There is a playground (more like an assault course really)we took our 20 month old girl to over last weekend that is in the mold of the playgrounds of old.
There is the slightest bit of danger present if you put a foot wrong or are too silly.
For the PC :
There is a BIG climbing structure made from rope, yes rope!
There is a water feature there that kids can participate in, yes water!
One set of swings is a massive pair that swings out over a sharply receding bank that if you get enough height your body wants to lift off and keep going at the top. Let go and you will be airboure 5 metres into the air!
Even the steps running down to the ground have to be carefully negotiated or you will tumble down a bank.
I remember a merry go round type thing in my old playground that you could spin around yourself to maximum revs (as fast as YOU could go) and if you got off too soon or someone got on with the wrong footing blood and guts would be the outcome.
This new playground is one of those! Even I am scared of the swing and was laughing like a kid using it.
Oh yeah, my girl didn't drown, hang herself or get launched into space because I was there to supervise - mental note how come my parents let us do all of this relatively unsupervised?
Kids learn alot from this sort of play. They learn about risk, adventure, discipline, boundaries and the possibilities they might bring latter on in life.
There is the slightest bit of danger present if you put a foot wrong or are too silly.
For the PC :
There is a BIG climbing structure made from rope, yes rope!
There is a water feature there that kids can participate in, yes water!
One set of swings is a massive pair that swings out over a sharply receding bank that if you get enough height your body wants to lift off and keep going at the top. Let go and you will be airboure 5 metres into the air!
Even the steps running down to the ground have to be carefully negotiated or you will tumble down a bank.
I remember a merry go round type thing in my old playground that you could spin around yourself to maximum revs (as fast as YOU could go) and if you got off too soon or someone got on with the wrong footing blood and guts would be the outcome.
This new playground is one of those! Even I am scared of the swing and was laughing like a kid using it.
Oh yeah, my girl didn't drown, hang herself or get launched into space because I was there to supervise - mental note how come my parents let us do all of this relatively unsupervised?
Kids learn alot from this sort of play. They learn about risk, adventure, discipline, boundaries and the possibilities they might bring latter on in life.
I think at least 50% of my fun was about how this thing was built in the first place considering the bubble wrapping most of us have been subject to, especially our kids.
Humans need danger to survive, especially children, so they can understand what that word means and that life is chock full of risks.
No I am not going to tell you where it is because seriously if one of you PC lot here about this, you would want to close it down.
No I am not going to tell you where it is because seriously if one of you PC lot here about this, you would want to close it down.
Mental note 2: There are also trees you can climb at the bottom of the playground, BIG trees !
What a great 30 mins on a lazy Sunday that was :)
What a great 30 mins on a lazy Sunday that was :)
Buy Toughen Up: What I've Learned About Surviving Tough Times
Toughen Up - Fishpond.co.nz
c Darren Rickard 2011
Toughen Up - Fishpond.co.nz
c Darren Rickard 2011
