Des Moines, Iowa’s, mobile recreational vehicle may not be an ice cream truck, but it has the same Pied Piper appeal. When the Park-N-Play van pulls up to a park or a schoolyard, families know that a good time will follow.

In an effort to provide equitable access to recreational programming throughout the city, the Park-N-Play mobile unit literally brings the park to the people. Designed over a two-year period and launched in March, the Park-N-Play program has proven to be a big hit with families.

“There is really something for everyone,” said Parks and Recreation supervisor Amarre Negussie.

Community engagement

According to Negussie, the city of Des Moines has over 76 parks; however, most of the programming is centered on the city’s signature facilities, leaving other parks out of the loop.

After analyzing the ParkServe data from the Trust of Public Land and speaking with local residents about their needs, the parks department opted to deploy a mobile rec vehicle that would travel to various sites and provide the kind of free, quality programming that the local park lacked. If there was no park within a 10-minute walk of a given area, the parks would partner with local schools to use their playgrounds. The van was purchased by the Friends of Des Moines Parks, and the equipment inside was paid for with a $25,000 On Common Ground Grant from the Trust for Public Land.

“We have everything you can think of in there,” Negussie said. “We theme out our weeks and stock the van with anything and everything the kids might need to get the most out of the event. We had a sports week, a water week, a science week and a superhero week where they made superhero masks and bracelets. We want to give them the chance to be as creative as possible, whether it is arts and crafts, board games or sporting equipment.”

The inaugural Park-N-Play spring session ran from March until early June, and although the newness of the program as well as inclement weather kept some families from coming out, Negussie said the department had a respectable turnout. Word caught on fast though and one month into the summer session, he said over 500 people were engaged and the numbers have continued to grow.

“Just this past Tuesday, we were at one location, and we noticed a group of families arrive from one of our other locations to take part. They said they had looked up the van’s schedule online and decided to ‘follow the fun,’ which is one of our mottoes,” Negussie said.

The Park-N-Play program may be kid centered, but the whole family is invited to take part in the games and activities. Negussie said it’s not uncommon for the kids to start playing and then 10 minutes later invite their parents to join in.

“Our goal is whole-family recreation and making sure that everyone has something to do,” he said.

Going forward

Negussie said that the parks and recreation department has been lucky to have a city council and city manager that have supported the program right from the start as well as the staff and volunteers who have worked to make it such a big success. However, he also knows that the program’s success will bring challenges going forward.

Community partners are already asking for the Park-N-Play program to be part of their events, and while the department would like to be at every event it can, it’s not easy to maintain the current schedule and accommodate additional requests. During the school year, the Park-N-Play program is held in the evenings, but during the summer, there are multiple sessions and multiple locations that require set-up, tear down and travel.

“We only have one staff member in the van as well as a couple of volunteers on site, so unfortunately we have to say no due to our limitations,” Negussie said. “But the more successful a program is, the more challenges come along with it, and those kinds of challenges are good ones to have because it means you are doing something right. Who knows? Maybe in the future it will lead to a second van so that we can engage even more members of the community.”

Negussie said that his department looked at similar programs across the country when developing Park-N-Play, and he said it is a great start for other communities looking to create their own program. However, it is also vital to survey the needs of your constituency and listen to what they have to say.

“Often times, as professionals, we think we know what people want, but if you ask people how they feel about what is going on in their local parks, you’ll get a better feel for what they want. Once you know that, you can give it to them,” he said. “If people get exactly what they ask for, it really cuts down on the complaints and you end up with a much better outcome.”

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