There is an inspired thoughtfulness about kids in evidence at many of their venues such as the hobbit holes at The Vyne posted earlier this spring in PlayGroundology. In Britain, they are playing a significant role reconnecting children with nature an increasingly common challenge in the digital age.

One of the Trust’s brilliant actions last year was the development and promotion of 50 Things To Do Before You’re 11 3/4. It’s just been refreshed with a number of new entries.

How about a 50 Things To Do… right here in Canada. Let’s do the math, 50 divided by 13 provinces and territories works out to about 3.8 ‘Things’ per province/territory.

I’m going to start the ball rolling with three submissions from Nova Scotia.

1 – Running on the Ocean Floor. The Not Since Moses run is held every August in Five Islands.

It’s not everywhere that you can run on the ocean floor. This part of the world has mud flats that are laid bare after the Fundy tide pulls the ocean away. A good run, lots of fun and a chance to get dirty all rolled into one. Does it get any better?

2 – Interpretive Tours of Mi’kmaw Petroglyphs. In Kejimkujik National Park, there are 19th century rock drawings and opportunities to learn about the Mi’kmaw culture.

Keji, as it is affectionately called, is a natural wonderland with many opportunities for nature play and exploration. More on the petroglyphs here.

3 – Rafting the Tidal Bore. Fundy’s great tides, the largest in the world, provide the natural fuel for this soggy, thundering zodiac ride.

The slow moving Shubenacadie River is transformed into this tidal torrent of tumult twice a day. It’s a ride you’ll remember for years to come.

There you have it, Nova Scotia’s suggested contributions to an All Canadian 50 Things To Do Before You’re 11 3/4. Send your ideas for other outdoor activities to build a Canadian list to PlayGroundology.

Put a list together for your own country and help get the kids outdoors having fun in the natural environment.

I’m jumping off the digital page early next month and into the Halifax Public Libraries system for a presentation and discussion on playgrounds and play.

Over the course of two evenings, we will look at the history of playgrounds, design, natural play, risk, adventure playgrounds, play advocacy and other topics.

If you’re in the Halifax area, please consider this your invitation to drop by. If anyone has friendly advice on dos and don’ts when presenting about playgrounds and play, drop me a line.

Keji National Park playground – Nova Scotia, Canada

I hope Keji’s red see-saws have protected status. Their well-being and continued existence should be championed if ever public pressure due to misguided fears related to safety results in calls for their removal.

See-saws are one of the mighty trio of conventional playground equipment along with slides and swings. They have been much maligned in recent years as harbingers of injury. Granted kids have to be taught not to get off and let their friend plummet to earth. Likewise it’s important to ensure that one’s chin is nowhere near the upward trajectory when sending the equipment whistling up and down with the force of one’s arms while standing on the ground. Then I guess we shouldn’t discount the fear of falling off while at the top of the game…

Not all is lost, in some places the see-saw is flourishing. If big is a public display of affection and acceptance then Berlin is a safe habitat. Potsdamer Platz’s Tilla-Durieux Park offers rides on super-sized see-saws possibly the largest scale in the world. This space teeters on imaginative ups with none of the tottering associated with overly cautious downs.

Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. Photo credit – Sebastian Niedlich. License – (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Despite their standard lever and fulcrum make-up, see-saws do come in various guises as depicted in the Teeter-Totterus flicker gallery. Eighteen fine photos from flickr photographers.

Before dispensing with the ups and downs completely I thought it worthwhile to share some research. Behold a class experimenting with physics. Where was this school when I was a teenager?

Long live the see-saw – respect their right to rise, fall and rise again.

h

PlayGroundology’s 2011 story on Montreal’s musical swings is one of the blog’s most visited posts. Hats off again to my Montreal buddy Moussa for giving me a shout about this wildly popular interactive art.

21 balançoires (3rd edition) – Promenade des Artistes, Montreal, Canada until June 2, 2013

This year 21 balançoires has caught the eye of France’s Biennale Internationale Design Sainte-Étienne (source – designboom) and Oprah who visited Montreal earlier this month.

When in motion, each swing in the series triggers different notes and, when used all together, the swings compose a musical piece in which certain melodies emerge only through cooperation. via Daily Tous les Jours

Creators Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat have swing, swang, swung themselves into the hearts of Montrealers, the international design community and lovers of play everywhere.

The installation was awarded The Best in Show at February’s Interaction Awards in Toronto. Andraos and Mongiat have not been resting on their laurels though. After introducing the world to 21 balançoires, they created 21 obstacles. Most recently they’ve been awarded a commission for Montreal’s first permanent digital art installation at the city’s new planetarium.

This third edition of 21 balançoires features a photo contest so click off a few frames, you could be a winner.

I’m sure Andraos and Mongiat will be back with new crowd pleasers. I hope they will revisit the world of play with compelling, heart of the city projects that make the old young and the young younger still.

Simon Jackman, founder of the Green Play Project, is making hobbit magic for kids, hobbit holes to be precise as he recounts on the company’s website. “The centrepiece is a huge grassy mound accommodating a variety of play features: hobbit holes linked by interactive sound tubes; a cascade of red limestone boulders to be climbed; a wooden bridge leading to a fort-like structure built around an upturned tree with its roots splayed against the sky…”

PlayGroundology caught up with Simon last week just before he returned to the site on a Friday evening to put in a few minor modifications. He loves working for play.

There’s quite a lot of good play areas going in around England at the moment. We have a chance to do more with National Trust. We’ll get to do some interesting work for them. I never like to do the same thing twice so we’ll have to come up with some new and better ideas.

It’s the first playscape that’s made a bit of a splash around the world for the Bristol-based company with write ups in the New Zealand Herald, The L.A. Times and plenty of other publications in between. A landscaper by profession, Simon turned his hand to designing playscapes full time after working with other companies on the installation and landscaping side.

For this project, there’s maybe a little bit of Rivendell magic in the air. The unique design is a crowd pleaser amongst the kids – so says a school group that took it for a test ride last week. Hear it straight from the kids in this video from The Vyne.

In these bucolic surroundings with rolling hills and emerald green grass, it’s easy to forget about the Orcs, Nazgul and the rest of Sauron’s nasty lot. This is the perfect place to enjoy the outdoors and run off that second breakfast. Simon’s interest is seeing kids out and about having fun in the natural environment. You could say he’s a bit of a latter day Tom Bombadil.

Under construction

Just as we wound up our conversation, Simon let me know he was a huge Neil Young fan and has seen him live twice in London. He suggested that we Canadians might want to think of a Neil Young themed playground. Now Simon, what would that look like and could you give us a hand?

Can’t get your head around a Neil Young playground but interested in a hobbit hole out in the backyard? Well you’re in luck because squidoo has some awesome info for you.

It doesn’t seem to matter what time of the year we arrive, playfulness is in the air. The maestro, the impressario is grand-papa Raymond. The now retired primary school physical education teacher knows how to hit all the right notes. And we of course have the gift of stepping outside of our domestic and professional daily routines.

In July of 2008 we spent some quality time hanging out in Sorel. Raymond got Noah-David and I out to different playgrounds almost every day. At nearly three-years-old, Noah was adventurous and wanted to try everything. He was a climber, a slider, a swinger… Those couple of weeks with Raymond made up the most concentrated burst of playgrounding we had ever done and the first time we had visited a series of playgrounds day after day.

PlayGroundology started here

The sun drenched weather, the fun and simplicity of the activities and the Ville de Sorel’s posting of playground locations online inspired me. In the summer of 2009, I started blogging about Halifax, Nova Scotia’s playgrounds in Halifax Plays.

As I started to explore, I gained an appreciation of the richness and variety of the playground world – design, landscaping, preservation, community engagement and of course the intrinsic value of play itself. It was clear that there was an abundance of interesting historical and contemporary stories to share from a variety of international sources. PlayGroundology made its debut six months after Halifax Plays hit the streets.

