Adventure playground
An Adventure Playground (early examples were known as "junk playgrounds" or "bomb-site adventure playgrounds") is a specific type of playground for children. The first opened in Emdrup, Denmark in 1943. One also opened in Camberwell, England in 1948. They are typically staffed by "playworkers" -- also called "wardens" in early examples.
Contents
History
"C. Th. Sørensen, a Danish landscape architect, noticed that children preferred to play everywhere but in the playgrounds that he built. In 1931, he imagined "A junk playground in which children could create and shape, dream and imagine a reality." Why not give children in the city the same chances for play as those in the country? His initial ideas started the adventure playground movement." [1]
List of Adventure Playgrounds
"To date there are approximately 1,000 adventure playgrounds in Europe, most of them are in England, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Japan also has a significant number of adventure playgrounds." [2]
United States
- Mercer Island, Washington
- Adventure Playground in Berkeley, California
- Adventure Playground in Huntington Beach, California
- Adventure Playground in Irvine, California
- Ithaca Children's Garden, Ithaca, NY
Europe
- Emdrup, Denmark
- The Land -- Wrexham, UK
- Camberwell, England
- KiB -- A federation of adventure playgrounds and children's farms in Berlin, Germany
- Robi-Spiel Aktionen -- An organization of adventure playgrounds in Basel, Switzerland
Related
See also
- "Playborhoods" -- Making neighborhoods playable
- "Imagination Playground" -- A company selling a set of giant blue blocks. Used at some school playgrounds and museum playspaces.
References
External links
- The Overprotected Kid, The Atlantic, 2014
- Inside a European Adventure Playground, The Atlantic, 2014
- Where the wild things play, NPR, 2014
- Student Thesis: Kinderparadijs (Children's Paradise): Advancing the Adventure Playground Movement
- Movie: The Land, 2015
