A Place to Play: LSU Engineers Bring Fun and Fitness to Kids Statewide

An estimated 10,000 Louisiana children have access to a playground—a gift of fun, friendship, and fitness from LSU engineering students and faculty and local volunteers.

Marybeth Lima, professor and chair of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) in the College of Engineering and the LSU AgCenter, co-leads the LSU Community Playground Project with BAE Senior Instructor Sumit Libi. Lima launched the project in 1998 to serve two purposes: teach biological engineering students the principles of people-centered design and give local children a place to play.

Lack of access to play is a problem for children worldwide, and a particular challenge in Louisiana. The state’s public schools are chronically underfunded, and money to update playgrounds is often not included in local school budgets. Louisiana also consistently ranks as one of the top five states in the United States for childhood obesity, with children and teens logging higher rates of screen time than the national average, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health.

“As an educator, I refuse to live in a community where kids can’t swing, slide, and climb,” Lima said. "Play is one way that kids learn, and it helps them grow emotionally and socially and physically. When you’re a kid, play is a critical component of having a good life."

“Play is one way that kids learn, and it helps them grow emotionally and socially and physically. When you’re a kid, play is a critical component of having a good life.”

Marybeth Lima, professor and chair of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering

For more than 25 years, through the LSU Community Playground Project, biological engineering students have worked with communities to co-design and build 51 safe, accessible playgrounds in nine parishes across Louisiana. Most are located at public elementary schools and community parks. Seven are specifically designed for children with special needs. Two were custom-built for children impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Maria Gonzales is an associate nutrition and community health agent with the LSU AgCenter. Gonzales works in Assumption Parish, where LSU engineering teams have teamed up with her and other community leaders to build two playgrounds - one behind the library in Belle Rose and another at Marais Park. Gonzales said the structures have brought the community together and given residents two important things: health and hope.

“Many of the recreation spaces in our parish are old and outdated and these new playgrounds are a safe, multigenerational place for kids and families to come together and be active,” Gonzales said. “In a rural parish with high rates of poverty and obesity, it’s so important to have a place where kids can get outside. These communities have been talking about building a playground for years. But we are literally rubbing pennies together. Everyone is at the mercy of the dollar and where there are none, people feel hopeless."

“Having those college students come talk to middle school students for the Marais Park playground shows them that they can get things done and that you can go to college,” she said. “This makes people see what’s possible for their community - and for themselves.”

Lima and her students built their first playground at Beechwood Elementary School in Baton Rouge back in 2000. Biological engineering students in the program’s first year design class worked with elementary students and educators as a team to create a custom design for their playground. They worked together to raise money for the playground through grants and gifts. Then they organized a community build powered by LSU students and local volunteers and overseen by a certified playground installer.

It’s a model LSU engineering teams still follow. Students young and old work together with the children in local communities to design a place to play, then work together to make it a reality.

With volunteer builders, project costs stay low while community spirit goes up. Benefits are mutual. Local kids contribute to the playground design, and in the process, get a place to play while learning about college and what it’s like to be an engineer. LSU students get a chance to design and lead, while learning from children about play and about the Louisiana communities they serve.

Mentoring relationships have even sprung up through the project. An estimated 500 LSU engineering students have served over 4,000 hours as Reading and Math Friends through the nonprofit Volunteers in Public Schools, while others volunteered for community organizations like Front Yard Bikes and McMains Children’s Developmental Center.

Community leaders and public-school educators have also benefited. In 2008, 2012, and 2021, playground project leaders offered free grant writing workshops to teach volunteers how to raise money for play equipment and other community needs. During each cycle, several volunteers secured funding. After the 2021 workshop, one community organization wrote a successful $250,000 proposal for their playground.

Sam Sheppard is executive director of the Winnsboro-Franklin Chamber of Commerce and the head of Develop Franklin, the economic development agency for Franklin Parish. Sheppard said the LSU playground makeover has given her community a big boost.

Improving Davis Park was an important goal for the Winnsboro Main Street Economic Committee, beginning with replacing the old playground equipment and worn sand surfacing. With the help of LSU, and support from a local foundation, Franklin residents now have a bright, safe, wheelchair accessible playground that is in constant use.

“Every day when I drive by, it’s busy,” Sheppard said. “People from all walks of life are there, and all ages, for fun and fellowship. People have birthday parties and family picnics there. The playground is a real point of pride. It’s right off our main highway, so it’s highly visible, and it attracts people from other rural parishes. The playground is a real a win for our community.”