When There's Nothing but Nature: The Danish Experience with Natural Playscapes

In this article I provide an overview of my natural playground and sensory garden design practices and theories. I discuss how I was inspired by the landscape architect, Carl Theodor Sørensen, and the key role his work and writings played in Denmark and beyond in the development of natural playscapes and in the setting up in 1961 of the International Play Association. I reveal how my first project, while still a student, to design a sensory garden for a special school was to influence my future career and thinking. My time working for the City of Copenhagen began with the design of the first public sensory garden in Denmark, which I describe here. I then highlight another Danish concept: the manned playground and its manifestation in the Nature Playground in Valbyparken for whose design I was responsible, and which I present here. I go on to discuss the dangers of standardized playground equipment designed by adults with no input from children, who prefer to make their own play and benefit from so doing. I describe my design for Murergaarden Daycare Centre and Afterschool Club playground which has no fixed play equipment. I then emphasize further the benefits of 'green' playground design and present the example of the Skovstjernen Daycare Centre, where 'there's nothing but nature and loose parts'. In short, my message is that Nature is the best place for children to play and develop their creativity.

Assessing Play Equality in Malaysian Public Playground through Universal Design Principle

The outdoor play setting is often ignored as a viable place to accommodate children with disabilities, limiting or completely excluding them from playing like other ordinary children. Thus, this study aims to determine the integration of Universal Design (UD) qualities and the applicability of Malaysian Standard (MS 966; 2017) in Malaysia's public playground. The physical site observation process has been conducted at three (3) public playgrounds for children with disabilities in Malaysia. The findings showed that there are 8 components of the UD principle, and MS966:2017 has been violated in the playground design. Keywords: Universal Design, Public Playground, Children with disabilities. eISSN 2514-751X © 2020 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians / Africans / Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ajebs.v5i17.372

Outdoor Playground Design Criteria Development for Early Childhood Development: A Delphi Study from the Perspective of Fundamental Movement Skills and Perceptual-Motor Skills

The purpose of this research is to discover adequate and environmental outdoor playground design criteria based on the collected opinions of experts. Taking the case of South Korea into account, this research focuses on the development of a new outdoor playground design criteria that could offset the limited motor activities and environmental use which has been restricted by the current regulations. In particular, this research approaches the issue from the perspective of children’s fundamental movement skills and the development of their perceptual-motor abilities. The research conducted three rounds of a Delphi survey and held a consensus of experts in child development, child physical education, and playground designs. The research achieved results defining 9 categories and 23 items within the categories of design criteria for outdoor playgrounds. Significantly, the discussions were not limited to children’s holistic development—from motor and physical development to attaining mental, social, and cognitive skills—but also included discussions of children’s dynamic interaction with the surrounding nature and environment, especially in challenge making and risk taking.

Evaluation of children's playgrounds in parks in terms of user opinions: The case of Sivas city

Although most of the urban settlements in developed countries have parks and gardens available to local people, children spend more time with virtual games rather than active games. It is considered that the current understanding of the playground design does not respond to the needs of children and does not contribute to the continuity of play activities. Similarly, in our country, the majority of children spend time with electronic games instead of playing games in children's playgrounds in parks. This has a significant impact on both physical and mental development of children. To ensure that children spend more time in the playgrounds in the parks, the parks need to be developed and improved in line with the needs and desires of the children and their families. The aim of the study is to determine the factors that affect the use of children playgrounds in the parks located in Sivas, user requests and user opinions about the current situation. In this context, data obtained from interviews with randomly selected park users on a voluntary basis in five different parks located in different parts of the city were analyzed in SPSS program. As a result, the participants stated that the children's playgrounds in the parks in the city are not safe enough. In addition, the participants stated that they want to be designed contemporary playgrounds in the parks and that their children should play in these fields. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. Özet Gelişmiş ülkelerdeki kentsel yerleşim alanlarının çoğunda halkın kullanabileceği park ve bahçeler olmasına rağmen çocuklar aktif oyunlar yerine sanal oyunlar ile daha fazla zaman geçirmektedir. Bunun başlıca sebepleri arasında, mevcuttaki çocuk oyun alanı tasarım anlayışının çocukların oyun ihtiyaçlarına cevap vermediği ve oyun faaliyetlerinin sürekliliğine katkıda bulunmadığı düşünülmektedir. Benzer şekilde ülkemizde de çocukların büyük çoğunluğu parklardaki çocuk oyun alanlarında oyun oynamak yerine elektronik ortamdaki sanal oyunlar ile vakit geçirmektedir. Bu durum ise çocukların gerek fiziksel ve ruhsal gerekse de zihinsel gelişimleri üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahiptir. Çocukların parklardaki çocuk oyun alanlarında daha fazla zaman geçirmelerini sağlamak için parkların, çocukların ve ailelerinin ihtiyaçları ve istekleri doğrultusunda geliştirilmesi ve iyileştirilmesi gerekmektedir. Araştırmanın amacı, Sivas kentinde yer alan parklardaki çocuk oyun alanlarının kullanımını etkileyen faktörlerin, kullanıcı isteklerinin ve mevcut duruma yönelik kullanıcı görüşlerinin belirlenmesidir. Bu kapsamda kentin farklı bölgelerinde yer alan beş farklı parkta, gönüllük esasına dayalı ve tesadüfi olarak seçilen park kullanıcılarıyla gerçekleştirilen görüşmelerden elde edilen veriler SPSS programında analiz edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak katılımcılar, kentteki parklarda yer alan çocuk oyun alanlarının yeterince güvenli olmadığını ifade etmişlerdir. Ayrıca katılımcılar parklarda çağdaş çocuk oyun alanlarının tasarlanmasını ve çocuklarının bu alanlarda oyun oynamasını istediklerini belirtmişlerdir.