Free Play at school

I am very excited to share a fantastic example of a local Perth school embracing the concepts of nature-based playground design and children's free play.
Completed in time for the first day of school, the pre-primary playground now has a great green grass slope to roll down with large deciduous tree to provide shade, steppers in between some grassy landscape plantings and giant limestone boulders to climb over.
The plans for the new natural play space on the edge of the quadrangle and the large tree log at the edge of the grassed sports field are even more exciting. This work will be undertaken by parent volunteers over the next few weekends.
But inspired by a recent documentary screened on the ABC - The Lost Adventures of Childhood - rather than wait, the school has added loads of great loose parts to stimulate children's imaginative play in the meantime. The kids quickly embraced the concept and the pieces of fabric, cushions and dress ups have been really well used.
I asked the principal about the impact of these changes to the school play areas. His response was clear and strong - "immediate and huge." The kids have made each other laugh with their crazy dress ups, they have collaborated to create interesting and regularly re-designed cubbies and other creations. I can't wait to see the new space when it's completed and see how the children's play continues to evolve.

Battling the floods in the name of play

What an exciting few days - and what a great bunch of people we've met along the way - and despite the rain and flooded roads - we've even visited a few playgrounds!

We are here to talk with local governments, children's services, parents and kids about playgrounds - what they think about their local playgrounds, the specific problems of providing playgrounds in the harsh climates of the Pilbara and the Kimberley; and also to share our knowledge and expertise about playgrounds, safety, the latest research and current trends.

So far we have met with parks and infrastructure teams at the Shire of Roebourne, Shire of Port Hedland and Shire of Ashburton; parents in Karratha, Roebourne and South Hedland. We held forums in Karratha, face to face meetings in Roebourne and set up a table at the South Hedland Shopping Centre.

Not surprisingly, in such hot environments, lack of good shade is most parents' greatest concern. The Shire of Port Hedland has made good progress towards providing fixed shade to many of its playgrounds; and the Shire of Roebourne has just commenced a massive program to install fixed shade over all their playgrounds. We were also impressed that many of the Shire of Port Hedland's playgrounds had self-cleaning toilets, a great help to parents with young children.

Driving from Karratha to Port Hedland on Wednesday was a great challenge because of the flooded roads, but we still managed to stop off in Roebourne and met some very passionate people at Yaandina Child Care Centre and Roebourne's Best Start service.

Today's drive to Newman was a lot dryer thank goodness, so will be able to go ahead with planned activities.

If the roads stay clear we will drive to Tom Price - the last stop on this trip - on Monday; then fly back to Perth on Thursday.

We'll have a few weeks to re-group, then head up to the Kimberleys.

North West Playground Research Project 2010-11

The Kidsafe WA Playground Advisory Service team has begun working on an exciting new research project. With the assistance of the Department of Health, Kidsafe WA’s Playground Advisory Service will be investigating outdoor play provision in regional and remote locations in the State’s north west.

There is extensive international research about the impact that social infrastructure such as parks and playgrounds have on the health and wellbeing of children and communities. Quality nature-based playgrounds in particular have been shown to support children’s healthy development. However, playgrounds are often difficult to create and maintain in regional and remote WA towns, which can often lead to unsafe or unexciting playgrounds.

A Reference Group of professionals from the children and family, education, landscape and local government sectors has been established to ensure multi-disciplinary expertise.

This project aims to meet with families, children’s services, local government and Aboriginal groups to gather views and perspectives about playgrounds, explore perceptions of children’s play and the specific difficulties of playground provision faced by remote communities to identify –

• The level of satisfaction with local playground and playspace provision
• Perceptions of safety of local playgrounds
• Perceptions of provision of risk and challenge in children’s playspaces
• Difficulties or otherwise of planning and development of playgrounds in remote locations
• Maintenance and sustainability issues and concerns.

Design and maintenance issues and concerns will be discussed with the Reference Group to develop low cost solutions to these areas of concern.

The project team is also keen to discuss the concept of ‘connecting to country’ with Aboriginal groups in relation to supporting children’s connection to nature in playground design. It is hoped this will assist education strategies for the implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework with its strong emphasis on connecting children to nature and supporting children’s sense of belonging.

A range of face-to-face consultation meetings, forums and focus groups are currently being scheduled for February and March 2011 and we would love to speak with as many people as we can.

PILBARA
KARRATHA – 14–15 February
ROEBOURNE – 16 February
PORT HEDLAND – 17 February
NEWMAN – 18–21 February
TOM PRICE – 22 February
PARABURDOO – 23 February

KIMBERLEY
KUNUNURRA – 21–22 March
WYNDHAM – 22 March (AM)
HALLS CREEK – 23 March
DERBY – 24 March
BROOME – 25–28 March

To participate in this project, share your views, provide assistance or find out more contact Kerry (9340 8939) or Tracy (0428 875 503) or email kidsafe@kidsafewa.com.au.

Playground challenge -v- safety

A recently released report that discusses outside play ...

One from Helen Little, Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University Sydney - www.pecerajournal.com/Pecera_Journal/Journal_2010_files/1.pdf.

The report discusses the tensions between providing children with risk and challenge in their outside play environments - and - the aim of regulators to restrict children's exposure to hazards.

