Cool play spaces needed

by Megan Carter in Verdant Nation

As society becomes more plugged in, it is more and more important to get ourselves, and especially our kids, outside to play. Play is important for children in terms of cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. We know in Canada that children are not getting enough daily physical activity, and we as a nation are not doing nearly enough to combat this problem.  The author, Richard Louv, has even coined the term ‘nature deficit disorder:’ behavioural problems resulting from a lack of contact with the outdoors – a subject that I will cover in a forthcoming post. This lack of play in the outdoors is a multi-faceted problem that will require solutions at various levels of social organization (the same could be said for diet). However, I’d like to focus on one of those potential solutions – a thought (obviously not unique) that came about during a recent trip to Sweden. I was at a conference in Stockholm last summer and toured around Sweden a little bit afterwards. One of our last stops was in Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmö – just across the bridge from Copenhagen, Denmark. When searching for one of Malmö’s most famous buildings, the Turning Torso, we came across the coolest skate/climbing park I have ever seen. Of course, being a climber myself, I had to try out the man-made boulders with realistic rock-like features and climbing-gym holds. Each of the large boulders (there were three) were surrounded by a layer of pebbles about half a foot deep - to absorb the impact of a fall. Climbers and non-climbers alike were trying their hand at different routes to the top. The skate park was huge with a variety of features ranging from bowls, to rails, steps, gaps, and boxes. There was something for all skill types (certainly not dominated by experts only) and included skateboarders, rollerbladders and cyclists. I couldn’t stop watching the activity – from the very young (about 5 years of age) to the middle-aged (I thought I saw some 40-year olds trying to keep up). I later found out that this is considered by some to be one of the best skate parks in the world.This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: MalmöAll of this was free, in view of some incredible scenery (the Turning Torso and harbor front), and in a safe, very low vehicular traffic zone. The idea of this park is what we need everywhere – it doesn’t necessarily have to be a skate or climbing park – but something that is of high quality, in an interesting and safe area, will pique children’s curiosity and get them playing. Children can be exposed to different types of play that they wouldn’t normally be able to afford (rock climbing for example). A skate/climbing park in Hull, QC I realize money is an issue, and likely the reason Sweden can afford to build world class free skate parks may have to do with their welfare taxation system. However, much of a park’s quality and usefulness can come from where it is located. In Hull (a city in Quebec, Canada), for example, a much simpler skate/climbing park was built. It is unfortunately located on a very busy, uninteresting street. This is perhaps why I see only a few children at any one time using it, and never young children (I know it’s not a great comparison when the photo was taken in early spring..nonetheless). Additionally, play spaces can be constructed out of natural materials located nearby and strategic placement of indigenous plants.       A natural playground. Photo credit: Playscapes Safety of play is another issue. Parents fret about children doing things like skateboarding, biking, rock climbing (my mother still does), playing balance beam, etc. Perhaps for good reason, as ... Read more »