There was enough warmth in the air this Easter weekend for a couple of playground excursions. We took the five minute walk through the ‘magic pathway’ (a pedestrian connector between two streets) over to Parc des Trembles. This playground, one of our favourite stops in Sorel, is a like an old friend even though it’s over 1,000 kilometeres from our Halifax home. We know the swings, slides and obstacle course like the back of our hands. The familiarity brings comfort, warmth and even after all these visits a tinge of excitement. There is as much love, memories and milestones invested in this park as any of our local playgrounds in Nova Scotia.

We made time to get over to grand-papa’s old school too. We all wound up with soakers as our feet crashed through a thin layer of ice and into shallow puddly pools below. It wasn’t enough to deter us from scampering about the old equipment or trying out the new gargantuan multi-climber.

There was plenty more play during those few days in Sorel – horseback riding with the cousins, swimming, floor hockey and a trip to Brossard to see the Montreal Canadiens practice. We love the time we spend together in Sorel’s playgrounds. They’ll always have a special place in our hearts.

PlayGroundology has been cheering on Chris’ March2Work campaign for the last two years. He’s a young looking fellow and speaks with a lot of vitality so I’m hoping that he and the campaign will be back for many years to come.

The concept, objectives and merriment are all highly exportable. The fun-fueled campaign certainly has all the right ingredients to catch on in other jurisdictions and draw some much needed focus to the value of outdoor play and safe routes to schools and playspaces.

Hear Chris right here from an interview recorded just prior to this year’s campaign kick off.

Source: architektur fur kinder

Behold the Lozziworm conceived and designed by Swiss sculptor Yvan ‘Lozzi’ Pestalozzi. First introduced in the 1970s, there are somewhere in the vicinity of 110 spread out across Europe in parks, playgrounds and schoolyards.

Source: architektur fur kinder

Thanks to PlayGroundology reader Cynthia Henry who shared the news that a Lozziworm is on its way to Pittsburgh, USA to be an outside beacon for the 2013 Carnegie International. A Carnegie spokesperson told PlayGroundology that there’s “a play structure because the International this year features works by artists that deal with play, both in the traditional sense of being playful, but also in the sense that play is the wellspring of creativity and making–many of them play with very serious ideas, or turn history upside down.”

The Carnegie’s Lozziworm is scheduled to be in place for play by late April. The ground is being prepared now. A profile view will look something like this.

Courtesy Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Before signing off, take stock of Lozzi’s credo, they could be words to live by.

Think like a mature human being – enjoy life like a child.

We’ll be in touch with the Carnegie next month to get more info on the playground related exhibits during this year’s edition of the International.

Oh, you might be wondering what does one do with a Lozziworm? Crawl, climb, jump, squeeze through the dark interior, reconfigure the shape and of course endless games from the imagination.

Photo credit: jump by Fittzer. License – (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Get to the St. Patrick’s Day Flickr Gallery by clicking through on the green.

For more on play in Ireland visit Sugradh and Playboard.

Playground in Sofia, Bulgaria. Source: Snezhka Karatoteva.

It’s as if some of Noah’s precious charges were peppered across playscapes to watch over and amuse the human young. There are African and Australian animals from the wild, barnyard favourites and mythical creatures.

Dragon playground with designer Mr. Khor in Toa Payoh, Singapore. Source: Mosaic Memories – Remembering the Playgrounds Singapore Grew Up In by Justin Zhuang.

The playground animals serve multiple roles – slides, teeter-totters, climbers and springriders. They are also a friendly reminder that there is a natural world for us to engage with and care for.

Playground in Sofia, Bulgaria. Source: Snezhka Karatoteva.

There are more great photos from Zemen, Bulgaria to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in the PlayGroundology curated gallery ‘Animal Farm’ right here.

Editor’s note – thanks to Snezhka Karatoteva from Sofia, Bulgaria who recently dropped in on the PlayGroundology FB Page and offered to share playground photos with PlayGroundology readers. Check the blog here.

I spoke with Chris earlier in the week to get the skinny on March2Work – listen to the interview here.

If you really want something to stand out in peoples’ imaginations it has to be a little bit silly and the fact that you’re promoting children’s play it has to be something quite playful — Chris Gregory

Chris laments the changes that have come about in kids’ lives over the last two or three decades. The days when kids were out playing more, walked to school as a matter of course and generally had more independence and freedom are not that far behind us but sometimes they do feel like a distant memory.

In my case they are back in the old days a bit. It was the mid-1960s when I started walking to school on my own and getting out and about unsupervised in the world. In many respects, the lives of current day grade school kids bear little resemblance to how we played and to how independently mobile we were when I was growing up. I really think today’s kids are missing out.

Good on Chris Gregory for creating this fun and imaginative March2Work campaign. I hope it will help to broaden the conversation around children’s play and independence. PlayGroundology will be dropping in on Chris a couple of times during the month to see how he’s holding out. It can be a grueling three kilometers before he arrives at his office door.

Let’s all wish Chris well as he heads out on his maiden voyage to mark the 2nd annual March2Work.

A couple of days later I came across articles in the San Francisco Chronicle about a fighter plane that had been a play structure fixture for more than three decades in San Francisco’s Larsen Park. It got me thinking, would I allow our three young kids to play on a tank, or in a fighter jet?

Monstrum playscape in Nørrebroparken, Copenhagen. Photo credit – Jan Ingemansen. License – (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Back in the mid-1960s as a young lad in grade school getting the bi-monthly short back and sides at the barbers, I was an avid after school and weekend warrior. I lived in Toronto then and our apartment block bordered on a 10 to 15 acre green space. The hills were dotted with unmanicured shrubs and a valley plain served as a soccer and baseball field, bike rodeo and a gathering place for war games. It was a green oasis but no pastoral idyll. On the other side of a six foot high Frost fence at the southern extremity of our play zone, the 12-lane 401 highway roared by. Our activities continually played out to the droning buzz of fast flow traffic.

Along with sports and playgrounding, war games were a recurring part of our play menu. Even though real life conflicts in Vietnam and Biafra raged on newscasts we chose our recreations from contemporary pop culture. Sgt. Rock, who seemingly single-handedly won the World War II for the allies, was one of our primary inspirations for mid-century warfare. James Bond was of course our role model in the world of spylike skullduggery against our Cold War foes. A number of us were packing the 007 spy attaché case.

Reaching further back in time, we pretended we were fighting in the American Civil War. There wasn’t much left to the imagination from the scenes depicted in the Topps Civil War News card set. Then there was also the Hollywood fueled reenactments of epic Cowboy and Indian clashes. No matter the historical period, we had the rifles, machine guns, helmets, knives, canteens, grenades and other necessary accoutrements to vanquish the enemy whoever that might be.

Topps Civil War News Trading Card, 1962

We played regularly taking turns being the ‘bad’ guys. We were killed, resurrected and played on. There was one family of five brothers whose parents’ religious convictions had them attending an evangelical church. There only stricture was no war games on Sundays. At the time, it was the only opposition I was aware of to our grade school warrior play.

About 15 years later I was back in Toronto working in the peace movement organizing short term international youth exchanges focused on volunteer activities with a social justice twist. The early 1980s was a time of demonstrations in Toronto trying to raise awareness about conflicts in Central and South America, South Africa and about militarism in our own backyard such as work being done in support of the Cruise Missile. At the time I was an ardent and righteous anti-war toys guy and pro ‘arms are for hugging’.

Not a lot has changed for me since then except perhaps that the certainty of black and white solutions has become more grey. I’m as passionate as ever about arms being for hugging. I’ve never bought toy guns for any of our kids and never will. Regardless the kids fabricate them with different materials – sticks, blocks, lego. Just yesterday, Noah and Nellie were scooting around the house ‘shooting’ at each other. When I gave them my one minute exposition on what guns do to people, Noah quipped, “these are pretend water guns papa”.

The war toys debate has been on for decades. Though not toys per se, these pieces of decommissioned military hardware in playgrounds are seen as birds of a feather. Here is a young David Halton on Canada’s CBC TV in December 1965 reporting on a Voice of Women campaign.

xxxlCBC TV, December 1965 – Voice of Women Campaign

It was easier when I was a kid. I was embroiled in the moment and the ethos of the times. I loved my Daisy air rifle and my Hong Kong machine gun that made the noise and sported a facsimile flame of red plastic at the barrel tip. I don’t think I was desensitized. I would argue in fact that many of today’s video games are far more graphic and violent than anything we experienced as kids.

