Parks and playgrounds are outdoor spaces where everyone in the community can go to play, exercise, and enjoy nature. Parks have green grass, trees, trails, and places to sit. Playgrounds have swings, slides, and climbing structures for kids. The very first public playground in the United States opened in 1887 in San Francisco, California. Before that, kids mostly played in streets and empty lots!
Some parks are very big and very famous. Central Park in New York City is 843 acres, which is bigger than 600 football fields! It opened in 1858 and millions of people visit it every year. The National Park Service was created in 1916 to protect America’s most beautiful wild places, like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Today, there are over 400 national parks in the United States. Even small neighborhood parks are important because they give people a free place to run, play, and be outside.
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