Jam investigates a playground

We explored two playgrounds on two different days. The first playground is a modern looking playground made up of one big play unit in our neighborhood.  We counted the things that could get you high in the air and the things that you could play under. Jam tested the things he could climb and the slides. 

Afterwards we talked about his likes and dislikes of the playground. He said his favorite piece of equipment was the tic-tac-toe board, but the playground needed swings. One of his comments about the design was “it (the playground) has all the cool stuff other parks have”. There was no uniqueness. I asked him what would he add to the playground and he said he wanted a race track for small race cars.

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Day two we went to a completely different type of playground. It is located in the woods at the edge of a stream verses an open field next to a road. This playground had the swings Jam was so eager for but that’s about it. Instead of the popular large play unit it had freestanding equipment- a total of 5.  Jam said the playground was quite boring however he had much fun on the duck spring rider.

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Back at our house we discussed the differences, his likes, and dislikes, and at the end of the day he became a playground designer.

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Activity

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Visit two different playgrounds and discuss their differences.

Case study #6: Design your playground. Download the playground critique and use your experience from the two playgrounds to design and draw your own.

Download