If an old CF-18 dropped into our neighbourhood playground tomorrow, I’d let the kids play on it. I’d also let them know what kind of machine it was. In a way, I think we’d be beating swords into ploughshares. What are your thoughts?

The British Columbia Teacher’s Federation has produced an excellent resource – War Toys to Peace Art – that you can download here.

License – (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Darfurian refugees in Eastern Chad (Original caption)

Chad / Darfurian refugees from Sudan / Oure Cassoni camp (Head of Office in Bahai said 31 800 refugees, december 2011), 18 kilometers north from Bahai UNHCR sub-office located 361 km north-east from Abeche, located 900 kilometer east from N’Djamena the chadian capital. The camp is located 17 km from the sudanese border, and was opened in july 2004. Children play on a slide on a playground in Oure Cassoni. / UNHCR / F. Noy / December 2011

Sculpted in France – Concrete Art Playgrounds

Photo credit: J. Bruchet. Source: Architectures de cartes postales. Designer: Pierre Székely. Cité des Jeux – L’Haÿ-les-Roses, France

I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for France so I’m always on the lookout for interesting play stories from that part of the world. Our family lived there in the early 70s. I was 12 when we arrived and 15 when we left. It was my gawky early adolescent phase which I like to think I’ve outgrown. (more…)

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Just Play

J

Just Play

play play
whether it’s alone or with friends
within four walls or under a great canvas of sky
just play

there are not enough hours
in a heartful life
to miss kaleidoscoping fun (more…)

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The Playground Paradise Principle

Paradise might be a bit of a stretch but Malmö, Sweden is quite simply playgroundalicious. It’s the kind of place that would inspire Mary Poppins to gather her young charges around her and umbrella them off to adventure – up through the atmosphere/ up where the air is clear/ let’s all/ go to Malmö. (more…)

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London’s Somerford Grove Adventure Playground Makes The New York Times Magazine

Source: Haringey Play Association. Click image to enlarge

There are four stunning, brilliant images in the March 1 edition of the The New York Times Magazine offering glimpses of children at the Somerford Grove Adventure Playground in London, England. (more…)

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A Journey of Epic Proportions

How do you spice up your morning commute to work and at the same time make it more meaningful? Look no further than my friend Chris Gregory for an answer. Chris is a champion for play at the Isle of Man’s leading children’s charity The Children’s Centre. To raise awareness for outdoor play and safe and playful routes for children, he is taking a different means of self propelled transport every workday for the month of March. His epic journey started out with a 3 kilometer spacehopper commute. Do I hear sore thighs? (more…) Note, Chris is in training for his second run at March 2 Work.

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Imagining a Better Future – Playtime in Africa

Source: Mmofra Foundation. Click image to enlarge

Two acres of green space in the Dzorwulu neighbourhood of Accra, Ghana are being primed for transformation. It’s all about the kids, or Mmofra as they are called in Ghana’s Akan language.

This story, about a small plot of land, spans decades, continents and generations. It’s the story of a woman’s vision, of her love for children. The seeds were sown 50 years ago when the late Efua Sutherland wrote her groundbreaking book on Ghana’s play culture, Playtime in Africa. The narrative and accompanying photographs by Willis E. Bell were the first real documentation of children’s play in the newly independent African nation. (more…)

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Sir Ken of TEDalot on Play and Learning

Earlier this spring, Sir Ken (Robinson) shared his views on education with an appreciative audience in Halifax, Nova Scotia – home of PlayGroundology. I was one of the 1,000 in attendance who enjoyed an accomplished and entertaining critic of conventional wisdom about education and creativity. No props, no notes, plenty of humourous asides and always an à propos anecdote. (more…)

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Have You Heard What They’re Saying About RISK? Listen Then Share

Generally speaking, parents want their kids to experience the fullness of the world – the quiet beauty, the dizzying adventure, the discovery of self and others. As much as possible we want to keep hurt and injury at bay but they too are part of the mix with cuts, scrapes and breaks both corporeal and psychological. So how do we go about assessing risk? How do we ensure that our kids aren’t enclosed in a cocoon of safety?

I saw this video a couple of nights ago and thought I would play a small role in helping to spread the word. Right now it’s at 373 views. After you’ve watched it, please share with your friends and your broader network.

Thanks to the Alliance for Childhood and KaBOOM! for producing this piece.

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The Unbearable Lightness of Swinging

There’s something cosmic about swinging, a certain je ne sais quoi. When I saw Teena Marie Fancey’s Baby Boy at The Craig Gallery on Dartmouth, Nova Scotia’s waterfront a couple of years ago, I knew I had found a great opening image for a paean to swings. Thanks Teena. (more…)

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It is a happy talent to know how to play.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a
tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play.
- Henri Matisse

The true object of all human life is play.
- G. K. Chesterton

 

 

 

Men do not quit playing because they grow old;
they grow old because they quit playing.

Read more… 282 more words

Make-shift Climbing Frame, Kingussie, Scotland. Photo credit – Dunnock D. License – (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Burns personified the independent mind which is also a characteristic of parents, teachers, advocates, designers, artists, playworkers, landscape architects, planners and community organizers involved in making possible creative play for kids. Free play and independent minds, I’m sure there is a correlation…

Raise a dram for Rabbie tonight and rest assured he’d be speaking out for the bairns if he were with us today. In his absence, we have the fine folks at Play Scotland to carry the torch and fight the good fight – kids everywhere have a right to play.

Here’s leaving you with a wee bit o’ Burns.

To a Mouse

Still, you are blessed, compared with me!
Only this moment touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye
On prospects turned to sadness!
And though forward I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

h

And what an influential, not to mention well-heeled, list of friends and businesses support the cause. With runway chops like Louis Vuitton, Valentino Garavani, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar you can’t go wrong.

Over the last several years, Natalia has brought together fashion luminaries, friends, artists and entertainers in fundraising celebrations she has dubbed the Love Ball. To date, these spectacular parties for play have rocked Moscow, London and Paris and graced the fashion and society pages of publications around the world.

Love Ball 2011, Chateau de Wildeville (Paris) – Harper’s Bazaar, September 2011

Earlier this month, the BBC and other media outlets reported on the Naked Heart Foundation’s first foray into the UK, Natalia’s adopted home. An inner city neighbourhood in Liverpool will receive £100,000 from the foundation for its kid designed playground that will be completed in the spring.

Speaking with Harper’s Bazaar, actress Anne Hathaway put a nice twist on Natalia’s playground passion:

Natalia chooses to mask her charity work by masquerading as a supermodel – which is a very bad disguise if you ask me.

Now on the off chance that any of us get invited to a future edition of the Love Ball we can glam out with these playgroundista fashionista accessories.

First up is a lovely swing necklace from Calourette sourced from SwissMiss.

Source: Elle, April 2010.

Next on the block is the must have tattoo for a Love Ball outing, an original line drawing by Marc Johns transformed into a tattly. Thanks again to SwissMiss for this find.

And finally the playground chic pièce de résistance – custom designed heels that you can just slide into from designer Kobi Levi.

Ok, now I think I’m ready to be pointed in the direction of the nearest playground catwalk.

From Russia with love, Natalia Vodianova a philanthropic playground angel.

Valentino and Vodianova in Vogue Daily a sneak peak in advance of the White Fairy Tale Love Ball held at Chateau de Wildeville. Photo credit – Kevin Tachman

Tufnell Park Primary School, London – 1955. Source – City of London.

From the outside looking in, London is a great city of play. Distinguishing characteristics include its adventure playgrounds scattered throughout the city, a top notch organization, London Play, that advocates on behalf of children and families and likely the highest concentration of playworkers anywhere in the world (a great interview with Penny Wilson on play philosophy of playworkers).

Vauxhall Primary School, London – 1965. Source – City of London.

But there is still a need for action in support of play in the UK’s largest city.

Nearly half of children in London surveyed say they do not play out as much as they like. London Play aims for every child in the city to have high quality, accessible and inclusive play opportunities. London Play campaigns for more and improved play spaces and services, and support playwork in the capital.

