Last October, we launched “150 Days of Play”, a campaign to celebrate our design library reaching 150 designs. We set out to profile a design a day from our library on our blog, along with stories of how these elements were created and examples of how they’ve been used around the world.
Unfortunately, in December our blog was hacked and our developers were faced with the challenge of totally rebuilding the site. Since then, Playground Ideas has had a whirlwind few months of building three playgrounds in Rwanda, presenting at the 2014 World Conference on Play, and reaching the 500th playground on the site. Are you subscribed to our newsletter yet? Sign up here to stay up-to-date on Playground Ideas' happenings.
We’re happy to finally re-launch the campaign. So at day 70, say hello to the “Slide Jimmi 2.”
The “Slide Jimmi 2” is a modified version of a banister style slide design by one of our playground heros, the late James A. Jolley. Jimi was a master of community built playgrounds, working with communities throughout the world to build beautiful play spaces from tires and discarded materials. He too was a believer in the power of open-source tools, and his designs are still available for free in his manual, EnTYREly Fun Playgrounds.
Jimi was known for his passion for the transformative power of play, his magnetic personality, and his remarkable ability to inspire diverse groups of community members to work together to created shared spaces for children. He was nicknamed by some as the “Santa Claus of playgrounds.” At the Community Built Association’s conference this year, we were fortunate to meet some of his friends and early colleagues, who gushed with stories at the mention of his name.
The “Slide Jimmi 2” adds a seat to the original design. It was built this March at a nursery school in a rural community in Rwanda, and was a hit with kids and adults alike.
While we at Playground Ideas never knew Jimi personally, we're inspired by his legacy and honored to carry on his dream to make spaces for play accessible for all children.
Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for building your own “Slide Jimmi 2.” (Note: must create a free user account to see full instructions.)
Got an idea for a playground element? Join our community and submit your designs here.
