American Playgrounds

American Playgrounds
Title American Playgrounds PDF eBook
Author Susan G. Solomon
Publisher UPNE
Pages 288
Release 2005
Genre Architecture
ISBN 9781584655176

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A compelling history, a manifesto, and a manual for change.

The Infinite Playground

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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.