Ainsworth Nursery School, London – 1972. Source – City of London.

This morning in Battersea, Wandsworth Against Cuts is occupying the Battersea Park Adventure Playground in a last ditch effort to save it from demolition. Click through here for a story that ran last night on ITV’s London Tonight reporting on the occupation.

A call to action to London commuters enjoying a spot of play over the next few days at the Canary Wharf and Finsbury Park ‘live young evian playgrounds’ – play needs your active support and participation. Get out and play with your kids, empower them to play outdoors on their own, support organizations like London Play, Play England and your local adventure playground. Ask your elected representative what they’ve done for play lately.

Laycock Primary School, London – 1974. Source – City of London.

Commuters, remember your days of childhood play – adventure, imagination, discovery, friendship and fun and think about what you can do for play.

Danone, great play branding on the ‘live young’ campaign. The evian playground promotion presents an excellent opportunity for Danone to determine how it can contribute to improving the play possibilities of children throughout the world. What a leading edge, corporately social responsible engagement that could be – a great addition to other good works the firm supports such as the Danone Ecosystem Fund.

For more images of play in London check this 2012 pictorial in The Mail Online – wonderful images.

Today’s last words, and squeals of excitement, on play in London go back to 1963 and the first filmings of the Seven Up! series by acclaimed British director, Michael Apted.

Composer Philip Glass coursing through the air at Ann Hamilton’s ‘the event of a thread’. Photo credit – Ellen Knuti. Source – Park Avenue Armory

This weekend is the last chance to have your toes kiss the sky at Ann Hamilton’s ‘the event of a thread’ which closes Sunday, January 6. From the New York Times to twitterville’s vox populi reviews are soaring on this participatory installation that fills the cavernous armory space with billowing motion.

A field of swings, a film of suspended fabric, pigeons, manuscripts and readers, a writer, broadcasts and song all come together to recreate at each instant a new thread similar to but unlike its previous or future iteration. In the opening paragraph of the artist statement for the show Hamilton says:

I can remember the feeling of swinging—how hard we would work for those split seconds, flung at furthest extension, just before the inevitable downward and backward pull, when we felt momentarily free of gravity, a little hiccup of suspension when our hands loosened on the chain and our torsos raised off the seat. We were sailing, so inside the motion—time stopped—and then suddenly rushed again toward us. We would line up on the playground and try to touch the sky, alone together.

Photo credit – James Ewing. Source – Park Avenue Armory

Art, play, wonder, mindfulness. I wish I could swing, hear, be at Park Avenue Armory this weekend. Ann, we have an Armory here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Do you want to take the show on the road? Maybe next Christmas season in Canada’s far east hugging the Atlantic’s wintry shores. What a wonderful gift that would be.

Photo credit – Da Ping Luo. Source – Park Avenue Armory

For a brief window of time at locations outside the Canary Wharf tube station (January 7 – 9) and Finsbury Avenue Square (January 10 – 11), commuters will be able to take a load off and reconnect with their childhood. Swings and see-saws will propel the players through winter skies and trigger snow machines generating micro-localized flurries.

It will be interesting to see how well this play travels the social media circuit. There is great potential for fun and fine photos, video and commentary. All the better if this living advertising on a public stage brings more focus to the value of play for adults and kids. Watch for more on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other platforms in a campaign organized by Havas Worldwide with social powered by we are social.

Evian, when you’re done with the equipment London side, could you send it across the pond to your Nova Scotia cousins? We’ve had a right miserable winter drought here and could use the machines to generate some snow in our backyard all whilst enjoying a good swing and teeter-totter. Of course, we’d make them available as a community resource.

All the best to those London commuters who choose living and playing young. Just one thought before we leave this topic – any chance of modeling a makeshift slide on those Canary Wharf escalators? Talk about getting to work on a wing and a prayer. May the smile be with you…

Photo credit – Okko Pyykkö. License – CC BY 2.0.

Photo credit – Derek Buff. License – CC BY-NC 2.0

On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Eight trees for climbing
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

Photo credit – Oliver Hammond. License – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Nine fields for running
Eight trees for climbing
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Ten rocks for scaling
Nine fields for running
Eight trees for climbing
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Eleven see-saws sawing
Ten rocks for scaling
Nine fields for running
Eight trees for climbing
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

Photo credit – Vaughn Hannon. License – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve messy mudholes
Eleven see-saws sawing
Ten rocks for scaling
Nine fields for running
Eight trees for climbing
Seven roundabouts a rounding
Six slides a slipping
Five hollow logs
Four splashing pads
Three monkey bars
Two spring riders
And a tire swing in an oak tree

Any time of the year is a good time for giving. But if this season speaks to you in a special way, consider giving the gift of play.

There are organizations around the world that help make play possible for kids. Here are a few whose work is both compelling and inspiring.

Northern Starfish (Canada)

In Canada, a barely into his teens Wes Prankard is working hard to make a difference. Northern Starfish, an organization he created, is working with First Nations communities across the country. His first engagement involved raising funds to build a playground in Attawapsikat, in northern Ontario. Three years later, playgrounds continue to be an important focus of the organization’s work as he explains here to the Assembly of First Nations.

Recently, Wes carted over 1,000,000,000 pennies he raised to a bank in his hometown as part of a campaign to the build 20 playgrounds across the Canada’s north. Click here if you would like to give Northern Starfish a hand.

Playground Builders (Canada)

From his base in British Columbia, Keith Reynolds and Playground Builders have built 116 playgrounds since 2007 in The Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan and other war-torn areas of the world. Keith gives a first hand account of the organization’s work in this Canadian Broadcasting Corporation national news interview.

Playground Builders is a registered charitable organization in Canada. The organization has both a Canadian and US foundation. Click through here if you are interested in supporting their work.

Playground IDEAS (Australia)

Marcus Veerman had an idea about kids, play and community empowerment. From his base in Australia, Playground IDEAS has worked and played with communities and kids throughout Asia, Africa and South America using indigenous and recycled materials to create colourful engaging playspaces. Just watch here and you’ll see what I mean.

Click here if you want to help Playground IDEAS build a “world of intelligent, happy, resilient children prepared to take on the complex challenges of the future”.

Empower Playgrounds (USA and Ghana)

Ben Markham and his team at Empower Playgrounds tag their work as lighting the world through recess. Markham is a retired ExxonMobil executive now bringing his talents to bear in Ghana, West Africa. Kids at play becomes energy that lights homes and schools.

Click through here for information on how to support the work of Empower Playgrounds.

East African Playgrounds (UK and Uganda)

East African Playgrounds was founded by two Leeds University students, Tom Gill and Carla Powell, in 2009. Volunteers have built playgrounds primarily in Uganda and Kenya. Here is the story of one of their early builds.

As far I have been able to determine, they are the only playground group who have had someone pledge to fundraise for them by doing handstands 365 days of the year. Julie Dumont has been on a handstandathon this year in a variety of venues. You can see some of them here in this article from The Telegraph.

Click through here for more on helping to support the work of East African Playgrounds.

This is just a small sample of of people and organizations doing good work in support of play. In communities throughout the world there are local activities and builds taking place that frequently are in need of financial or volunteer support. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. A newish kid on the block is crowdfunding as this item from BBC News London explores.

Remember anytime is a good time to give the gift of play. Merry Christmas from Halifax, Canada.

In just over a week, the jolly old guy will launch his sled and Christmas 2012 will be here. Kids will be dreaming of a white Christmas where climate makes it a possibility and wondering perhaps what the white stuff is really like if they live outside of the snow zones. Here in Canada’s far east we’re buffeted by Arctic and Atlantic winds at this time of year. So far they’ve only brought us a few dancing flakes that haven’t amounted to anything lasting.

Tisdall Elementary School playground, Vancouver, Canada. Photo Credit – gillicious. License – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The ‘It’s Starting to Feel a lot like Christmas – Snow Playgrounds’ gallery is a selection of 18 photos created by looking through 1000s of images of snowy playground posted by flickr members. Each one of these 18 tickled my fancy in some way. I hope you will get some enjoyment out of them too.

Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo Credit – Choo Yut Shing. License – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Sifting through the flickr world of images, it seems that sculptures of playing kids are particularly popular in the United States. In the Sculpture of Play flickr gallery, public art from Bangladesh, Japan, Italy and Canada is also represented.

Dendermonde, Belgium. Photo credit – egonwegh. License – CC BY-NC 2.0.

I like to imagine that these posed stances are momentarily released from their immobility each time a child plays in their vicinity or an adult pauses to wistfully reminisce about days of play in years gone by.

Hats off to flickr photographers who allow others to curate and share their work. Click Sculptures of Play for the lightbox version of the gallery.

I have yet to come across any public art depicting play in my hometown of Halifax, Canada. I have been wondering though if, in communities that have commissioned art that depicts play, there is a corresponding commitment to providing public play spaces.

If you have any photos of public art depicting play, drop us a line and we’ll post to PlayGroundoloy FB.

The Rockwell Group’s Barry Richards and the musueum’s Cathy Crane Frankel tell it like this:

In addition to numerous building toys, the hands on Imagination Playground is an integral part of the exhibition.

Click PLAY WORK BUILD for more information.

This would certainly appeal to all those who have mad builder kids in their midst like my young lad Noah-David who dreams in Lego blocks. Parents, maybe you’re fondly remembering your days of building prowess with Tinker Toy, Mecanno and the like. Oh, and did I mention the unbridled fun of Imagination Playground – slideshow here.

The terrain d’aventures opened in early October this year. The video below gives a taste of the unique equipment that makes this new play space a star attraction for Parisians on downtown outings in the 1er arrondissement.

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The Mayor and his closest aides were there as well as France 3 Paris Ile-de-France TV. Unlike a playground opening earlier this week in Lisbon where there were no kids on camera, Les Halles features quite a few testing out the fun that’s packed in and parsed out over 2,500 square metres.

If you’re Paris bound, check here for details. The playground opens at 10 in the morning and currently kids can only play in it for 1 hour per day. The maximum capacity for the playground is 100 kids per hour. Reservations are required and entry is free.

Click through on the image for a full photo gallery.

Don’t stop the fun at Les Halles. Check this list of Paris playgrounds.

All images courtesy of the Ville de Paris.

Seeing an opportunity to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Australia’s St Kilda Adventure Playground I posted photos on the PlayGroundology blog and FB Page. The one that appears below was quite popular given the number of times it was liked, shared and commented upon.

NOT the 30th anniversary St. Kilda. Photo credit – Fernando de Sousa; (CC BY-SA 2.0). Source: flickr

Little did I know however that there are two St Kilda Adventure Playgrounds in Australia. The error was kindly pointed out by the great folks at Melbourne Playgrounds and by Andrew Coulson who works with Adelaide’s local government.

Yes, that’s right, in Australia there is double the pleasure with St. Kilda – one in Melbourne and one in Adelaide about 750 kilometres apart, just close enough that you could hop in a car and play at both on the same day. If there is any kind soul, agency, media house, or government out there who would like to sponsor my family to take on this feat of adventurous play and report on it, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

As it turns out, both photos I used to illustrate the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Adelaide St. Kilda Adventure Playground were of the wrong playground. The only saving grace on the blog post was a YouTube video that was shot in the ‘right’ St. Kilda and a link to a pinterest board full of photos.

The mix up gave rise to another idea for PlayGroundology - Map Maker Mondays. On a couple of Mondays every month, I’ll be plotting playgrounds on Our Treasure Map and sharing the newly plotted playgrounds on the PlayGroundology FB page. St. Kilda Adventure Playground – Adelaide and St. Kilda Adventure Playground – Melbourne are the inaugural Map Maker Monday playgrounds. Join me and plot some of your own on the Our Treasure Map platform.

Here’s a photo of the real deal 30th anniversary St. Kilda Adventure Playground in Adelaide. Apologies for any confusion caused by my earlier errors in identification.

There is a ruggedness that runs through these two adventure playgrounds. That’s somehow fitting as their shared name migrated to the southern hemisphere with the Scots. St. Kilda is a small archipelago at the western reaches of the Outer Hebrides.

In the 1850s, forty-two islanders emigrated to Australia. Many of the emigrants died en-route, but a few settled in Melbourne, and to this day a suburb of the city is called St Kilda – named after the schooner The Lady of St Kilda which was anchored off the shore at around this time. Source: St. Kilda

There has been no permanent human habitation there since 1930 and the islands are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And that is my Tale of the Two Kildas with a Saint thrown in for good measure.

Cast your vote today for St. Kilda as the Patron Saint of Playgrounds….

Circa 1969, the first ever adventure playground in Hong Kong opened in Kowloon.

Source: The National Archives (United Kingdom).

It looks like it was a funky place to play.

Source: The National Archives (United Kingdom).

I’d love to hear from anyone who spent time in this playground growing up. I’m also looking for help to track down some more photos. If you have information or stories on this Kowloon adventure playground, please drop a line at playgroundology@gmail.com

My brother goofing at Victoria Park, Hong Kong.

In present day Hong Kong, the government has developed a handy online playground directory but none of them hold a candle to Kowloon 1969. It was a good year, looks like they broke the mold.

If you haven’t had a chance to read it or see the lovely pictorial, take a moment to check Playing It Too Safe? New Playground Gear Promotes Risk-Taking to Boost Fitness And Brain Development.

The risk taking represented in the pictorial is still pretty tame compared to this do-it-yourself rig captured on video in Nuuk, Greenland.

Nuuk isn’t a thrill a minute playground paradigm shift. The modular equipment has made its way to Greenland too. Perhaps the suspended double swinger in the video is more than many parents would be comfortable with but where do we draw the line?

Playground – Nuuk, Greenland. Photo credit – Miss Copenhagen. License: CC – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

For some kids, the crazy swinging ride would trump the playground pretty much every time. We adults need to exercise common sense and balance and let the kids have some fun.

In Portugal this past week, as part of the European Capital of Culture in Guimarães, a pop-up swing installation greeted visitors to the International Centre for the Arts Jose de Guimarães.

Source: moradavaga 2012

Constructed on a foundation of donated pallets, the wooden block swings generated electricity by rigging up bicycle chains and wheels to capture the energy of arcing motion.

See how it works here in this short video produced by the Moradavaga Collective for their playable public art, SWING.

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SWING is art, play and a tribute to the city’s industrial heritage.

If you love swings check these earlier PlayGroundology posts: In Montreal the Swings Are Alive With The Sound of Music; The Unbearable Lightness of Swinging.

Drop in on PlayGroundology’s FB page for a video posted earlier today of a wild rope swing ride shot in Utah.

Photo credit – Fernando de Sousa; (CC BY-SA 2.0)

It’s another in the long line of play spots I would love to get to with my kids some day. For now, I have to content myself with living vicariously via this Flickr gallery and Pinterest collection.

St Kilda’s makes a lasting impression so much so that an Alaskan landscape designer posted his photos of the playspace at Design for Play nearly 15 years after his visit.

Photo credit – Design for Play.

And with the merry magic of YouTube, we can all get a little closer to the flying fox, the pirate brigantine and the whooshing slides (warning – headbashing music).

Many happy returns St. Kilda…..

The judging for this annual event took place last week. Winning playgrounds were recognized at Finchley’s Phoeneix Cinema where kid-produced videos were screened to the great delight of adventure playgrounders from around the city. The coveted title of London Adventure Playground of the year went to Glamis, Tower Hamlets. Full results are available here.

Funding cuts have resulted in the recent closures of some of London’s adventure playgrounds. The awards, first held in 2002, highlight the value and contributions the playgrounds make to kids’ daily lives. In a news release, London Play chair Melian Mansfield encouraged ongoing support for these community assets.

These are safe havens, often located in relatively deprived parts of London, where children can challenge themselves, be active, make friends and have new experiences. Any borough which is facing difficult financial decisions and is considering making cuts to play should watch these films and think again.

