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Politics of Playgrounds
January 13, 2016
Give up being right. Instead radiate peace, harmony, love and laughter from your heart.
-Deepak Chopra
-Deepak Chopra
The CityLab website featured a great article, "The Politics of Playgrounds, a History" which looks back at the history of the great playground debate:
"On the one side, you have the safety advocates who want lower structures, softer ground, and less opportunities for falling off or over, well, anything. On the other, those who worry that a safe playground is a boring playground that will do little to stimulate a child's imagination.
"The debate can seem" quite technical – should playgrounds have foam floors, or wood chips? What would be better for the 5-year-olds who tumble off the monkey bars? Should there even be monkey bars, or is that just asking for
trouble?....
"The debate has a very 21st century feel to it but it's actually nothing new – these types of questions have been asked for at least a century."
Contributed by Nature Explore
Exchange Resources on Outdoor Play
Get 20% off of these resources for 48 hours!
Use code "playoutside" when prompted.
Get 20% off of these resources for 48 hours!
Use code "playoutside" when prompted.
- Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms
- Environments: A
Beginnings Workshop Book
- Learning with Nature DVD
- Natural Playscapes
Sale ends 01/14/16 at 11:59 pm PST.
May not be combined with any other offer. Not valid on bulk purchase discounts.
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Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 Commentsindependent consultant
Dallas, TX, United States
Outside areas are integral for young children, especially natural ones, which are rare. Children love being outside, as we all know. But regular public school playgrounds can be as fun and as useful as fancy ones with a lot of new equipment. Outside areas are truly outside classrooms.I brought all kinds of materials outside like a watertable, trikes, ropes, balls, big chalk, etc. I found much stuff at Goodwill. And have fun, give out jobs, learn to take turns. Let the children make up the fun with your suggestions and encouragement.
CSBC
Denver, CO, United States
As someone who has deigned and built playgrounds for over 40 years, I can say this piece is an over-simplification! Issues beyond safety that impact playgrounds are: lawyers, disability rights (accessibility), cost - for some reason we put money into classrooms and technology but not the outdoors, maintenance, order (adult), and the fact that school districts use architects and engineers to design their playground, but not child development experts.
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