Shop by Topic
Shop by Product
ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues
<< Previous Issue
| View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> 
Where Do Children Play?
March 20, 2015
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
-Oscar Wilde
At the World Forum Foundation's "Designing Inspiring and Effective Spaces for Children" event held last week in New Zealand, early childhood professionals, architects, and designers created a dazzling array of plans for indoor and outdoor spaces for children (some of which will be shared in the July/August issue of Exchange). On the other side of the globe in England, George Monbiot wrote the article in The Guardian, "Children in our towns and cities are being robbed of safe spaces to play." Here are excerpts from this article:
"Where do the children play? Where can they run around unsupervised? On most of the housing estates I visit, the answer is hardly anywhere. A community not built around children is no community at all. A place that functions socially is one in which they are drawn to play outdoors."
As Jay Griffiths argues in her heartrending book Kith, children fill the 'unoccupied territories,' the spaces not controlled by tidy-minded adults, 'the commons of mud, moss, roots and grass.' But such places are being purged from the land and their lives.
"'Today's children are enclosed in school and home, enclosed in cars to shuttle between them, enclosed by fear, by surveillance and poverty, and enclosed in rigid schedules of time.' Since the 1970s the area in which children roam without adults has decreased by almost 90%. 'Childhood is losing its commons.'"
 |
| Now is the time for early childhood programs to address early childhood obesity and wellness. This comprehensive professional development resource includes: |
Enter code "turnkey" when prompted to receive your discount. Offer expires Friday, March 20, 2015 at 11:59 pm PST. |
ExchangeEveryDay
Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
What is ExchangeEveryDay?
ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 CommentsAor International
Dallas, TX, United States
Early childhood programs need to have a natural outside place for young children, along with a playground.
UCF Creative School for Children
Christmas, FL, United States
This is a sad and powerful statement for our children.
Center for the Study of Biracial Children (CSBC)
Denver, CO, United States
This certainly is not my experience here in Colorado. The other day I took my two grandchildren for a walk down to a wonderful pathway along a stream. We played with sticks in the water and observed deer tracks (On previous walks we have observed the deer). There was also a playground attached to the trail. Near my house is the 'canal', an old irrigation ditch that is now a hiking/bike path that runs for 22 miles throughout Denver. In many American cities there are greenbelts, converted old railroads, and other places to walk and play. Outdoor museums are one of my favorite places to take kids. I don't think there is a lack of places; I think there is a lack of many families using what is available in the community for many reasons.
Post a Comment