Designing Play Workshop

What if...

…your playground was sushi-themed, with sticky rice trampolines, nori slides, a dual level cucumber monkey bar and a springboard salmon ramp for the swimming pool.

…your playground was a sports deck (exclusively for Grade 6 students) with a basketball court, a giant minecraft climbing tower and a skateboard park.                    

….you could climb on the roof maze, before landing on a giant rotating wheel.  And if you make it along the monkey bar maze, you can stop at the video game station.  

..... you could use your stick token in the hunger game jungle maze (as long as you promise not to kill anyone)

... you enter your playground through a giant squirming snake tunnel

... there are real monkeys on the monkey bars and a petting zoo on the upstairs play deck

... there was a roller-coaster connecting different parts of the playground.

... you could go fishing during recess

... there was an electronics centre in the playground

... or there was a slide from the upper deck down to a trampoline on the lower deck???

Invention squad has redesigned the school playground!  In this week's workshop the emphasis was on 2D drafting. We encouraged everyone to design beyond traditional play structures and you can see some of the ideas above. At the end of this landscaping session we challenged the kids to transform their blueprint into a 3D model of the playground.  This kind of quick cardboard modelling is an exercise in form, function and scaling and can be tricky.  It requires spatial perception, mathematical thinking and basic crafting skills.

Designing Play Workshop (pre)

Playground Design: next week we’ll be asking the kids to redesign their own school playground.  

Our typical idea of a playground is maybe something like the play structure on the upper deck (only nicer).  Maybe something like the Trinty Bellwoods playground?  

But we’ll be trying to think outside the box a little.  Our jumping off point could be some of the better play spaces in Toronto: a dynamic playground like the sandpit water area in Dufferin Park Grove, one that incorporates natural features like the slide hill in Corktown Commons one that makes cultural references to its setting- like Canoe Landing Park or a design that employs colour, sound and light like the brand new June Callwood park (check it out down by the waterfront). 

There’s really a world of possibilities when you take inspiration from abroad.  I love the use of recycled tires at the Tire Koen in Japan.  Kids roll/slide/stack the tires and often times the adults get involved too.

Our Invention Squad kids will start off with a scale cardboard platform of the two layered playground at their school.  That’s the constraint.  After that anything goes. We’ll provide recycled paper and cardboard for them to build their fantasy playground. Let’s see what they come up with!