Landscape Design

Today we all had a try at designing our new playground. The children have noticed all the excavating and constructing going on in the back yard and are asking what is happening. I presented the children with a design I had created for a new playground and I talked about the features/symbolism of my drawing. I explained that I had used lines to represent, pathways and ladders and circles to represent a tunnel and a figure to show how to use the play space.

Asher's drawing was very detailed, he responded with such enthusiasm to this task. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that his dad is the builder who has been doing all the excavating and constructing?!?!? Asher's design of a flying fox attached to monkey bars is very creative. We can easily see how Asher has used lines and shapes to represent equipment; the arched lines represent a bridge and the swing is easily recognizable. The slide coming off the swing is characteristic of many parks in the area which are usually all one large fort. Asher's use of numerals to represent the depth of his 50m swimming pool is a great example of children equate numbers with size. 

Peyton's drawing is also detailed and has a very innovative idea of a flying fox that goes all the way around the playground - what a ride! Peyton has drawn a figure to show how to use the flying fox and has used lines to represent a ladder, the dark line/area clearly shows the depth in her pool. 

Amelia's drawing is very carefully spaced and shows good use of shapes to represent each play feature. Amelia has drawn a great circle to act as her pool and has included some black 'rocks' as an edge - just like the pool Asher's dad is building. Amelia used lines and a circle to represent her flying fox. The bridge is easily distinguished and even has a figure walking across it.

Hudson was the engineer behind the idea of the flying fox, he announced at the start of the design process: "Mine is going to have a flying fox... a double flying fox" Hudson proceeded to work out how to put this idea onto paper and above we can clearly see his vision. Two bars are suspended on a long line. Hudson even used his finger to count how many meters across the flying fox was. 

Taylor added some flare to her drawing with the use of colour. She included a pool, boulder and monkey bars that have a lovely purple vine growing in between them. Taylor proceeded to draw another design on the back of her page that included a flying fox and ladder.

Summer thought about her playground for a long time and was last to start drawing, she carefully placed each item on her page and even included herself on the bridge next to a tree - also on the bridge. This demonstrated how carefully Summer had examined my drawing that included many tree's in the structure of the playground. I pointed this out when I began and said it might be a good idea to include some trees. Summer's slippery dip is especially interesting, I really like how the lines are used to represent the 'rungs' or steps up to the top of the slide,

Gem had a very interesting idea of including lots of boomerangs in his playground... "because you can throw them and they come back to you" How original, he was also the only one to add a fire pit into the space ... "for toasting marshmallows" 

Each child's drawing is unique and offers us an insight into the way they think, the value they place on certain play elements and the experiences they have had in play spaces. Gem's drawing tells us that he has likely had fun toasting marshmallows and throwing boomerangs, Summer's drawing tells us that she likes slippery dips and is skilled at interpreting another's perspective, Asher has a great ability to use images to communicate and understands that large numbers can represent depth. Peyton has a great imagination and Amelia likes adding small details to her representations. Taylor likes to use colour to convey her ideas and Hudson thinks very logically about how to communicate using symbols, he is accurate and precise. 

Children are skilled at assessing risk

Risk in play has positive effects on children's learning and development. Our playground is designed to inspire risk taking, freedom and adventure. Through playing in such an environment children become skilled at self risk assessing. They show increasing confidence,competence and become independent and responsible for their own actions. They develop respect for danger and hazards. Such knowledge and skill would not be mastered in an environment void of risk and challenge.

Claire Warden is a strong advocate for including risk in children's play spaces and her article 'Risk It' extends our understanding of the importance of risk.          Link:      Risk It



Most natural landscapes are characterized by instability and require alertness by any user regardless of their age. Below is a video clip of a two year old girl playing ball with two three year old boys. Tahla and her peers are excited by the experimental nature of their game and are enthusiastically contributing to continue the game.

Watch how Tahla navigates this challenging playspace, she is very alert and shows us how skilled she is at choosing pathways and facing obstacles. Tahla's confidence in this space is a great example of how skilled children are at assessing risk. Tahla is a strong stakeholder in her own development and has not shyed away from this challenging play area. Because of her natural curiosity and confidence Tahla is able to contribute to the play of older peers and extend on invented games.

Amazing Rain

Today we had another unexpected down pour of rain, one minute it was hot and steamy then BAM! Big drops... and I mean BIG began to fall on our heads! This was ok because it caused something great to occur... We all made our way into the sandpit... together... and played with new friends who sometimes we might not see because they really like the boat but we might like painting...




In the above image we can see the whole preschool in the sandpit playing together... we had many mini construction zones going and a whole lot of cement mixing. It was very exciting, the foremen 'Obi' and 'Hudson' were overseeing the cement mixing and giving everyone a running commentary.. "Oh look now he is adding water, oh look he is mixing it in the sand"



Soon we had so many cement mixers that we needed some builders to use all the cement, this is where Asher, Jasper and Nathaniel came in. They layed out the bricks and began arranging them into a box shape.



The rain didn't last long and Amelia and Peyton decided to explore the wet playground. They thought their teddies might like to find some where dry to have a nap and "watch some T.V"



Meanwhile back in the sandpit we have a whole house under construction complete with floors and a garage.




Earlier in the week.....



This strange occurrence of rain interrupting our play happened earlier in the week but with different effects. On this day we used the rain in our play! Helen, Obi, Asher and Jullian went about the playground placing buckets, cups and wheelbarrows under the drips in an attempt to catch the rain. Helen even snuck in a drink, explaining how "fresh" it tasted.



Obi was particularly interested in the rain collecting and he and Asher were proud of their almost full wheelbarrow. He explained that: "This is for everyone to drink" I asked: "Is that ok?" He replied: "Yeah because it's really fresh" I then pointed out the sand in the bottom and said maybe it would be better if we used this barrel for the garden? Asher and Obi agreed and decided to use the water to fill up our barefoot path pool. A good choice I think...




Jullian was monitoring several collection stations and when each container became full he collected them in a central barrel to be used by Obi and Asher. What team work.

Our rain play has been busy and exciting, we have been put in situations we would not usually be in and have had to make adaptions to our play. These adaptions have been positive and have taught us a lot about playing with others, working together, using the environment and communicating. We educators have seen first hand the benefits of playing in and with the rain and hopefully will continue to view the rain not as a restriction to outdoor play but as an invitation.