Get Wild about Play Design
Natural Play & Wild Play – play area schemes not only look better, enhance play value & inspire imagination, but they cost £30K less to build than traditional “Local Equipped Areas of Play.” If, that is, they’re designed to accord with Play England’s/ Scotland’s national guidance “Design for Play” (2008), rather than Fields in Trust’s LEAP model – basically 5 bits of kit, railing, sign, seat, bin ‘n’ bench – costing £80k, and too often looking like a dog’s dinner. Also…
1, Natural Designed play areas look so much prettier – part of the playable landscape – not corralled into a big kid play pen:
2, House values are not affected by the ugly play area’s proximity:
3, New resident’s don’t complain about noise, abuse, & ugly primary coloured plastic shapes.
4, Lower liability risk of claims: Harder for the ambulance chasers to claim for falling off a log in the park than for a 13 year old, overly exuberant child taking a fall following over-zealous rocking on a springy chicken designed for a toddler within a defined play area.
Swinging, sliding, rocking, climbing, balancing etc are very physical one-dimensional definitions of play: Adventure, discovery, role play and imagination need a more extensive and natural play environment. #playgrounds #play
