Park and Walk fun

Park and Walk fun

This is a great way to encourage families to park a bit further away from the school gate and walk with their children the remainder of the way. As part of the TravelWise School Travel Plan programme in Manukau we have trialed two ways to get school communities behind Park and Walk. They all work great and are easy ways to break the habit of driving all the way to school. In addition to a safer school gate and drop off zone you find:

Parents meeting and socializing on the way home

Children enjoying walking with their family

Cyclist also get rewarded for their sustainable travel

When walking families notice and use green spaces

What is a good park and walk site? Somewhere close to school, but which cars can access without adding to the chaos at the school gate. Do you know a street that is close to school but uses a different access to school? The map below on the left shows a good park and walk site on Sullivan, so parents walk through the park. On the right you can see walk ways at the end of three cul-de-sacs, all within 200 metres of school.

One: Park and Walk Prize Board.

This is a reward system for children and parents who park away from the school gate at an alternate “Park & Walk” location. Children receive a raffle ticket at the Park & Walk site. They match that ticket with the Prize Board and could receive a prize. A blank prize board template is attached. For prizes you could contact your local Road Safety Co-ordinator, or ask your Board to sponsor some.  Another alternative is to allocate different amounts of house points to be won!

Two: Park and Walk code word.

At lunch time a teacher can write a secret code word on the footpath by the Park and Walk site. Children have to write them down when they appear. After a certain period of time (2-3 weeks) you can collect in the code cards and pull out a few for spot prizes. Or they might need 4/6 code words to enter in to win a extra play time for the class with the most Park and Walk code cards.

The aims of these promotions are to make the Park and Walk fun and engaging for the kids and reward those who Park and Walk more often and for longer time periods.

Further information: Sally.Fraser@manukau.govt.nz, .