Playgrounds that inspire children where they need the most

There’s a current crisis around the world that few people are discussing. About 43% of children younger than five in the middle and low-income regions (that’s 250 million) cannot develop to their full capabilities ( The Lancet, 2016). Two-thirds of primary children do not meet the standards for learning in the first four years of education ( UNESCO, 2014). However, studies conducted longitudinally in the past 50 years have proven that children’s play programs can have the greatest impact on the quality of education and life outcomes of children who live in poverty.

This is the point at which Playground 메이저놀이터 Ideas comes in. From Guatemala from Kenya Kenya to Azerbaijan, Playground Ideas is an easy-to-use library that assists communities worldwide in accomplishing this task by implementing an innovative approach that brings the innate creativity of communities and that is sourced locally and often recycled materials. In the case of Papua New Guinea, car parts from the past placed in the soil are transformed into the perfect play area. A damaged water tank in Uganda transforms into a playhouse (Playground ideas 2017a). The concept is genius because of its simple concept: build simple ideas for creating play spaces using easily accessible components and then share these ideas with other people who could create the play area of their choice (Playground ideas 2017b).

Inspiration and assistance

Local leaders can find inspiration and help through their local counterparts on the Playground Ideas website. One Nairobi sociology teacher has promoted the building of huts on his school’s campus. They are inspired by the diverse home styles across the country.

The children built the huts out of sticks, grass, and stones. Playground Ideas were also inspired by Ansari’s Garcia Cabezas, who has been a champion of the development of playgrounds in her home in Guatemala. Without any formal training, aside from Playground Ideas, she has been working with children and local communities to create and construct new playgrounds. «What I’m proud of is the people,» she states, «it’s the people, the power of people who do things together» (Playground Ideas 2017a).

Playground Ideas was founded in 2007. After its inception, the non-profit realized that sharing open-source ideas as well as time and resources could be a way to build an international network that could allow more children to play. The concept has taken over the world and has more than 1455 projects spread across 85 countries that have reached many schools and communities where children might not otherwise have the opportunity to play. Help services include how-to manuals, do-it-yourself design books, crowdsourcing to raise funds, occasionally Skype calls, and a study report on the importance of playing (Playground Ideas 2017b).

The Case for Play

«The case for play» (Kellock 2015) highlights the long-term economic, social, health, and cognitive advantages of playing for children, especially those in poverty. The report is full of easy infographics that show the benefits of playing in various ways. Kellock (2015) declares that in many areas in the Global South, access to education is frequently at the expense of the opportunity to play. He explains that ‘no focus is given to the school environments once students attend the school. Schools without 메이저놀이터 playgrounds are more prevalent than others, and the funding is specifically targeted toward the numeracy and literacy areas. This gap in how we understand the essential importance of play for children’s development and learning and how the educational system responds in response, as he says is a profound misinterpretation of the way kids learn’ (Kellock 2015: 9). Playground Ideas is a great way to close the gap by connecting learning and play again.