Clif Outdoor Play Initiative Aims to Increase Access to Nature-Based Play Spaces

Clif's Zbar brand is working with the nonprofit KABOOM! to create modern, outdoor play spaces and increasing the organization's capacity to influence and build a more sustainable playground industry.

Published 2 months ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Grace Lee

Today, Zbar — Clif Bar's energy snack bar brand for active kids — announced a $1 million partnership with the nonprofit KABOOM! to help communities nationwide build nature-based play spaces for kids, focusing on areas that are lacking access to green space or opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Zbar brand's multi-year contribution will also support KABOOM!'s goals to create more sustainable play spaces by investing in research and new programming focused on climate-forward playground design. This includes incorporation of climate-friendly architectural elements such as adding trees and other shade structures and replacing heat-retaining materials such as asphalt and metal with cooler options.

On average, children in the US spend only 7 minutes each day engaged in unstructured, outdoor play — less than previous generations — and over a third of people living in the US, including nearly 30 million kids, live farther than a 10-minute walk from the nearest park. At the same time, climate change is making traditional playgrounds and schoolyards, which can act as "heat islands," dangerously warm.

Data from the Trust for Public Land (TPL) show the US is rich in enthusiasm for the outdoors, but poor in access and infrastructure — especially for communities in dense, urban areas that have been historically and systemically underserved. Over a third of people living in the US do not have a public park or space to recreate within a 10-minute walk from home; that fact spawned the TPL’s 10 Minute Walk movement to expand access to parks and green spaces across 300 US cities, launched in 2017. The Zbar-KABOOM! partnership joins brand efforts on this front such as REI’s “Outside in 5” initiative — which supports local projects and national legislation aimed at getting 100 million people in the US outside in five minutes or less, no matter where they live.

Zbar aims to address these problems by working with KABOOM! to create modern outdoor play spaces, and by investing in the nonprofit's capacity to influence and build a more sustainable playground industry.

"At Zbar, we strongly believe in the physical and mental benefits of spending time outdoors, and in empowering the next generation to better connect with nature," said Valerie Van Arkel, Director of Marketing at Zbar. "We're proud to partner with KABOOM! to give more kids the opportunity to spend time playing outdoors and help create nature-friendly play spaces in communities where they're needed most."

Zbar's outdoor-play initiative will also focus on driving awareness about the value of active, outdoor play and advocating for state and federal government to invest in providing equitable access to outdoor-play spaces. This will include working with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to plan a series of outreach events, as well as advocacy for the Living Schoolyards Act, EXPLORE Act and other legislation aimed at improving opportunities for outdoor recreation.

KABOOM! is working to change the reality that quality places to play are not available to every child, especially in communities of color. Since 1996, the organization has partnered with kids and communities to create or transform 17,000+ play spaces and ensure that nearly 12 million kids have equitable access to the crucial benefits and opportunities that play spaces offer. In 2022, KABOOM! launched the 25 in 5 Initiative to End Play Space Inequity — a $250 million plan to accelerate its mission in 25 high-priority locations over five years.

"Places to play are critical to kids' health and wellbeing. Spending time outdoors in nature-inspired play spaces helps kids build social connections, increase physical activity, improve mental health, and develop a love for the environment," said KABOOM! CEO Lysa Ratliff. "We are excited to partner with Zbar to try to ensure that every kid everywhere has access to what they need to have a happy and healthy childhood."

Additionally, to encourage families to spend more time in nature during the back-to-school season, Zbar will be sponsoring a "Calling All Outdoors Experts" sweepstakes — featuring the chance to win a $500 gift card to REI for outdoor gear or a year's supply of Zbar snacks, among other prizes. Parents can enter by snapping a photo of their kid playing outdoors (no need to show their face) and sharing their photo to the sweepstakes pinned post on Facebook @zbarofficial with the hashtag #zbarsweepstakes, or by posting with the hashtag #zbarsweepstakes on Instagram. Parents must also follow @zbarofficial on the social platform used to enter so they can be notified if they win.

Zbar's partnership with KABOOM! will kick-off on Tuesday, July 23 in Oakland, Calif., with a "Nature Design Jam Day" — where local kids will have the opportunity to play with nature-play materials including logs, sticks and "tree cookies" and offer ideas to help shape the future designs of KABOOM! nature-play spaces.