From the NY Times via KaBoom!:
An Invitation to Child’s Play: Big Blocks and Wheelbarrows
By DIANE CARDWELL
Published: May 4, 2008
New York Times
“...Instead of monkey bars and jungle gyms, there are blue and white blocks to stack into high walls or to connect as sluices and walkways.
In place of swing sets and seesaws, there are wheelbarrows and rolling carts to move materials about.
And while there are still the familiar elements of sand and water, they are no longer there to be shoveled and splashed so much as turned into landscapes of fanciful design…”
Architect David Rockwell and KaBoom! have joined forces to (again) revolutionize play. Instead of the mostly static playground equipment of my era - jungle gyms, sliding boards, seesaws - Rockwell saw a need for a more engaging play experience in his New York neighborhood. So, he created a blueprint for an ‘Imagination Playground’ that would house those wheelbarrows, rolling carts and blocks and stimulate greater interactivity for kids, including his young daughter.
Once the idea took shape, Rockwell decided to expand his vision to the five boroughs of NYC. And then he connected with KaBoom! which is all about taking innovative playground design to every nook and cranny of this country. Faster than you can say….KaBOOM!...another kid-friendly collaboration was born.
The beneficiaries will be our children, who will be drawn off the couch and away from their increasingly sedentary ways, into a complex wonderland of strenuous movement and fabulous creativity - and our society, which needs fully developed, totally engaged thinkers and problem solvers.
This is the great work that is too often unsung and overlooked. But not here!
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