Sep 3, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Whilst in Western Australia I had the privilege of meeting Alec Duncan, of Child’s Play Music. We met in one of Alec’s favourite places: Naturescape in Perth. In the words of the website, “…it is a place for children to connect with nature...
Aug 27, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Being able to visit a range of playgrounds and outdoor spaces has been one of the side benefits of working worldwide. It has also reminded me of a long overdue need to blog about the Children’s Garden at the Morton Aboretum just outside Chicago. The description...
Aug 19, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Public playgrounds, like public art fascinate me. There is such a range and diversity in every country I visit from the lonely swing and slide in a neighbourhood corner to a multi-million pound explosion of creativity and everything in between. When on tour, having a...
Aug 17, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Personal & Holidays
What makes a good play park? This is a question I always ask myself and to answer I have to go back to my childhood. I appreciate I had an extraordinary childhood with huge amounts of freedom and play parks featured heavily. Unlike many people, spending hours...
Aug 15, 2022 | Art & Music Outdoors, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Whilst visiting Cold Spring School in New Haven, I spotted a rather fetching item in the outdoor space – a rain chain. The purpose of a rain chain is to allow water to run off a length of guttering and to trickle into a specific place below but to do so in a...
Aug 9, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
The Rio Madrid park along the banks of the River Manzanares is a wonderful example of how to make a city more play friendly for all ages. One of the highlights for me was the Toboganes slides which are situated just south of the Arguanzela Bridge (the Double Helix) on...
Aug 8, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Maths Outdoors
At the Macquarie Lake Variety Playground, there is a performance space which is intriguingly mathematical. From a distance, it just looks like a wavy wall – cute in a wall-ish, playful sort of way. After all, walking along a wall is a popular activity and this...
Aug 5, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
Whilst walking around Vilnius in Lithuania, I kept an eagle eye out for any interesting play parks. Most were the usual rather dismal swing, slide, spring toy and climbing frame set. Yet tucked away in the Pavilniai Regional Park, I discovered this little bespoke...
Aug 4, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Gardening
Recently, I met up with a retired teaching friend who now volunteers with the G.R.O.W. Project at Inverness Botanic Garden. She kindly gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of the project which includes several poly tunnels and composting areas, tool sheds and other...
Aug 2, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
One of the key zones at the Lake Macquarie Variety Playground is the Circuit Zone where children can bring their small bikes, scooters and other wheeled toys. Children are free to ride around the whole playground yet this zone has sufficient appeal that there were...
Aug 1, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
At the Macquarie Lake Variety Playground, the water zone particularly interested me. It was not an especially big area. Yet, the attention to detail in the design really appealed to my love of places where different elements and materials cross the boundaries of the...
Jul 28, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
In today’s society most all playground features are mass-produced homogeneous affairs. Like other manufactured items, once you are in the know, you can have fun guessing the maker and checking on the label. This post is long overdue about a local play feature...
Jul 25, 2022 | Community Involvement, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
This is a guest blog post by Frode Svane, an architect and a pedagogue Frode works on many projects for parks, public places, school yards and kindergartens in Norway. He has, for many years, developed a wide range of tools for involving children and youth in the...
Jul 21, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Early Years Outdoors
I recently visited Chapelton, which is a new town being built just south of Aberdeen. My intention was to visit the newly opened Tom Patey Natural Playground, but this little beauty caught my eye… From a distance it looked like a wee community gathering space....
Jul 18, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
During 2015 I spent two months working in Australia thanks to Inspired EC, an education consultancy. Whilst I was there, I had the opportunity to visit several play parks. Macquarie Lake Variety Playground was my first introduction, and it’s amazing! See the...
Jul 14, 2022 | Community Involvement, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Nature Play & Learning
Early this year, a natural playground opened in Aberdeenshire that has been named after one of Scotland’s most enigmatic climbers of the twentieth century, Tom Patey. He was born in Aberdeenshire, trained in medicine at Aberdeen University and finally ended up...
Jul 12, 2022 | Art & Music Outdoors, Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces, Social Subjects Outdoors
Imagine an artwork that you can not only look at, but walk over, cycle round, stand on top of, admire from above, below and all sides. I’m standing on The Lady’s forehead, looking down her nose… One that can be trodden down, gets muddy, smells,...
Jul 11, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Sharon Danks is author of Asphalt to Ecosystems. This was THE book of 2010 about developing outdoor spaces and school grounds. It is a remarkable international collection of photos, ideas and inspiration. Whilst I have updated this blog post (July 2022), the book and...
Jul 7, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Back in 2015, whilst working in Madrid, I took time to explore the city’s greenspaces. From an online search, I had spotted the Rio Madrid Park. It piqued my curiosity because of its size. It is a huge community space that meanders along both riverbanks of the...
Jul 6, 2022 | Developing School Grounds & Outdoor Spaces
Many of you may be familiar with Rusty Keller. He is the author Natural Playscapes. I’ve had a well-thumbed copy of his book, and always liked the photos, the humour and funky little drawings within it. I’ve a preference books that shed light on the...