I first encountered adventure playgrounds shortly after I started the PlayGroundology blog. I’m still amazed at the care, creativity and seeming chaos that are are the hallmarks of their vitality. I am disappointed that they have not caught on in any real way in North America. I want to get our kids over to London in the next few years to be adventure playgrounders and experience even just for a few days some of the magic and magnificence of these endangered play spaces.

Bravo to London Play and the 95.8 Capital FM’s Help a Capital Child teams for making this a not to miss play event.

Here’s an archival gem from 1964 excerpted from the initial installment of the acclaimed British documentary Seven Up!. Does anyone know the name of this adventure playground?

For more on adventure playgrounds: London Play; Play England; UK Playground Adventure (great photos).

By serendipitous happenstance, at the same time Nellie-Rose was suiting up for her arrgh me maties moments, my inbox goes ping with a London’s calling treasure. It’s a great email from Verônica telling me all about the new venture she’s embarked on with her partner Rodrigo – mapping the playgrounds of the world.

Map View – London

Following an afternoon in downtown London, these transplanted Brazilians were looking for a playground break for their daughter who was beyond bored after a shopping expedition. There was nothing in sight and when they used their mobile devices to look for something all that came up were Thai Restaurants and Sex Shops – not the fare they were interested in.

That experience inspired Verônica and Rodrigo to get mapping. They are setting sail and inviting playground lovers to join the crew. While adventuring, they will locate and mark treasure troves with an ‘X’, well okay, with a swing icon actually.

It’s early days for Our Treasure Map, its companion blog and Facebook Page so the number of sites are limited and concentrated primarily in London, UK. The plan is to reach out and incorporate already available information and track down new data.

Map View Brasilia

Our Treasure Map’s Brazilian friends have been busy loading up the platform with playgrounds from Brasilia, Rio and Sao Paulo. There’s plenty of room for adding more playgrounds and other child engaging activities and places. The site has a mobile version and the couple are working on developing an app too.

Rocket Playground at Ana Lidai Park in Brasilia.

When the sky is the limit, there’s lots to do and plenty of room to fly. I tried the ‘add a playground’ feature – it’s totally painless. Our Treasure Map now has its first entry from Nova Scotia a few kilometres from our home and not far from a popular swimming beach. Add something yourself and don’t forget the photos. They can make all the difference.

Verônica and Rodrigo are looking for feedback on Our Treasure Map 1.0 and will make changes and introduce new elements based on what they hear from users. So do drop into the Facebook Page and let them know what’s working for you and what you might like to see added. My parting comment – I love the little pirate guy, reminds me of our Noah-David.

Help chart the course of play and share your playground riches on Our Treasure Map. Happy Hallowe’en…

The map captures cumulative readers since the feature was introduced. The grey shaded areas represent ‘readerless’ countries for PlayGroundology. I’m happy and somewhat surprised to see that the blog has attracted readers from all other countries shaded orange and red on the map.

I check in a few times every week to see readers’ origins tagged by their country’s flag. It’s pure exotica for me as I sit in our small study close to the shores of Halifax Harbour and wonder about the state of play in places for which I have little or no knowledge.

PlayGroundology has just passed the 200,000 page views mark. Thanks everyone for dropping in. If you like what you see, tell your friends, families and colleagues.

I’m always interested in story ideas, guest posts, photos, movies – just drop a line to playgroundology@gmail.com.

To paraphrase Mister Bob – One Love, One World, One Play….

Source: Association des ludothèques françaises. Illustrator: Éric Brossier

Mosaic Dragon with Designer Mr Khor Ean Ghee. Source: Mosaic Memories: Remembering the Playgrounds Singapore Grew Up In.

Right away I knew I wanted to share this find with PlayGroundology’s readers. The mosaic playgrounds that featured designs with local cultural references were of most interest – dragons, pelicans, elephants, tortoises and more. I started following a number of google trails and it wasn’t long before Justin Zhang’s name percolated to the top. Justin had published a couple of articles on Singapore’s public play spaces that passionately documented an indigenous playground vibe. They were invaluable references for Playgroundology’s first Asian story.

Thankfully for all of us interested in playgroundabilia Justin has maintained his interest in the ‘old’ playgrounds of his childhood and recently published a 43-page e-book commissioned by the Singapore Memory Project – Mosaic Memories: Remembering the Playgrounds Singapore Grew Up In. Through the eyes of four players, readers get a composite view of a homegrown playground story that developed in tandem with Singapore’s housing estates in the 1970s and 80s.

Light Painting – Mr Fong Qi Wei. Source: Mosaic Memories: Remembering the Playgrounds Singapore Grew Up In.

Meet Khor Ean Ghee the interior designer cum iconic playground creator whose playful designs have provided fun and memories for generations of Singaporean kids. Photographer, artist, and entrepreneur Antoinette Wong has mounted a photo exhibit of the old playgrounds during Singapore’s Fringe Festival and created wearable art depicting the playgrounds that are available from her little dröm store.

Fong Qi Wei paints the light fantastic. The Pelican Playground was the set for his first foray into painting with light. He even re-created the two swings that had gone missing since he had played there as a child. For Fong each of the seven playgrounds he has lit up is a three dimensional canvas that comes alive at night.

Photo Credit – Antoinette Wong. Source: Mosaic Memories: Remembering the Playgrounds Singapore Grew Up In.

Playgrounds are a family affair for Lim Chee Peng. He loves excursions with his wife and two daughters to play outdoors far from the madding noise and crowds. The old playgrounds are a link back to his childhood a place to breathe, stretch and have fun.

Four perspectives on Singapore’s old playgrounds. Will there be a swell of popular sentiment to preserve some of the 20 remaining playgrounds to ensure that the mosaic animals don’t become extinct?

These are lovely grassroots stories that situate playgrounds within a broader social and cultural context. Pop in for a read of Justin’s e-book…

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Drop a line if you know of other culturally specific public play spaces.

In fact, what’s happening is that I am sometimes able to cajole traveling friends and family to take a few snaps for me of interesting playgrounds they happen across. These folks become my proxies taking me, and by extension those of you who tune in here, to playgrounds I have never visited before.

Near Loch Lomond, Scotland

Thanks to my septuagenarian parents, PlayGroundology has snagged some photos of Scottish, Swedish and Dutch playgrounds. The Scottish shots are in the vicinities of Loch Lomond, Strone and Inverkip, familiar places full of memories reaching back nearly 60 years for them.

I don’t remember much in the way of playgrounds when I first went Clydeside as a 5-year-old. I was a kindergarten kid at Larkfield School in Greenock for a couple of months and remember playing in the schoolyard but don’t recall any equipment.

Near Loch Lomond, Scotland

On another visit in the late ’60s, I remember a playground up behind the shops close by my granma’s place on Auchmead Rd. I also recall the most grueling ‘game’ I ever played. In the backyard of the Council houses, I had to run a gauntlet between two lines of 15 kids per line who whaled away at me with their feet, fists and knees as I ran through as quickly as I could. Following this medieval-like ordeal I did get a grudging acceptance from the local kids. It was the rite of passage for the Canadian boy on the block.

Near Loch Lomond, Scotland

For more Loch Lomond playground photos from my parents’ excellent playground adventure, check PlayGroundology FB. Addiitonal photos will be posted to PlayGroundology FaceBook over the coming days.

Before you go, take a wee listen to Runrig’s rendition of a song long associated with Scotland, Loch Lomond. It’s a tune, a place and a playground.

You may also like these posts with photos provided by friends.

In the Name of Play – On Assignment, Dateline Atlanta

Paris Playgrounds a la Carte

He was a little anxious about not knowing anyone in his class and not having strong reading skills in French. There was newness all around including lunches in a large cafeteria. Noah was a little at a loss and feeling the weight of not quite fitting in. This was most pronounced during the time he spent in the crowded cafeteria. His enjoyment of the new school was suffering. At home, we spent some time with Noah speaking about how he was feeling and let the school know what was going on too. We encouraged Noah to dive in and speak with the kids around him in the cafeteria. A couple of days later, he resolved the problem through play.

Source – grandparents.com – click through for 12 pre-digital age hand games.

