American Playgrounds
Title | American Playgrounds PDF eBook |
Author | Susan G. Solomon |
Publisher | UPNE |
Pages | 288 |
Release | 2005 |
Genre | Architecture |
ISBN | 9781584655176 |
A compelling history, a manifesto, and a manual for change.
The Infinite Playground
Title | The Infinite Playground PDF eBook |
Author | Bernard De Koven |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Pages | 207 |
Release | 2022-06-21 |
Genre | Games & Activities |
ISBN | 0262543869 |
In his final work, a visionary game designer reveals how a surprising range of play-based experiences can unlock our imagination and help us capture the power of fun and delight. Bernard De Koven (1941–2018) was a pioneering designer of games and theorist of fun. He studied games long before the field of game studies existed. For De Koven, games could not be reduced to artifacts and rules; they were about a sense of transcendent fun. This book, his last, is about the imagination: the imagination as a playground, a possibility space, and a gateway to wonder. The Infinite Playground extends a play-centered invitation to experience the power and delight unlocked by imagination. It offers a curriculum for playful learning. De Koven guides the readers through a series of observations and techniques, interspersed with games. He begins with the fundamentals of play, and proceeds through the private imagination, the shared imagination, and imagining the world—observing, “the things we imagine can become the world.” Along the way, he reminisces about playing ping-pong with basketball great Bill Russell; begins the instructions for a game called Reception Line with “Mill around”; and introduces blathering games—Blather, Group Blather, Singing Blather, and The Blather Chorale—that allow the player's consciousness to meander freely. Delivered during the last months of his life, The Infinite Playground has been painstakingly cowritten with Holly Gramazio, who worked together with coeditors Celia Pearce and Eric Zimmerman to complete the project as Bernie De Koven's illness made it impossible for him to continue writing. Other prominent game scholars and designers influenced by De Koven, including Katie Salen Tekinbaş, Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz, and members of Bernie's own family, contribute short interstitial essays.
The Science of Play
Title | The Science of Play PDF eBook |
Author | Susan G. Solomon |
Publisher | University Press of New England |
Pages | 231 |
Release | 2014-11-04 |
Genre | Architecture |
ISBN | 1611686113 |
Poor design and wasted funding characterize today's American playgrounds. A range of factors--including a litigious culture, overzealous safety guidelines, and an ethos of risk aversion--have created uniform and unimaginative playgrounds. These spaces fail to nurture the development of children or promote playgrounds as an active component in enlivening community space. Solomon's book demonstrates how to alter the status quo by allying data with design. Recent information from the behavioral sciences indicates that kids need to take risks; experience failure but also have a chance to succeed and master difficult tasks; learn to plan and solve problems; exercise self-control; and develop friendships. Solomon illustrates how architects and landscape architects (most of whom work in Europe and Japan) have already addressed these needs with strong, successful playground designs. These innovative spaces, many of which are more multifunctional and cost effective than traditional playgrounds, are both sustainable and welcoming. Having become vibrant hubs within their neighborhoods, these play sites are models for anyone designing or commissioning an urban area for children and their families. The Science of Play, a clarion call to use playground design to deepen the American commitment to public space, will interest architects, landscape architects, urban policy makers, city managers, local politicians, and parents.
Little Walks, Big Adventures
Title | Little Walks, Big Adventures PDF eBook |
Author | Erin Buhr |
Publisher | Gryphon House Incorporated |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2018 |
Genre | Education |
ISBN | 9780876597576 |
While most activity books encourage indoor explorations, countless adventures and learning opportunities await outside! Going for a walk or exploring the local community can bring about much more than just exercise. Little Walks, Big Adventures helps you teach your toddler about his/her surroundings through fun and adventurous local explorations, outdoor games and activities that promote and enhance learning.
My Dream Playground
Title | My Dream Playground PDF eBook |
Author | Kate M. Becker |
Publisher | Candlewick Press |
Pages | 32 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Juvenile Fiction |
ISBN | 0763655317 |
Dreaming of a day when there will be a real playground in her own neighborhood, a little girl is ecstatic when she learns that a local playground has been planned, in a story inspired by the construction of the first playground built by the KaBOOM! national nonprofit.
Once Upon a Playground
Title | Once Upon a Playground PDF eBook |
Author | Biondo, Brenda |
Publisher | ForeEdge |
Pages | 184 |
Release | 2014-05-06 |
Genre | Photography |
ISBN | 1611685125 |
Before today's safety-minded structures of wood and plastic, America's playgrounds were full of tottering seesaws, dizzying merry-go-rounds, and towering metal slides. Documenting the evolution of American playgrounds between 1920 and 1975, Once Upon a Playground is a visual tribute to these iconic structures, celebrating their place in our culture and the collective memories of generations. In it, contemporary photos of vintage pieces of playground equipment are juxtaposed with images of the very same pieces as they were shown in classic catalogs, postcards, and photographs. The result is a haunting time capsule showing a rapidly vanishing part of our country's cultural heritage. Whatever the playgrounds of your childhood looked like, the gorgeous photographs in this book will transport you back in time and remind you of just how important play can really be.
SAFE and Fun Playgrounds
Title | SAFE and Fun Playgrounds PDF eBook |
Author | Heather M. Olsen |
Publisher | Redleaf Press |
Pages | 159 |
Release | 2015-11-16 |
Genre | Education |
ISBN | 1605544612 |
Play is important for cognitive, emotional, and physical development of children. Use the four components experts have identified for safety: supervision, age-appropriate design, fall-surfacing that contains approved materials, and equipment maintenance. This handbook is what you need to maintain an existing, or to create a new, pleasing, and challenging playground that is safe, but not boring. Heather M. Olsen, EdD, is executive director of the National Program for Playground Safety. Susan D. Hudson, PhD, has been an educator, consultant, and practitioner in the field of leisure, youth, and human services for over thirty-nine years. Donna Thompson, PhD, founded the National Program for Playground Safety.