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24 Jun

New landscape arch. COMPETITION!

Posted by Marcus Veerman

ladscape arch comp flyer

GoPlay has been selected as the subject for the latest AILA fresh competition!.

AILA fresh is a group of the most commited young designers from the Australian Institute of Landscape Architectects. Hence the 'fresh' part.

The competition was launched at softbelly in Melbourne last week and will run for a month. Some pics here. You can find out more from AILA's blog here .

The competition constraints are :

-You have 15m x 15m of flat ground.

-Design must take in basic western safety standards.

-Must use local materials that can be sourced cheaply or free such as car tires, wood poles, basic steel and anything that might find its way to a recycle yard.

– Design for children of all capabilities but not every element for all capabilities.

-The design needs to take in the full extent of childs play ie fast and slow, quiet and loud, creativity, musicality, communication, ingenuity, problemsolving, competition and cooperation, friendship, being alone, fun!, nature and so on.

Presentations need to be on one A3 pdf poster and sent to: [email protected]

GoPlay! is really excited about what the AILA fresh crew will come up with and look forward to posting the results when the competition winner is announced!

14 Jun

Great article about play

Posted by Marcus Veerman

Below is an article from the Association of Childrens Education International (ACEI) and we believe it is the most concise summary of the Value of play for children. Here are some quotes and a link. Thanks to ACEI for sharing this freely.

"Theorists, regardless of their orientation, concur that play occupies a central role in children's
lives. They also suggest that the absence of play is an obstacle to the development of healthy and
creative individuals. Psychoanalysts believe that play is necessary for mastering emotional
traumas or disturbances; psychosocialists believe it is necessary for ego mastery and learning to
live with everyday experiences; constructivists believe it is necessary for cognitive growth;
maturationists believe it is necessary for competence building and for socializing functions in all
cultures of the world; and neuroscientists believe it is necessary for emotional and physical health,
motivation, and love of learning.

Moreover, findings from the recent explosion of research on the brain and learning also delineate
the importance of play (Jensen, 2000, 2001; Shore, 1997). We know that active brains make
permanent neurological connections critical to learning; inactive brains do not make the
necessary permanent neurological connections. Research on the brain demonstrates that play is a
scaffold for development, a vehicle for increasing neural structures, and a means by which all
children practice skills they will need in later life. This research raises new questions for those
who view play as a trivial, simple, frivolous, unimportant, and purposeless behavior (Christie, 2001
Frost, Wortham, & Reifel, 2001; Shore, 1997) and challenges them to recognize play for what
it is–a serious behavior that has a powerful influence on learning. Such an attitude shift could
increase the level of respect accorded to currently undervalued activities such as recess, physical
education, the arts, and rich personal adult/child interactions."

for more click here…

3 Jun

Time to find a new home!

Posted by Marcus Veerman

After 2 solid years more than 45 playgrounds, dengue fever, an AWOL appendix and a lot of hot, rainy weather, Go Play! is moving north to build another bunch more in the lush green mountains of northern Thailand.

If you in the area and want to come and help just go to the member ship page and drop us a line, we would love to hear from you!

25 Feb

Photo gallery

Posted by Marcus Veerman

All of these playgrounds have been built entirely from locally sourced materials, with local tools and with local hands, many of whom had never built or perhaps even seen a real full playground.

(more…)

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