Spring has officially arrived in New York City and that means getting out of the apartment–at last!–and into the parks and playgrounds.

This foot-long block of blue foam reflects this happy change: it’s a miniature, pop-out playground sent to us by the Rockwell Group, designers of Imagination Playground. They describe their creation as a playspace that will ‘enable unstructured, child-initiated free play with a variety of loose parts — blue foam blocks, found objects, sand and water — that allow children to play, dream, build and explore endless possibilities.’

(The real one looks like a lot more fun.)

There’s a playground under construction at Lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. And if you’re not in the neighborhood, you can watch it come together via webcam.

– Cary Barbor