YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
The play and learning space of the future doesn’t necessarily have to be bound to a certain place, let alone to firmly installed equipment. The modern, alternative playscape is mobile and consists of blue play blocks which encourage children to engage in imaginative, free and spontaneous play. The transportable playground, which was designed by its inventor, architect David Rockwell, as “Imagination Playground” for children of all ages, is made up of 105 parts of different height and sizes, among them boxes, gear wheels, curves or cylinders, which are fitted together, put on top of each other or next to each other. They can be employed as a play alternative in schools and day nurseries, in clubs or for tourist entertainment at hotels or on cruise liners. Like his makers, Steffen Strasser, managing director of the Playparc company headquartered in Willebadessen in East Westphalia, which exclusively markets the Imagination Playground in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is convinced of the new innovative play space concept of the pop-up play event: “Creative, unstructured and free play is of vital importance for children to grow up healthy and free from troubles and worries. It promotes children’s intellectual, social, physical and emotional development.”
With the elements, children create and design playscapes, play spaces and dream worlds of their own - in constant social interaction. At Paderborn University, a study set up for six months is in the planning stage, within the framework of which it is to be established to what extent the material promotes children’s development in schools and day nurseries from a motor, cognitive, social and emotional point of view. After a test run in the Paderborn Ahorn Sports Park, it is clear by now to Sandra Weiffen, sports scientist and among the staff conducting the study, that the Imagination Playground has “an immensely stimulative nature and promises to hold great potential for children”. She noticed that the fifth-year pupils approached the blue blocks completely naturally and creatively. While the girls quickly developed some role play, the boys tended towards ball games. The sets are water-repellent, easy to clean and can be recycled at the end of their useful life. They can be put to a variety of indoor and outdoor uses and can be combined with other materials such as water or sand.
Various videos at www.imaginationplayground.de can give you a first impression of the captivating effect of the blue blocks. There, you will also find contact details and other details regarding the blue wonder from the USA.
If you have any questions, please visit www.playparc.de.
