At a time when kids are less exposed to the natural world, it is increasingly more important to have "nature" incorporated into playspaces. It is alarming that there is now a new term, "nature deficit disorder", for kids who do not spend time exploring the natural world around them. If you have incorporated nature into your playspace or have ideas or seen natural places to play, I would love to hear about it. Here are a couple of websites that relate to nature and play.
http://www.reforestlondon.com/documents/Schoolyards_and_Children.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playscape
There was an awesome example of this in the Forums awhile back...
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I stumbled across this and just had to share: http://www.steve-olson.com/child-creativity-linked-with-outdoor-free-time/ It's a playground at the University of Minnesota Arboretum and it looks like a ton of fun. It's all natural -- sticks, canvas, tree stumps -- and invites a lot of imaginary play. What's really nice about this web page is that he included a bunch of photos of how his son interacted with the play areas. Somehow, seeing the kid jump and play makes a line of tree stumps make more sense as a play area. A lot of it is really simple. There might be ideas here that you can incorporate into your projects.
I stumbled across this and just had to share:
http://www.steve-olson.com/child-creativity-linked-with-outdoor-free-time/
It's a playground at the University of Minnesota Arboretum and it looks like a ton of fun. It's all natural -- sticks, canvas, tree stumps -- and invites a lot of imaginary play. What's really nice about this web page is that he included a bunch of photos of how his son interacted with the play areas. Somehow, seeing the kid jump and play makes a line of tree stumps make more sense as a play area.
A lot of it is really simple. There might be ideas here that you can incorporate into your projects.
Wow! This is great. Do you have any pictures of the playspace or a website that has info about the park?
This is a huge and growing topic of discussion sparked largely by Richard Louv's book, The Last Child in the Woods http://www.amazon.com/Last-Child-Woods-Children-Nature-Deficit/dp/156512605X/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207052821&sr=1-1 He coined the term "Nature Deficit Disorder". The book has been out a few years and is so growing in popularity that they are publishing a new, expanded edition on April 22, 2008. The new version will include 100 things you can do for your children.
I HIGHLY recommend this book. The Atlanta Taskforce on Play had a display table at Atlanta's Park Pride annual Parks & Greenspace Conference yesterday and my dog-earred copy of the book was the hottest thing at our table (well, after the KaBOOM! kazoos, anyway).
Has anyone out there done a community-built natural playspace? I think about the kind of soil moving that many cultures have done to construct signficant community spaces and it seems plausible that a natural playspace could be creating using the community-build model.
In response to nrosenthal, I am currently working on a project that will likely feature a native garden on two sides of the playground. We are getting assistance in planning and design from the local US Fish and Wildlife field office. Can anyone think of other such facilities or organizations that could help incorporate natural playspace features?
I'm also a big fan of using the landscape to add playvalue and have seen lots of playgrounds where the earth has been sculpted to form hill and valleys in which to play. I can imagine that the community built model could also be applied to this type of playground.
If the land is to be sculpted, perhaps that could be done as the prep work with heavy machinery. On 'Build Day', volunteers can sod, do landscaping, and create pathways with pavers and rocks. Here’s a couple of links to playgrounds with sculpted landscape elements.
http://www.earthartist.com/playground/natural/playground.htm
http://playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/2008/05/childrens-playgroundchildrens-quarter.html
One of the reasons I'm so excited about KaBOOM!'s new partnership with the Rockwell Group and their Imagination Playground http://www.kaboom.org/FunStuff/PhotoGalleries/ImaginationPlaygroundgallery/tabid/706/AlbumID/2623-1018/Default.aspx is that the boxes would work so beautifully in natural settings. Very exciting!
Wow, these are really cool links, Maria. I keep thinking about natural playgrounds and doing them using a community-built approach and I don't see why this wouldn't be possible. Historically, there are many examples of collective building, particularly in landscape modification in the form of mounds. Some excellent ones exist in North America.
Perhaps the most famous of these in the US are Cahokia Mounds in southern Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. They are designated a UN World Heritage site. Check out this link (which has more links): http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/198.
When I think about how these must've been built, I imagine the collective passion and importance placed on creating these places. If we could rally people around a passion for play, why couldn't we make natural playspaces using volunteer labor? I don't even think you would need heavy equipment; they could all be conducted with sweat equity.
Is there anyone out there with any historical/archaeological knowledge of monument/public works construction? Or anyone out there who is interested in building a natural playground, or has done so using a community-build model? I would be very excited to talk with you!
I just found this article in the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press on the subject...
WATERBURY — In the bright morning sunshine, three little girls scampered across a dirt path, jumped on boulders, twirled on the stage of an amphitheater and perched under an apple tree to make dandelion and red clover necklaces.
Nearby, several children played a make-believe game best described as “lost baby runs from voracious tiger” that had them running from a large sand pit to a small “cave.” All the action took place on the new school playground at Thatcher Book Primary School.
The rustic facility snugged against a hillside next to the old brick school will be officially dedicated today and perhaps be viewed as a trendsetter. The fun zone is a so-called natural playground designed to eschew plastic and metal in favor of more earthy features that are supposed to help children connect with nature and use their imaginations. [More]
Can you elaborate on this project. It sounds amazing. What is a swail? Was the dirt moved to create the berms done by hand? Do you think this is something that volutneers could do? How did they compact it to keep the dirt and sod from just washing out? Do you have any other ideas that might turn those types of items features into play elements?
I am in the planning stages of building a new park for a poverty stricken community. I need some ideas on using car tires as equipment. Any advice would be great Advanced Thanks
I have a couple of thoughts about using used tires as equipment:
1. Make sure there is no exposed steel and the tread is not completely worn.
2. Make sure to wash out the tires
3. Create drainage holes on the sides of the tires
4. If you are using the tires in an obstacle course, bury part of the tire. Tractors are great for this.
Tires also can be great sandboxes or for gardens