or hula hoop in the street? Well, you’re in luck. Now you can host a play street and do just that…or any number of other fun activities!
Students at St. Therese Catholic Academy enjoy Seattle’s first play street..
On Friday, May 31, St. Therese Catholic Academy in Madrona closed their street to traffic to create Seattle’s first pilot play street. With support from our Public Space Management Program, the students at St. Therese creatively used one block of 35th Avenue as a great big play space during their annual field day event.
Kids used the street for relay races, hopscotch, chalk art, hula hooping, and to run back-and-forth between the school and the play field across the street. Students had a great time, and one third-grader told us, “I love play streets because playing in the street is better!” Given the success of the first play street, St. Therese plans to have regularly scheduled play streets events when school resumes in the fall.
The concept of closing the street for play isn’t new, but now it’s easy to do it in Seattle (with a free permit)! This pilot program will run through spring 2015 and is open to residents, schools, and community groups. If you’d like to learn more about the pilot program or host your own play street, visit www.seattle.gov/transportation/playstreets.htm.