All posts tagged Playspace:
Imagine a playground that allows the visitor to manipulate the play to his/her liking, by utilizing “found” loose parts lying all around the playspace and having play “sherpas” available to assist in amplifying the play experience - well…imagine no more…Imagination Playground is the clever work of Rockwell Group and my friend/Rockwell “Creative Ombudsman”, Marc Hacker.
From the Imagination Playground website:
Manipulable Environment
Children play most creatively in settings they can manipulate. Imagination Playground offers a changeable environment that can be used for many types of activities. Sand and water serve as raw materials for creativity and sensory exploration, empowering children with the ability to influence the space around them.
Loose Parts
A changing array of objects allows children to make each visit a new experience. Using blocks, crates, found objects and other loose parts, children can build something, change it, take it down, and start all over again. They can also sort objects or transport them from one area to another. Loose parts enable children to create their own narratives, or simply play for the quiet pleasure of enjoying shapes, colors, and texture. See the video of the Imagination Playground in a box project!
Play Associates
An integral part of Imagination Playground are Playground Associates. They provide an open setting in which children can direct the course of play. As a stage manager facilitates a production from behind the scenes, a Play Associate lets the children’s play happen by maintaining a safe, welcoming environment, as well as renewing and varying the loose parts.
Playground Associates think and work with the creativity and flexible imagination of a child—in addition to the organized, generous, and safety-conscious sense of a responsible professional.
For more details about the project, checkout the Imagination Playground website…
I think this concept is playfully brilliant and can truly ignite the active imagination of anyone who visits!
Dr. Stuart Brown’s shares the wisdom and necessity of play in his book PLAY+ KaBOOM!‘s 100,000 play destinations + YOU = DREAM Big destinations for the “kid-within-us-all”!
Dr. Brown shares a powerful “why PLAY?!” message in his book - read it + heed it!
KaBOOM! is an organization that acts as the purveyor of play constantly creating and resurrecting safe destinations for our next Gen of leaders to play and imagine BIG possibilities - KaBOOM! Masnifesto
PLAY serendipity has occurred in the past few weeks with KaBOOM!‘s initiative and Dr. Brown’s book release that should not be ignored. Discussions on the role and value of PLAY are gaining tremendous momentum and attention - the PLAY movement needs YOU.
We need to recruit PLAY Operatives - individuals with keen, discerning and diabolically playful eyes that can spot great play locales. We need YOU to identify and share the locales of great playspaces that deserve to be listed as a play destination of choice guaranteed to enhance the imagination, ingenuity, and the innovative spirit of young people (and the young-at-heart!). Got PLAY?! Here’s how you can help…
In a unique partnership, KaBOOM! has teamed up with six national non-profits who are concerned about the well-being of children—YMCA of the USA, National Wildlife Federation, Shaping America’s Health, Jumpstart, America’s Promise Alliance, and First Book—to create an online map of more than 100,000 places to play in America. Two-time “Dancing with the Stars” champion and Mercury Nashville recording artist Julianne Hough will be the public spokesperson for the campaign.
From March 23 until June 30, Julianne will give these select charities $1 for each valid playspace their members load to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder , up to $100,000. Thanks to capital support from the Omidyar Network, KaBOOM! is using online technology to activate and engage individuals, alert communities of the importance of play, and motivate individuals to start taking action. Once this comprehensive user-generated playground audit is complete, KaBOOM! and communities will know which areas of the country have a great place for kids to play every day and which areas fall short.
The people who use their playspaces everyday are the folks who will know whether or not they are any fun for their kids. From playgrounds to skate parks, ice rinks to basketball courts, the more we know about playspaces from those use them, the more we learn. Take that first step. Make a small contribution to the greater good.
Your actions build individual and community momentum to take the next step towards KaBOOM!‘s vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child.
Books by KC
