Interior ministry names nine playgrounds as 2026's best for children

The interior ministry said Monday it had selected nine children's playgrounds as this year's best facilities, honoring sites that move beyond standardized equipment toward nature-based, imaginative play backed by preventive safety management.

The nine were chosen from 49 venues recommended by local governments and education offices out of about 85,000 children's playgrounds nationwide. Written and on-site reviews by outside experts narrowed the field, assessing safety management, maintenance and operation, links to child development, reassuring design and community involvement.

Seoul and Gyeonggi Province each supplied two of the winners, with the others in Incheon, Gangwon Province, South Chungcheong Province, Sejong and North Gyeongsang Province. The list includes the Seoul-type Kids Cafe municipal Hwagok branch in Gangseo District, the Seoripul Nori School's Yangjae 1-dong branch in Seocho District, the Anseong Children's Love Playground, the Noru Playground at Seokjeong Neighborhood Park in Pyeongtaek, the Children's Adventure Forest at Incheon Butterfly Park in Bupyeong District, the Imagination Playground at Wonju's children's experience complex, the South Chungcheong Provincial Office daycare center playground in Hongseong, the Han Nori Madang at Sejong Central Park and the playground at the National Nakdong River Biological Resources Center in Sangju.

Officials highlighted two sites as representative of this year's direction. The South Chungcheong daycare playground turns hills, grass, stones, vegetable plots, water and shade into material for play and learning, and its design accounts for the physical traits and eye level of young children, with separate routes for rest and movement and grounds open to the surrounding community.

The Han Nori Madang in Sejong links more than 15 pieces of play equipment so that water, sand, nature and peer play can all happen in one large outdoor space. Its accident records and user satisfaction surveys feed back into improvements, and it provides closed-circuit cameras, emergency bells, cooling fog, shade canopies and benches for guardians. The floor surfaces and cleanliness have held up seven years after installation, the ministry said.

Other winners draw on local themes: the Noru Playground at Seokjeong Neighborhood Park works the roe deer that symbolizes the area into its hills and natural surroundings, while the Incheon Butterfly Park and Nakdong River facilities pair play with ecology education built around butterflies and river life.

The designation runs for three years, through 2029, with annual checks on maintenance and on whether each site meets its safety obligations. A full list of the country's outstanding playgrounds is available on the children's playground safety management system at cpf.go.kr.

The program has named facilities every year since 2012, with 117 designated through last year.

"A playground is an important living space where children run and take on challenges, developing not only their bodies but their creativity and social skills," said Park Hyung-bae, head of the ministry's safety prevention policy office. "We will continue to actively support the spread of diverse and creative play spaces nationwide that keep safety as a basic requirement while taking into account children's eye level and developmental characteristics."