Good and Bad Playgrounds

Good Playgrounds:

1.

This playground is interesting because not only does it mimic a whale in shape, but utilizes both the interior and exterior of the structure. Also, it is relatively simple and does not take up that much space, yet seems to have a wide variety of obstacles.

2. This playground in Paris utilizes the slope of the park as an element for play. This playground is essentially a climbing course, but there are different levels of difficulty so it is suitable for a wide spectrum of ages.

3.
This playground is cool because of its surreal looks and interesting course. Children climb from house to house through rope tunnels, and get down through slides and ladders. It looks right out of Dr. Suess, and has a great design.

Bad Playgrounds:

1. Doesn't this look like a fun horse to ride? Basically a concrete pipe with a head and an oddly shaped tail. I couldn't imagine a single way for a child to have fun on this thing.

2. This playground is great for climbing stairs to nothing, or maybe swinging on that wooden beam. Looks like an excellent play to get tetanus and some splinters.

3.

These structures look not only boring but dangerous. I guess monkey bars are an acceptable element to include in a playground design, but only monkey bars? These dont even count as monkey bars, they're just warped ladders. The blue one looks like it's trying to make a child fall on its head.

Playgrounds

A. This Playground looks really interesting. It’s so simple with the materials, but it looks like all the kids are having fun with each other and the “equipment”.

B This Playground is also simple but looks like a lot of fun. Not just for kids but probably teenagers too.

C The idea with this playground reminds me of a puzzle. It’s awesome and if a kid can’t find their way out, they’re going to need to ask for help from another child that’s stuck in there with them.

D. This playground is just boring. It doesn’t really have anything special. A pile of tires isn’t enough to attract kids.

E. I’m sure if that’s all the park consisted of, than no child would want to play on a mountain of tires.

F. This playground actually looks dangerous. The net in the back looks like fun, but if someone were to fall, they would hit a lot of things on there way down.

Bad and Good Playgrounds

Bad Playgrounds:

1. This is a temporary playground but still pretty horrifying. The black tube would become incredibly hot inside and is very flexible making it difficult to move through and creating a terrifying experience. That goes all without saying that it's held up by bails of hay, very stable.

2. This is an old wind turbine that was recycled into a playground. Great idea but is lacking actually interaction. I've worked as a camp counselor for the past two summers and this playground would have driven the kids I worked with and me insane. First they would have nothing to do on it besides climb to the top and jump off, making my job of keeping them safe ten times more difficult and resulting in bored children. Not to mention that there would have to be at least two people watching the children at all times, even if you were only required to watch one child at a time, you would contenting be forced to follow them around just to see where they are, which is way to much work. 

3. Playgrounds like this are the worst! I hated them when I was a child and I hated them even more as a counselor. The wood chips that cover the ground get in your shoes, the kids fall on them and get covered in it, as well as getting countless tiny cuts. There are so many hiding places for kids and it's impossible to see the entire playground or even a tiny section of the playground all at once. The bars that protect the kids from jumping off the side end up making it impossible to see anything that is happening on the playground from below, which is not good when you want to take 30 kids to a playground so you can sit and just watch them play.

Good Playgrounds:

1. This I love! There is complete visibility  kids have to interact because there is only so much space and they are forced to see each other. It becomes a challenge for them to get across, the kids that know how to do it teach the others, it's instant bonding. I've seen it with the kids I work with, it's great. 

 

2. Kids love to climb on things! Something that is safe for them to climb on and they can work together to do it, is great! Plus they think they are getting away with doing something they aren't supposed to do, like climb on rocks and they bond over it. 

3. This is just really cool. The only problem I have is that you'd have to stay with your child to see them play but most people in New York do that anyway. 

Playgrounds

Good Playground Design





1.The playgroud become a symbol of the  big brother, or the caring adults....

2. Water is alwasy a nice element to add into the playground design, and like how paretns and kids play together in the photo above.

3. I like the use of color and material in this design. They are cheerful and atrrctive.Due to the scale of the structure, even adult look small inside the space. The scale difference between parents and kids will be ignored in a enormous space.













Bad Playgroud Design

1. Actually I think this is a interesting playground design, but I am just not sure about how kid can play collectively inside the fence.

2. Setting is really important for a playground...But they look like they don't notice the crime scene next to them...

3.Environmental designer Kevin Lynch interview urban children from cities around the world, and record their various "playground" in report "Growing Up in Cities". In some cities, streets, stair-front, and the abandoned corners are secret play spaces for kids. I just think it is really dangerous for them to stay outside, and a nice designed public play space is necessary.

