Blog

Playgroundideas.org is now out of beta testing and ready for you to have some fun.

there are so many things you can do there like:

-Start a project page to organise your playground project, get funding, find volunteers and share your designs and photos with others.

-Find a free fun place to volunteer in Africa, South East Asia, or South America

-Get access to playground safety manuals and a 5 step playground building manual

– View our playground design library with over 120 free designs, plans, blueprints and step by step pictorial instructions.

All of this and more is available for you right now to use for free at playgroundideas.org

see you there.

We have a limited amount of handmade Christmas cards for sale. Handmade by Aussie kids (Princes Hill Primary Schools) and communities (Solace) to build Playgrounds in The Phillipines. They are archive quality photos on premium KW Doggett paper. Eack pack with 5 different cards with envelopes is $20 bucks. Postage in Australia is an additional $3 and internationally an extra $7.

To see all the images in more detail. See HERE.

Note: If you wish to purchase more cards than the amounts below please email Marcus at 'Marcus @playgroundideas.org'

Have a great playful christmas!

Saturday, September 23, 2011 was an exciting day in the city of Philadelphia. Mayor Michael Nutter issued a proclamation declaring it the official “Philadelphia Declaration of Play” day.
A group of individuals in support of the importance of play in children’s lives gathered at the Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse to declare this support once and for all and to make a commitment to the children of Philadelphia that they will fight for their RIGHT to play. Among those in attendance were local educators, doctors, psychologists, and parents and everyone came together to sign the “Philadelphia Declaration of Play”.

So, why all the fuss? Why is play so important for children?

Allow me to explain through the thoughts of the speakers and attendants of the Philadelphia Declaration of Play event….

Despite what some tend to think, play is not a privilege to be controlled or taken away. Rather, it is right. It is a necessity. It is like air and water to children. It is absolutely integral to the emotional, social and neurological development of children. It is about learning to control your environment, learning to be a generous, compassionate, collaborative, creative, innovative, tenacious individual.

One speaker put forth her “6 C’s” that make a successful kid: Collaboration, Communication, Content, Critical Thinking, Creative Innovation, and Confidence. Where can all these things be learned? On the playground. It has been proven in various studies that kids in classrooms centered around learning through play score higher on tests. Play works. Because play is a child’s natural way of learning. You can only swallow so many facts at once, but PLAY is active. Play is learning by DOING. Play is a child discovering and learning for his or her self.

Play is important. Play is essential.

A bush kinder or primary school is basically an educational place that is held in place that is completely or mostly natural setting.

Wikipedia describes it as:

"A forest kindergarten is a type of preschool education for children between the ages of three and six that is held almost exclusively outdoors. Whatever the weather, children are encouraged to play, explore and learn in a forest or natural environment. The adult supervision is meant to assist rather than lead. It is also known as Waldkindergarten (in German), outdoor nursery, nature kindergarten, or nature preschool."

Although as adults the idea of spending whole days outdoors "rain, hail or shine" may not be their idea of anything but exaustion, it seems that this is what children are born to do. At playgroundIDEAS we know that Play is the tool children use to create their fundamental understandings of the world

School's Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten from Rona Richter on Vimeo.