Blog

8 Oct
Day 3: Earth Mound Small
Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

3 Earth mound Small

Frank is the director of a primary school for 2,000 children in Nairobi, Kenya. The school did not have a playground or a budget to build one. But Frank desperately wanted a stimulating space for the students to play. So when a construction crew at the school had to unearth several loads of soil, he convinced the contractors not to haul it away but instead to dump it in heaps on the school’s play field.

In doing so, they created a free, instant play element. Four thousand little feet quickly packed the soil down into a delightful hilly ridge. Take a look at this little video of how the kids interacted with the space.

Months later, when Frank’s school had raised funds to build a playground, the soil hills became a major feature of the site. A giant slide was built into one mound, and the hills were incorporated into an obstacle course.

ruben hills 2

 

ruben hills 1

We often hear from people who say, “I’ll build a playground as soon as I have $100…$1,000…$10,000…”

Why not start with a hill? Earth mounds are a lovely way to divide active and quiet play areas, create a focal point to a space, or build elements. As Paige Johnson, writer of Play-Scapes said in her London Open for Play talk earlier this year, “hills are the new swings.”

A truckload of dirt is cheap, often even free. It is a great first step to a playground – adding dimension to a space that kids will immediately enjoy interacting with and can be built upon in the future.

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for a few of our favorite earth mounds you can add to a play site today. (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.

Day 3: Earth Mound Small
8 Oct
Day 2: Balance Seesaw Hybrid
Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

2 BALANCE SEESAW HYBIRD

Seesaws are a timeless classic of the playground canon. But standing on a seesaw is oh so much more fun than sitting. That’s what the balance seesaw hybrid is built for. These low to the ground, linked plank seesaws can accommodate many children at once. The feature creates an unexpected cause and effect between the child and the seesaw and then with the other children. See it in action on a playground build at a nursery school in Brazil:

There are endless configurations these hybrids can be built in.

seesaw 2

Playground Ideas – Thailand

They can be used as a pathway to connect play areas…

seesaw 1

Playground Ideas – Brazil

Painted into a storyline…

seesaw hybrid

Playground Ideas – Thailand

Or decorated as a slithering snake…

EAP Snake

Jinja, Uganda – East African Playgrounds

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for building your own balance seesaw hybrid. (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.

Day 2: Balance Seesaw Hybrid
7 Oct
Day 1: Motorbike
Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

Sketch-up

Boda-boda, okada, habal-habal, xe ôm, ojek, pilot, going, motodup, or picky-picky. Every language has a different word for the motorbike, used the world over to carry people, livestock, even furniture.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr: tforsythe.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr: tforsythe.

It doesn’t matter what you call it. Kids love them. Our motorbike element was first designed for a playground in Gulu, Uganda, when lots of the nursery kids drew “boda-bodas” when tasked with drawing their dream playground.

Boda drawing

Since we’ve added the motorbike to our design library, it has become one of our most popular elements. Here are a few of the places it has been built:

Gulu, Uganda - Playground Ideas

Gulu, Uganda – Playground Ideas

Jinja, Uganda - East African Playgrounds

Jinja, Uganda – East African Playgrounds

Kampala, Uganda - Terra Nova Academy

Kampala, Uganda – Terra Nova Academy

Nairobi, Kenya - Playground Ideas

Nairobi, Kenya – Playground Ideas

Brazil - Playground Ideas

Brazil – Playground Ideas

Follow the link to get the step-by-step instructions for building your own motorbike. (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.

Day 1: Motorbike
7 Oct
150 Days of Play
Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

150 D banner

Today, October 7th, is World Habitat Day. The UN designated the first Monday of October as a day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

For many, the future of the human habitat is daunting to say the least. Forces like climate change, globalization, and technology are changing our lives faster than ever. One thing is certain: our children’s adulthood will be vastly different from our own. In this rapidly changing context, it is imperative;that we create an environment for children that will equip and resource them to thrive in a new world.

Educators, economists and both the corporate and social sectors are all calling for global citizens who are creative, innovative, socially connected, and resilient. We need a world of people who aren’t afraid to take risks and make mistakes; we need people who can discern good choices and understand consequences. We need world leaders who will think critically, share resources, problem solve, and cooperate.

 

150 Days of Play - photo 1

Although it is these qualities that largely determine an adult’s ability to succeed in life, they are rarely even an afterthought in the vast majority of the world’s school systems.

Today 94% of children attend school. This is an incredible achievement to be celebrated. However, the work is not yet finished. Many of these schools are overcrowded, under-resourced and have outdated curriculums focused largely on rote learning. Consequently, millions of children are lacking the necessary skills to navigate the world.

– 25% of children in developing countries leave school without the skills necessary to manage daily living and employment tasks. (UNESCO)

– 200 million kids fail to reach their developmental full-potential. (World Health Organization)

This is not good enough. We are failing the world’s children year after year.

At the same time, we now have a wealth of research across all disciplines, pointing to the undeniable benefits of play – a child’s first and most powerful tool for learning. Research proves that children who have regular, substantial access to play perform better in school, have higher IQs, greater self-regulation, are more creative, less likely to be involved in criminal activity, more likely to attend and succeed in higher education, and even earn higher wages as adults.

150 DOP pic 2

Play is not a luxury. It is a necessity and a right. Spaces for play need not be limited to the plastic, prefabricated swings-and-slide model, costing thousands of dollars to create. Playground Ideas can help anyone create a stimulating play space, on any budget, using only local materials, tools and labour. We exist to create a community of designers, researchers, educators, parents, and advocates making play spaces accessible to all children everywhere. That’s why all of our resources are open-source and free. Stimulating play spaces should be, and can be, available for all.

Playground Ideas first began in 2008 with a group of volunteers building playgrounds along the Thai-Burma border. In 2010, we started a website to share what we’d learned with others interested in doing the same. People started joining us. We've now built an online network of passionate people from Azerbaijan to Zambia who are creating access to play across the globe.

"150 Days of Play"

Today we’re proud to announce that our design library is now bursting with over 150 designs. That's over 150 step-by-step instructions that anyone can build. To celebrate this exciting milestone, over the next 150 days we’ll be profiling 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.

150 DOP pic 3

If you’re new to our community, head on over to our new website, explore our resources, and learn how you can get involved – by interning, volunteering, designing, fundraising, or donating. Share our resources with a school or child-care center you know and encourage them today to create a space for play.

On World Habitat Day, let's make a commitment to give children what they need to thrive. Let’s start dreaming of, and creating a more playful world.

We invite you to join us on this adventure.

150 Days of Play