In the cafeteria again for lunch, Noah saw some kids a few aisles away playing rock, paper, scissors. He nudged the kid next to him and asked him if he wanted to play. Lunchtimes have been smooth sailing ever since. The outdoors icebreaker turned out to be soccer, one of Noah’s favourite sports. We now get daily reports about his feats in the Grade Two pick up league.

Play knows no language, it communicates organically setting in motion an idiom of laughter, fun and pulsing expectation. I remember we never wanted to head back to class when recess’ too short mash up of movement was frozen by the bell. It didn’t matter what we were playing – British Bulldog, Red Rover, Kick the Can, something from the Tag family, or just a bit of freelance tomfoolery – we wanted the clock to tock, tock, tick forever. In France, we were marksmen taking aim at a small pyramid of billes (painted clay alleys) from ten paces until we popped the top and sent them scattering. Scotland’s skills tester had us cracking a shiny tennis ball high and low against a brick wall.

Every place has its collection of favourites, games for all seasons. Although I have not found a central repository or portal for pre-digital games, there are resources such as Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium published in the early years of the last century and available in its entirety right here (via The Gutenberg Project). This is a 500 plus pages compendium of games that many of us have never played. Worth a look if you’re involved in organized activities with kids à la beavers, cubs, etc.

There is more contemporary fare with an international flavour. UNESCO’s Bangkok office has led a project to document traditional children’s games in South-East Asia.

There is a lot to choose from in this inventory of intangible cultural heritage and it’s all available for download.

Source: UNESCO. Click image for game details

An International Inspiration program set up by the British Council, UK Sport and UNICEF to coincide with the London Olympics has also compiled a number of games from around the world and a map. They are available here.

And here is a selection of traditional games shared through International Inspiration.

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Digital is not the only game in town. Play outdoors and explore some games of the world.

I’m on the lookout for more sources of good kids’ games. Please let me know if you come across any…

Click images to enlarge.

Happy Face – Playing in the Fields; Photo credit – Joseph Andie R Lamug; Source; Creative Commons .
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Child Play – Madagascar, child playing with a automobile made of carrot and other vegetables; Photo credit – Michele Molinari; Source; Creative Commons.

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On the Run – Bangalore, India; Photo credit- Syed Nabil Aljunid; Source; Creative Commons.

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Just having fun… – Guizhou, China; Photo credit – Sung Ming Whang; Source; Creative Commons

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Superman and friends playing with bubbles – Seattle, USA; Photo credit – wonderlane; Source; Creative Commons

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Boys Playing Stickball, Havana, Cuba, 1999; Photo credit – Cliff; Source; Creative Commons.

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Playing; Photo credit – Michel Di Feliciantonio; Source; Creative Commons.

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J.O.Y. B.O.Y.; Photo credit – Vinoth Chandar; Source; Creative Commons.

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Woooo…; Photo credit – Mads Bødker; Source; Creative Commons.

Share a play face or two, or three within your social networks. Grab one from here – they all have creative commons licenses – or take one of your own images and share it around. Play faces are infectious, they make people smile.

Reblogged from Rethinking Childhood:

My plan to showcase some of London's most playful places has been in the pipeline for a while. And now it's around the corner. For all the latest info, follow this link to the mighty Playscapes blog – including handy onward links to the Open House website, with more details and maps for all the venues.

Read more… 52 more words

Photo credit – D&S McSpadden. Creative Commons – Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Is there a record of how many accidents have occurred since 1956? Has there been previous litigation against the City of Monterey? For over 50 years, kids have clambered, climbed, surefooted themselves across and over this workhorse from the days of steam.

Only two of ten switch engines made in the 1920s by Ohio’s Lima Locomotive Works for the Southern Pacific Company’s Pacific Lines have escaped the scrap yard. Only one, #1285, has brought so much joy, excitement and imagination powered adventure to so many kids. It has done so since the playground’s opening day but this could be about to change.

This YouTube video posted by the City to celebrate over 50 years of the Dennis the Menace Playground displays archival photos from the Monterey Public Library’s California History Room. The arrival and placement af steam locomotive #1285 was a key event back in the day.

Now the City Council is considering options which include a complete fencing off of #1285 so there is no access whatsoever for kids, or removal of the steam locomotive from the site altogether. Many in the community, and further afield, are up in arms and are organizing to keep the train in situ.

On August 23, the new Save The Train at Dennis The Menace Playground Facebook Page got up and running and continues to pick up speed with nearly 6,500 likes and almost 8,500 people ‘talking about’ the page.

In response to a letter from a citizen, the City Manager responded as follows.

Thank you for voicing your concerns regarding restricting public access to the steam engine at Dennis the Menace Park. I heartily agree that the train is a Monterey legacy and a favorite feature of the park enjoyed by generations of children.

Once again, thank you for your concern. I am very happy that you have enjoyed your visits to Dennis the Menace Park in the past and hope that you will continue to frequent our local parks.

Sincerely,
Fred Meurer
City Manager

Dania King Ketcham Ranes, daughter of Dennis the Menace creator and playground benefactor, Hank Ketcham, has also posted her thoughts on the matter to Facebook.

To the Mayor and City Council,

People come from all over to play at this park because it’s like no other, and I would really like it to stay that way. The train is an important piece of Monterey, and as a parent myself I want my child to be able to explore it when she is big enough. In the mean time I follow her on every piece of equipment there until I’m sure she can do it without me. It’s MY responsibility to make sure she is safe, as it should be of every parent. Dennis the Menace park is a special place to learn and grow for everyone, young and old.

Source: Save The Train at Dennis the Menace Playground Facebook Page

Traditional media are also weighing in as this editorial from Joseph W. Heston, KSBW President and General Manager illustrates.

Locomotive not loco parentis

Don’t derail Monterey’s playground locomotive, simply hiding behind an argument that we want to keep children safe.

City Council is currently scheduled to have the train on the agenda for their October 2 meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m.

Southern Pacific’s old locomotive #1285 at The Dennis the Menace Playground is mobilizing public opinion about reasonable balance vis à vis safety issues. Let the kids play – have they changed that much since 1956 when the park was opened? It was a wilder, funner, more adrenalin charged place then. We could do with a bit more edge, more in keeping with the original type Dennis Playground and Europe’s Adventure Playgrounds and less with the bubblewrap, all contingencies covered, litigation free, antiseptic playspaces.

You may also be interested in reading:

Dennis is Dead, Long Live Dennis
Newsreel-Upside Down at Dennis The Menace Park
Dennis the Menace and Burning Man

For the story of California neighbours who reversed a City Hall decision, based partly on safety issues, to have a playground destroyed:

Monster Mash – Conservation Wins the Day in San Gabriel, California

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Erwin Stache is the conductor of this playground symphony, or at least the musical consultant. He’s interviewed in this report on the playground filed by Roman for Mediendienst Ost (German required – sorry no translation).

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I love to see this kind of experimentation with sound in a place of play where kids can let loose and make their own music. Stache is an innovator and experimentalist and as the video record attests, no stranger when it comes to working with young people.

Music and play are a dynamic duo, one that we should hear and see more frequently. Movement and sound can certainly help to brighten up our public spaces.

It makes me think of 21 balançoires – 21 swings which has briefly graced Montreal’s downtown as a temporary installation for the last two years.

Malmö, Sweden also has a well loved musical playground.

Technological sophistication can makes things fun as the kids in Brandis, Germany demonstrate but simplicity can work too.

Let’s hear it for music and play together. Do you know of any musical playgrounds, or playgrounds that have a funky musical component? Leave a comment, or drop us a line by email at playgroundology@gmail.com.

From swords to plougshares – let the children play.

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Even in the aftermath of such fear, pain and loss, the heart and spirit are boundless in their ability to forgive. Within a couple of years of the firebomb sweeping through their city, children from a Hiroshima school sent a series of pictures to the congregation of All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C. as a thank you for the gifts the parishioners had sent them.

Source: Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard

Play, beauty and joy are recurring themes in the nearly 50 pictures that were uncovered in a congregation member’s home in 1996. The documentary film, Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard, by director Bryan Reichhardt tells the story of these timeless drawings full of light and life.