Other playgound design

Best & Worst Playgrounds

Best Playgrounds:

Playground for All Children (Flushing Meadows)

This playground is particularly successful in its emphasis on being a location that is accessible to children who are handicapped. Many times, handicapped children are unable to spend time on playgrounds because of the hazardous conditions or inaccessibility to use any of the equipment. Here, children, both handicapped and not, are able to play together.

Shane's Inspiration (Los Angeles)

This playground caters towards many walks of life. For those that transport by bicycle, the park is specially designed to protect pedestrians from bike accidents and collisions. Mothers carrying babies have swings that are specially designed for their needs. On top of this, playground equipment is designed to be educational and understanding to children with handicaps.

Clemyjontri Park (Virginia)

This playground is vibrant, attractive, huge, and uniting. Again designed to have handicap children play alongside those that are not, the playground makes up for its immense size by offering separate spaces for visitors to rent and reserve. A carousel is placed directly in the center of all the separate spaces, bringing together those that have come here separately.

Worst Playgrounds:

I was unable to find anything legitimate on reportedly bad playgrounds, so instead I am reporting with dangerous playground equipment.

Trampolines are considered one of the most dangerous types of playground equipment. Trampolines can cause serious head and neck injuries and are very difficult to supervise.

In terms of surfaces in a playground, asphalt is your least ideal option. Scrapes, falls, and trips are only exacerbated when they occur on a blacktop.

Also, dirty sandboxes are cesspools for litter, germs, and poor sanitation. Sandboxes should always be covered when not in use.

Playgrounds

Best:

1. Nishi Rokugo Playground- Tokyo - This playground looks like so much fun. The playground itself is made up of tires, over 3,000 of them, shaped to take the form of robots, dragons, bridges, swings and slides. Kids can climb these tire shapes and if they fall, they land on more rubber so it's relatively safe. The only issue is that the children might smell like rubber tires when they leave?

2. Gulliver Park- Spain - I think this playground is so creative. Designed to look like the body of Gulliver (from Gulliver's Travel) this playground is scaled so that the children are the size of the Lilliputians from the story.

3. The Fruit and Scent Playground - Sweden - Both adorable and educational, this playground encourages children to eat healthier by showing that fruit can be fun. I wonder if it actually smells like fruit?

Worst:

1. Elephant Slide- I found this in a Huffington Post article that showed some of the "worst playground fails of all time." I definitely think that applies to this one.

2. Lonely Sandbox- It's pretty obvious why this playground is one of the worst. A dirty, broken down, fenced in sandbox; oh so welcoming.

3. Cheese Grater Slide- There is no way that this slide is real but if it was it would definitely fall in the category of being one of the worst playgrounds ever.

Be Aware to Care

While reading about helping others this week, I came across something in particular that caught my eye. The book states that the first step to helping someone is noticing that something is wrong or unusual. The book also brings up the point that “people who live in big cities and noisy environments may become so used to seeing people lying on sidewalks or hearing screams that they begin to tune them out.” After reading this I realized that this statement is, unfortunately, very true. For most of us, we’ve become all too accustomed to the sight of a homeless person curled up on the streets or the desperate pleads of the needy for small donations and pocket change on the subway. Because of this “blindness” that many city-folk experience, they are then not able to, or choose not to, interpret what they’re seeing as an emergency and, further more, they do not provide help. When in large crowds, people begin to diffuse responsibility and become consumed in, what is known as, the bystander effect. I find this idea of distancing oneself from a situation and letting one’s peers handle it to be very interesting.

In this article, researchers studied the bystander effect and possible ways to eliminate it in social settings. Researchers found that the most important part of decreasing the bystander effect is to increase one’s public self-awareness through the creation of accountability cues. When individuals are singled out from a large crowd, they are more likely to feel responsible for providing help and are, then, more likely to become involved. The use of video cameras is one method which has proven to increase self-awareness, as well as a way to boost or maintain one’s reputation, and in turn, lowers the bystander effect. Someone who knows that he is being watched instantly becomes more aware of how he acts and, when faced with an opportunity to help someone, is more likely to do so.

Going along with this point, I don’t know if any of you are familiar with ABC’s show “What Would You Do?”. The show deals with these same issues of when and why people help other people. The show’s website offers a quiz that I think is both fun and interesting. Check it out here and let me know what you think!