Hi, my name is Su,
When I started as a Local Guide in April 2018 I took my mobile and said:
“Ok Google, show me playgrounds in my area”
It took some time and to my surprise, there were no results. Not a single playground in my region!
So I started to go out, visit the few that I knew of and reviewed them. I took pictures of the installations, the environment and what else was important for a parent who lets his child play there. After some time I started to search the internet pages of my home city and looked for documents about further playgrounds. And I detected a lot of them, some completely unknown to me because they were hidden in a housing area, in the forest or at the end of a long walking path that you would never expect.
I then expanded my activities alongside all areas, that I would often travel. So in case, we wanted to let the kids run around and give them a break during a trip.
Now during travel, you may also have to go to eat with them. So having all fast-food restaurants checked for playgrounds was also useful for families. If children are busy, parents may be able to eat at normal speed…
So after some time, I had many sources for the location and type of playgrounds in the middle of Germany. It was fun for us to go out and play in the green and it was useful for people who are new to this region and have small kids. Some playgrounds were in bad condition. But sometimes they were rebuilt within a short time after the review showed the issues this place had. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not.
I started to focus on 3 categories of kid´s activities:
Free Fun/ Fun - Playgrounds, Parks. Theme parks etc
Educational - Kid suited museums, botanical gardens, zoos, etc.
Traveling with kids - By car, train and plane. Spots alongside the traveling route.
Eating out with kids - Family friendly and kid friendly restaurants
The free fun POIs are of great interests because entertaining children can become a costly challenge and many young families do not have that much money. In that case playgrounds, parks and other POIs are a very good alternative. Remember: The best things in life are free!
Sometimes another LG writes the first review of a playground or other place which I created.
That makes me very happy and proud, because it means, that the information that I have provided is useful.
Now 12 months later, when I take my smartphone and say:
“Ok Google, show me playgrounds in my area”
Google Maps is populated with hundreds of free and commercial kids activities in my area. My contributions have made a big change for young families in my region. It is a good feeling to have created something that many families will find useful and sometimes even may save their day.
It did not even take me one year to make a change in google maps to be a more family and kids oriented app. That is good for me and it is good for many others. If we have more information about the place that we live in, that makes your everyday life easier, more efficient and you build up ties with other people in your area as well. If you have a special interest like pets, roses or any other special hobby, it is a good starting point to explore, add and review all the relevant places in your area. People will now find those places and also communicate about your special interest on Google maps. You get to meet new people with the same interest in your area and you help others to make better uses of the features that your region has to offer.You can do that too!