The report includes results from a survey of early childhood practitioners which found that while practitioners believed in the importance of providing 'risky' play opportunities, they felt constrained by the regulatory environment.
Helen included some discussion in relation to equipment height and fall zone requirments of the Australian Standards and the difficulties of providing a range of play options and ensuring adequate safe fall zones.

I would like to acknowledge that although providing risky play can appear to contradict the aims of the Standards, it is still possible. In fact, the Standards themselves acknowledge children's need for 'risky' play.

Slopes and mounds can provide height without the need for safety surfacing and also allow 'out of control' somersaults for example. Rocks and boulders can be used to retain the slope and become a climbing challenge. I would also like to point out that in most circumstances, fall zones can overlap, suggesting a possible misinterpretation of the Standards among early childhood professionals and possibly regulatory inspectors.

Another important point to make is that the Standards also provide clear design guidance about contouring and landscaping -

AS 2155-1982, 4.3 Landscaping – A flat featureless & treeless playground should be avoided. Wherever possible the natural landscape & suitable trees should be retained.
AS/NZS 4486.1:1997, 7.2.3.5 Design of playground – Where a site is deficient in natural assets the design should provide contouring, grassing, planting with appropriate shrubs & trees, screening & variety of surfaces and changes of level.

These are important requirements that are often neglected.

A Problem of Perception

A story from the Summer Edition of Play England's Play Today magazine...

A survey by the national charities Parentline Plus and Living Streets, as part of the national Walk to School Week campaign, found that a majority of parents fear their child being abducted or killed in a road accident over the more likely threat to their health from childhood inactivity leading to obesity. Results revealed that 30 per cent of parents feared the abduction or murder of their child while only five per cent expressed concern
over their child’s poor health later in life due to current levels of childhood inactivity.

These figures greatly contrast the statistics that show that the actual threat of a child being abducted or murdered by a stranger is one in one million, whereas a child’s risk of severe health issues and mortality as a result of lack of physical exercise is one in three.

How sad that parents have been so convinced that "strangers" are lurking behind every shrub to abduct their kids that they have protected them to the point of jeopardising their future health from lack of exercise.

Arguments for Natural Playgrounds

Adam Bienenstock, Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds, Canada has articulated the case for natural playgrounds in a recent article in the Canadian Child Care Federation's Interaction magazine. He reminds us that the evidence is clear about the long term benefits for children from exposure to natural play environments - and natural play advocates are moving from the fringe into the mainstream.

In Australia, the Early Years Learning Framework, soon to be implemented across early childhood education and care settings, includes a focus on supporting children's connection to the natural world.

Since the Kidsafe Playground Conference - The Nature of Play (held in Perth in April)- many organisations have begun to re-think their playground ideas and find ways to enhance children's outside play environments with natural elements.

Read what he says at - http://tachedaycare.com/Articles/Case.pdf

Treating children with respect and dignity

Quotes from Jim Greenman
Jim Greenman is one of my favourites. He wrote about quality early childhood environments for many years and his messages are still so very relevant. I just came across some quotes from Jim that are worth sharing.

Privacy
Institutions allow little privacy, justified by the lack of space and the need for order and security to protect the members from themselves and each other. There is a very small personal zone, the area surrounding an individual that the individual can claim ("get outta my face"). There is often no way to own time or space, except perhaps during punishment. The child care equivalent: limited, secluded, or cozy areas.

There is in many areas a growing unfortunate simplistic tendency to confuse supervision with surveillance; the children must be under the observation of adults every second - thus large open spaces and no seclusion. This replaces the more sophisticated concept that supervision also includes a safe, planned "yes" environment, shared expectations, socialized children, and adults who are aware about what is happening without needing to become omniscient wardens.

Dignity and Respect
Institutions rarely leave much room (literally) for dignity and respect. Simple kindness is not enough to over-come the loss of individuality, privacy, and responsibility. Total institutions are not places where life is to be lived in all of its joy and drama. Joy and drama are too unwieldy. It is easier to turn day-to-day life into mostly pageant - ritual doings and observations. Drama has fire, the hint of chaos, sensuality, and intense moments of concentration and the intricate mini plays of social life. It is engagement with life. Thomas Merton commented once that civilization was heading toward lives of low definition with little to decide, an apt description of institutional living.

Total institutions arise not because of evil or ignorance, but out of legitimate concerns for order, smooth standard operations, and the well being of the inhabitants as a group. They become mindless as they lose sight of the individual and the real goals, the end goals, as they concentrate on the means. Order takes precedence over mental health in asylums, education in schools, rehabilitation in prisons, and childhood in those child care centres that fit the description.

Childhood depends on some precious formula of freedom and mess. Until institutionalized through child care, children in the most structured homes could usually break through the concrete web of good intentions and find the cracks, alive with possibilities for movement, exploration, and discovery-in the room, under the bed, in the back yard, on the stoop, alone or with friends. These were times when adult sanctions were weakened, allowing exploration of forbidden words with delicious hard consonant syllables and intriguing substances. These were times when space opened up rather than contained; and jumps, shouts, and giggles pierced the air. More centres can have the same feel by being alert to the dehumanizing tendencies that are ever-present.