After a successful first round this year, Great Outdoors Colorado is offering a second opportunity for students to design new or improved playgrounds that will increase physical activity and enhance outdoor learning.

GOCO today announced that School Play Yard Initiative program to help improve the health and wellness of Colorado’s youth and families is now accepting applications for 2014. The GOCO board allocated $659,000 for grants to fund construction of new play yards and improvements to existing play yards.

Applications are due Jan. 17, 2014 and the board will award grant funds in April 2014

More than 6,000 children will benefit from the 16 initial grants approved last month by the GOCO board. The grants, worth $1.5 million and funded jointly by GOCO and the Colorado Health Foundation, will result in the replacement of aging, small and even dangerous equipment, and the creation of new play areas at schools in eight Colorado counties. A goal is to provide more opportunities for youth and families to access outdoor amenities including playgrounds close to home.

Students were involved in the grant-writing process by collecting ideas from their classmates, deciding which ideas to pursue, and seeking support from the school administration and community organizations. The student-inspired designs included nature-themed climbing and shade structures, sand rivers, rock stepping patterns, rope challenge courses, wildlife areas and a “calming” walkway.  At some schools, existing playgrounds will be enhanced with safer playing surfaces or the replacement of decades-old metal playground equipment and concrete pads.

Students “have been involved from the ground level in development of the plan and their ownership and excitement for the vision is palpable,” said Amy Bruce, Director of Grants for the Adams 12 Five Star Schools said of Thornton’s Cherry Drive Elementary School, which earned at $95,000 grant for its planned Cheetah Playground. Cherry Drive’s new playground will include a nature-inspired outdoor playground and a raised learning garden connected to the school’s science and wellness curriculum where vegetables will be grown and donated to the Thornton Food Bank.

For more information about applying for a 2014 School Yard Initiative grant, contact Jackie Miller at 303-226-4524 or jmiller@goco.org, or visit the School Play Yard page.