Source: Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard

If you’re in the vicinity of UCLA Berkley, the pictures are on exhibit at the Institute of East Asian Studies until September 12, 2012 – In the Shadow of Hiroshima: Childrens’ Visions of Life. The documentary will be screened there on August 10 at 4:30 p.m. in conjunction with an observance of the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Hug your kids today, get out and play.

Underpass Park Playground. Source: WATERFRONToronto

Underpass Park’s Phase I which includes a children’s play area is now open. The entire project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2013. Here’s a video of construction at the site last fall that shows some of the already installed playground equipment.

Those who live in the new residential spaces being created as part of the overall redevelopment of the area will appreciate an opportunity to enjoy this small oasis. I wonder though about the noise and pollution levels caused by the steady stream of cars overhead. Toronto Star urban issues and architecture journalist, Christopher Hume, sees some greater significance in the creation of this park as it relates to Toronto’s overall development.

“As much as anything, Underpass Park offers hope that the city might manage to keep up with the future after all.”

Underpass Park Playground. Source: WATERFRONToronto

There is much of the same sentiment in an opinion piece published earlier this week in the Toronto Star.

Kudos to WATERFRONToronto for the innovative spirit in the remodeling of yucky urban blah.

Underpass Park Playground. Source: WATERFRONToronto

In Halifax we have spaces in the urban core that could benefit from this kind of deep makeover. Do you have any examples of similar projects in your city – recreating beauty and useable space from post industrial neglect?

I can’t help but wonder how many of the gifted athletes from all corners of the globe were risk takers at their local play places as they were growing up. Was outdoor play an important component of their early childhoods?

When all the medals are counted, when the athletes and fans have returned home and the brouhaha is a distant echo, the Olympic site will be reclaimed for the people of London and transformed into Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. One of the features will be a spanking new playground.

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The designers were selected through a competitive process. You can read about it in Tim Gill’s blog Rethinking Childhood. Tim is a former Director of the Children’s Play Council now Play England and was a member of one of the juries that reviewed designers’ submissions.

erect architecture and Land Use Consultants (LUC) are the winners of the North Park competition. The London Legacy Development Corporation’s news release describes erect architecture as “an emerging practice with a strong focus on culture, education and play. Their buildings and playspaces have won several high profile awards for projects such as the Kilburn Grange Playpark in north-west London.”

Based on the design and the firm’s previous work, we can look forward to an exciting playscape taking shape post Olympics.

Kilburn Grange Adventure Playground, London. Source: UK Playground Adventure

If you’re in London with kids and aren’t taking in any Olympic action, or just need a break, check out London Play and click on their ‘Play in London’ menu button to find Adventure Playgrounds and more.

We can’t all be Olympians but we can all play, play, play…

Photograph by Lance Booth, Daily Herald. Sourced from National Geographic

The two hour foam extravaganza, led by the town’s fire department, winds down with a free watermelon snack for all foamers. Participation has increased from 1,000 people in its inaugural edition to 5,000 this year.

A couple of hundred gallons of foam concentrate and an unlimited supply of water make for bubbly escapades. This video from Urban Media tells the story with panache. Lila-Jeanne, who will be three-years-old in a few months, and I watched it time after time getting into the groove of the visuals and the airy beat of Let’s go surfing by the Drums.

The Daily Herald ran a nice series of photos from the 2012 event here. Save the date now for 2013 so you can get on over to Lehi for a squeaky clean time…

Reports in The New York Times seem to be building up interest across the USA. In this vein, ‘adult playground’ is primarily about pumping up the fitness factor and providing outdoor exercise stations.

Halifax, Canada – PlayGroundology’s home – is perhaps a little ahead of the curve in relation to other North American cities. That’s one of the side benefits of an outdoor equipment manufacturer setting up shop here in Nova Scotia. Green Gym installations are popping up all over our city.

This is all well and fine. I mean it’s hard to argue the value of helping to realign the ABSI, usurper of the Body Mass Index that has served as an indicator of healthiness or lack thereof in recent years.

Now there’s no doubt that the majority of us adults in North America could use a tune-up, or an outright makeover. I know that in terms of the rotundity factor, I’ve got too much going on for my own good. In Canada, ParticipACTION has got a lot to offer on the matter of physical activity.

But what about the fun, thrill, adrenalin quotients? Exercise is great but even us adults should have access to a broader canvas. This is where I introduce exhibits ‘A’ and ‘B’, Dennis the Menace and Burning Man respectively.

Dennis was Hank Ketchum’s inspiration to build Monterey, California’s Dennis the Menace Playground back in the 1950s. I’ve written about this playground like no other previously in PlayGroundology.

Its custom designed equipment created many a hair raising experience for kids and parents. The present day Dennis playground is a pale shadow of the original and many who experienced its glory days as kids lament its passing. And who can blame them when there was excitement like the helicopter spinny thing of death which closes out the video segment below.

So yes, there should be a bit of an edge à la Dennis for adult playgrounds and where better to seek inspiration in modern times than Burning Man. This is where you can find adult playgrounds with a twist as the photos and video that follow attest.

Klimax by Michael Christian – Burning Man, 2003. Source

Temple of Gravity – Burning Man, 2003. Source

The Darwin Dome – Burning Man, 2009. Photo credit – Scott Haefner

Industrial See-Saw – Burning Man. Source

Now imagine that instead of a coffee and danish at break you were able to limber up on this customized Burning Man special.

Somewhere on the Dennis the Menace – Burning Man continuum there is a place that speaks to fitness and fun, risk and reward. It’s good to see that big kids can benefit from a little undirected play too.

The chiseled in stone statement at the base of the sculpture no longer applies. It is pretty much a free for all. There is also a newly installed rubberized ground cover. This will help break the falls that will inevitably happen. Anything flies now.

Kids are having great fun. Parents are a little skittish. I know the feeling, our four and six-year-old have perched on top and then skittled on down to ground level.

The National Post’s Joe O’Connor did a nice piece on ‘The Wave’ back in May. Take a read.

Thanks to Donna Hiebert for creating this iconic piece of public art that Haligonians and visitors, kids and adults love to play on. Thanks too to the authorities who have moved on from their former killjoy role.

Winds gust through those tall, skinny legs unchecked, tangling the two bucket seats. No matter how shrill their whistling shrieks, they are unable to shift the stick man stance. Seemingly invincible, Ole Smiley’s enduring presence will end and kids today will be the poorer for it as diverse designs and equipment bite the dust.

I wonder if there will be feelings of nostalgia associated with commercial equipment installed within the last 5 to 20 years when it is 30, 40 years old. Will the newer equipment even be able to withstand decade upon decade of use?

Do you have any playground equipment, sculptures, paraphernalia dating back to the 1960s or earlier? Send photos and stories if you have them.

Halifax, Nova Scotia seems committed to a path of playground homogeneity. There are a few bright exceptions which present some hope that authorities are receptive to change. The old stock is pretty much gone with a straggler hanging on here and there like this marvelous monkey head slide-climber combo.

In an area the size of a postage stamp close to the downtown core, Montreal’s David Lefebvre Park is a treasure trove. No doubt there is somebody in the community to be congratulated for preserving a stallion, a gliding horse and a spider.

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Closer to my Halifax home, in Windsor, Nova Scotia, I found the starship of my childhood angled for take-off. Back in the day when men first started orbiting the earth, a rocket like this one was our dream station imagining us Toronto kids into deep space adventures.

Brenda Biondo has been capturing vintage play equipment on film for years and has published a book of her photos. Flickr’s scottamus has compiled an impressive collection of old spring riders, swings, roundabouts and more from a variety of locations in Ohio. Then there are communities like San Gabriel, California who just go and rewrite the rule book on the way to preserving a playground as a cultural landscape.

Nostalgia is certainly part of the equation with some of this old equipment, memories of play that predate the constant stream of screen content. There’s more here though than tugs on the heart strings. There are aesthetics, cultural reference points, workmanship – a different ethos, horizon for play. It’s still around, a bit diluted. Remember what it was about the old equipment that you loved and check to see if the characteristics are present where your kids play today. If not, shouldn’t we be wondering why?