Few aspects of recreational areas are so necessary yet so replete with challenges as outdoor restrooms. They need to be ADA-accessible, clean, low-maintenance, eco-friendly and able to function without much supervision. Oh, and don't forget they tend to attract vandals. We look at how you juggle all these to make a versatile restroom facility.

When it comes to keeping kids entertained and interested, children's programming is family affair. More and more recreational facilities are expanding their programming to include activities for the whole family. Check some of the most successful endeavors.

Outdoor sports lighting is much more difficult than just flipping a switch. Find out how to balance budgets, performance and dark sky proponents and still light your sports field professionally.

Park and rec districts have long transcended Little Leagues and pools, but nature is the latest growth area. Across the nation, rec facilities are adding naturalists, biologists, outdoor guides and animal specialists among others to accommodate the growth of nature-oriented programming. This includes nature interpretations, wildlife centers, orienteering, ecosystem restoration and other types of outdoor programming.

Nationally, there is estimated to be between 29 and 40 million children playing organized sports annually. By implementing a written performance psychology curriculum for sports teams, all those millions of children can grow up practicing the mental skills that can make people more successful and satisfied in their lives.

To most observers, some playgrounds appear to suit the needs of the children quite well. During recess they are full of laughing, screaming kids who appear to be doing a good job of blowing off excess energy. But many playgrounds can be chronic underachievers. Find out how one Florida elementary school created its own high-performance playground to get kids moving.

Imagine a place where patrons can both catch the latest Hollywood flick and then work off all that movie-theater popcorn.

Well, these two seeming polar opposites on the exertion spectrum have merged into one facility: the Mavericks Sports Club and Mavericks Cinema 3 in Moorpark, Calif.

They say it’s like no game you’ve ever played before. Some call it a live-action video game or more technically, an interactive "ball play" attraction. Whatever it is, it’s fun.

And it gets kids moving. In fact, you’ll find whole families running around, climbing, sliding, sorting, vacuuming and, of course, dodging foam balls whizzing through the air.

Welcome to Wiley’s Woods, a $4 million, 20,000-square-foot, four-story play structure at the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells.