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mobile junk and nature playground homepage

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Once upon a time kids use to play outside all day. Most played in risky environments without adult supervision. Climbing trees, damming creeks, tea parties under skies, catching lizards and throwing Prickly paddymelon at each other. This is nature play.

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-20/cubby-house-building-bucks-childrens-structured-lives/8725010

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I was unable to put up a link to the survey data on Google Sheets but I can put up the percentages.
Boys want a climbing wall more than girl and the younger kids want it more than the older kids.
Here are the percentages...
G=Girls      B=Boys
All 5-6=15.8%
G 5-6=12.5%      B 5-6=26.5%

All 7-8 = 13.6
G 7-8 = 13.3      B 7-8 = 13.8

All 9-10 = 11.6%
G 9-10 = 10%      B 9-10 = 12.8%

All 11-12 = 12.8%
G 11-12 = 10.3%      B 11-12 = 15.4%

All = 14.7%
Girls = 13.3%
Boys = 15.8%

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I was unable to put up a link to the survey data on Google Sheets but I can put up the percentages.
Girls wanted a Junkyard playground quite a bit more than boys. The younger kids like the idea a lot as well as the 11-12 year old's.
Here are the percentages...
G=Girls     B=Boys
All 5-6=21.6%
G 5-6=28.6%    B 5-6=12.5%

All 7-8=19.4
G 7-8=23.1%    B 7-8=13.6%

All 9-10= 13.3
G 9-10=20%   B 9-10=8%

All 11-12=20.8%
G 11-12=17.4%     B 11-12=25%

All of School=17.9%
All Girls=19.7%
All Boys=16.3%

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we need to come up with our really important questions

1. how big is the area?
we need to know the length + width of the area and the height we want to build the fence .

2.
how will we clean out the area?

Gloves? shovels?
garbage bags?

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Climbing is a popular exercise and recreational activity. While many commercial facilities and gyms now offer walls where you can pay to climb, it may be much more convenient and cost-effective to have a climbing wall in your home or...

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https://publicworkshop.us/

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/playgroundnyc-kids-making-their-own-adventures/

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NEW YORK With a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, 7-year-old Zayne Cowie was hard at work building a home. He had already gathered planks of splintered wood, an old tire for the entrance and a tattered blue tarp for the roof. No parents were there to stop him as he started hammering away.

He wasn't a homeless orphan, however, nor was he a victim of parental neglect. He was just one of dozens of kids running around New York City's first adventure playground in decades.

This is a typical scene at play:groundNYC, located on Governors Island, where children are given a free space to play without any management, mediation or overprotection from parents. The nonprofit includes "playworkers," the staff at an adventure playground that act like lifeguards, watching for dangerous hazards without interfering with activity.

"An adventure playground is a space that's by and for children foremost," said Eve Mosher, Zayne's mother and a co-founder of play:groundNYC. "It's about letting the kids walk really high up on the structure that they've built. ... It's about creating space where they can take risks and experiment. In our specific case, it's kind of like a junkyard for kids."

Play is an important part of childhood development, both physical and psychological, researchers say.

"So much that's positive in terms of intellectual development, social development, emotional development, physical development is best understood when understanding play," said Roger Hart, professor of environmental psychology at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Hart's work focuses on child development and the quality of their physical environment. "Play is a great indicator of health. ... It's where children create their world and learn to know themselves."

Sergio Pellis, professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, has studied the effects of play in rats, finding that "if young rats are prevented from engaging with peers in social play, then when they get to young adulthood they show a variety of deficits in things like problems with impulse control, they are overactive to benign social stimuli, they have difficulty solving problems and encountering potentially dangerous situations."

His research links those issues to changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which can affect a wide-range of executive functions later in life, including attention span, emotional regulation and short-term memory.

Destructive and constructive play is a critical part in developing crucial motor and mental skills, Hart said. However, conventional playgrounds contain "fixed equipment" which leaves little to be built, created or destroyed by children.

Hart said conventional playgrounds are "useful, especially for very young kids, for gross motor play, as we call it, large muscle play. But, when it comes to children using the environment richly, they need to manipulate it, move things around, control it and feel that they're directing their activity."

This idea of self-directed, unmediated play is embodied in the idea of "adventure playgrounds," or "junk playgrounds." Unlike traditional playgrounds, these spaces leave kids with ample freedom, and the responsibility that comes with it.

In the process of building his structure, Zayne decided it was no regular home -- it was a castle. He began gathering tires for turrets and scrap wood for beams. As he jumped onto his new fortress, he lost his footing and fell to the dirt. He let out a cry, checked himself for cuts and stared up at the stronghold. A few minutes later, Zayne dusted himself off and climbed again, four or five feet in the air, and balanced carefully along the beams.

"They were able to try things out without huge consequences and self-directed play in particular hones skills and self-awareness," said Alex Khost, an alternative educator and co-founder of playground:NYC.

Some parents, especially in cities, have looked for ways to give their children the opportunity for more self-directed play, a reaction against what some see as an increase in over-parenting.

"Children are often over-directed and taken from one activity to another and expected to be good at it, but at a place like this, they can let their imagination run free," said Michael Haggiag, a NYC parent in support of playground:NYC. "I think it's very important for children to have this time to confront whatever it is ... to develop their imagination, to develop their sense of play without too much direction. I think that's the source of all creativity."

As their children use saws, nails, hammers, drills and other tools to build and destroy the contents of the playground, parents are relegated to the other side of a fence with signs that encourage them to "sit back and relax."

"Initially, it does give you pause because it's so rare that you let your kids go in an area where there's sharp objects and wood stuff, but to see that they kind of police themselves in a way was reassuring," said parent Tom Widmann during his first trip to playground:NYC. "Of all the kids that I've seen today, there doesn't seem to be any incidents."

Despite safety concerns, "in every study that I've found that has been done, adventure playgrounds have much lower levels of serious injury than your sort of traditional playgrounds," said Reilly Wilson, graduate student for the Children's Environments Research Group, focusing on adventure playgrounds. "Part of it is that regular playgrounds, as it were, are designed for safety and young people know that. So when young people play on a regular playground they often pay less attention to risks."

Adventure or junk playgrounds were popularized in post-World War II Europe, where bombed-out ruins lingered for years. In the U.S., dozens were operating during the 1970s, though they've declined in popularity since.

Wilson and Hart said their decline in the U.S. was due to a number of factors, such as rising safety concerns, higher engagement with technology and a lack of funding. (In the adventure playground model, materials are low-cost but the playworkers are paid staff.)

Khost and Mosher were determined to bring one to NYC for the first time in decades. After months of searching for a site, they were offered a space by Governors Island, which they quickly accepted, and began building a world of creative junk. They filled the space with "loose parts" - acquired through donations, from their own homes or off the curb - that children could manipulate. They hired and trained playworkers to watch over the environment and implemented a strict "no parent" rule.

Playworkers are a critical part of any adventure playground. Their role is not only to provide a watchful yet unintrusive eye but also play a unique role in a child's life. "They're no longer an instructor, they're somebody who seems to respect you as an equal, as a citizen and so the kids start to talk with these people. That is really wonderful. ... It's an organic type of social work," said Hart.

As Janea Singleton, a playworker at play:groundNYC, helped Zayne clamp in a piece of wood, he grabbed a hand saw and they chatted about lunch and the day ahead. Earlier, she helped a group of children learn how to use a hacksaw, calmly answering questions, grabbing tools from the toolshed and encouraging kids to make use of anything around them. Singleton said the hardest part of being a playworker is learning not to say "no," but instead "stepping back and letting them surprise you."

Play:groundNYC opened its permanent site on Governors Island this summer and soon found it attracting 80 to 100 children a weekend. The suggested age to play on the main junk playground is 6 years and older; kids 3 years and up can head to the "family" playground, where parents are allowed on the grounds. Parents must sign a liability waiver and the site is insured. The space is free to the public on weekends as weather permits and the summer camp was filled to capacity. With nearly half a year down, the creators are now looking for creative ways to keep children engaged in the short term while still thinking about longer term goals.

"Our dream is that it goes out and we can be a model for other people to start adventure playgrounds in their communities and it's a place where kids can go there after school and play," Mosher said. "That's the dream."

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Junkyard or playground paradise? Kids making their own adventures

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NEW YORK With a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, 7-year-old Zayne Cowie was hard at work building a home. He had already gathered planks of splintered wood, an old tire for the entrance and a tattered blue tarp for the roof.

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HORIZONTAL WALL

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School Climbing Walls

School Roped Climbing Walls

Choosing and building your School Climbing Wall can be a bit of daunting at first but with our experienced climbers, builders, route setters and office team we can reduce a huge amount of the stress involved with any school project.

Our Experience with building school climbing walls

We have built many climbing walls and many more traversing walls for schools and other Local authorities since Climbing Wall Solutions began in 2007. We have gained a large amount of knowledge and experience on the different ways in which Local authorities work from the private sector.

This has set us up to able to work directly with schools and teachers (and sometime parents) in a way that reduces stress while getting project completed.

We truly understand the difficulties teachers can face in trying to get a Climbing Wall project up and running and we aim to help you as much as we can.

With every climbing wall we build

We will ensure that you get the best advice and Climbing Wall as well as any necessary staff training. We can then help to set you up with a Long Term Activity Structure to help keep everyone interested and challenged.

See for an outline of the structure that can be put in place to help keep users motivated and committed.

What type of climbing wall can we have?

You can have any of our School climbing walls built at your school. All this will depend on is your budget and the area that you have available to site a climbing wall.

The designs are endless and will be unique to you and your school

Climbing should alway be fun and safe and we have the ability to deliver on both and much more.

What options are there if we only have a small area available?

We can take an unused small area in a gymnasium or hall and transform it into a valuable resource for your pupil's development.

These Roped Climbing Walls help children develop coordination, teamwork, problem- solving skills, trust, balance, strength and confidence. Such a resource can help develop an interest in the wider world of outdoor adventures.

To see some of our School Roped Climbing Wall builds click here

Considering your supplier for a School Climbing Wall?

When considering your school climbing wall supplier, be sure to check the following:

Climbing holds are EU certified for playground use

A full manufacturers warranty for the holds

Fixings that have worldwide product approval

All products are tried and tested over the years

Is the company who is installing your school climbing wall:

Set up as a limited company and therefore affiliated with a scheme such as the Construction Industry Scheme?

Public and employee liability insured?

Have they got experience in dealing with Local Authorities?

BUY YOUR CLIMBING WALL WITH CONFIDENCE!

Our Previous Clients:

LEA Schools

BSF contracts/PFI contracts

Climbing Centres

Private Schools

Colleges & Universities

Scouts

Architects

Community Spaces & Playgrounds

Leisure Centres

Armed Forces

Emergency Services

Overseas

Domestic Builds

Church Groups

Pubs

Caravan Parks

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School Climbing Walls - School Traversing Walls - School Traverse Walls - School Bouldering Walls

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School Climbing Walls Choosing and building your School Climbing Wall can be a bit of daunting at first but with our experienced climbers, builders, route setters and office team we can reduce a huge amount of the stress involved with any school project.

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https://morningchores.com/pallet-fence/

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https://australianculturalfund.org.au/projects/the-ultimate-pop-up-junkyard-playground/

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HORIZONTAL climbing wall

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Denver, CO - Ruby Hill Elementary School

Boston, MA - Advent School

Sarasota, FL - Sarasota High School

Stowe, VT - Mt Mansfield Winter Academy

Castleton, NY - Maple Hill MS - Bouldering Area

Louisville, CO - Monarch Schools

El Paso, TX - St. Clement's Episcopal Parish School

Shiprock, NM - Shiprock Alternative Schools

Winnetka, IL - New Trier HS

Buena Vista, CO - The Link School

Evergreen, CO - Evergreen Montessori

Nederland, CO - Elementary School

Walnut, CA - Walnut Valley Unified School

Arlington, VA - St. Ann School

Julian, CA - Julian Unified School District

Sonoma, CA - Presentation School

Denver, CO - Odyssey Charter School

Ithaca, NY - Ithaca High School

Boca Raton, FL - Saint Andrew's School

Wilsonville, OR - Lowrie Primary School

Silverton, CO - Silverton Schools

Sandy Spring, MD - Sandy Spring Friends School

Chicago, IL - ESPN Rise Up - Dyett High School

New York, NY - Parkside School

Woodward, OK - Woodward Christian Academy

Greenwood Village, CO - Cherry Creek High School

Petaluma, CA - Live Oak Charter School

Loveland, CO - Big Thompson Elementary School

Denver, CO - Downtown Denver Expeditionary School DPS

Chico, CA - Chico School Disctrict

Cumberland, MD - Jefferson Schools

Saratoga, WY - Saratoga Elementary School

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School climbing walls & traverse climbing walls for K-12 schools

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Denver, CO - Ruby Hill Elementary School Boston, MA - Advent School Sarasota, FL - Sarasota High School Stowe, VT - Mt Mansfield Winter Academy Castleton, NY - Maple Hill MS - Bouldering Area Louisville, CO - Monarch Schools El Paso, TX - St.

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This is awesome. Check out the cubby designs and street furniture.

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Client The Western School For Science And Technology
Location Phoenix, AZ
Year 2015 to present

What began as a project to put our client's-The Western School of Science and Technology-middle/high school's students at the forefront of designing and building outdoor amenities-a path and seating-to physically connect the new building with its sister school, quickly grew into something much more joyful and significant. Design is play at Public Workshop and in this project, the act of design and tinkering became a more powerful connector than any path. It forged new relationships between the two schools; short circuiting social cliques; drawing parents to the school who never participate due to cultural barriers; revealing unseen skills and assets within the students, parents and administration; and forging deeper relationships between parents and their students. This is not unusual in Public Workshop projects but was in this case was made more rich by a creative process that placed tinkering and adventure play next to our normal outcome driven design-build process. Adventure play is always a part of our design process but here the two modalities existed side by side throughout. This 'parallel play' led to more diverse engagement and greater leaps in learning as well numerous design innovations that arose from the general atmosphere no-holds barred exploration. Perhaps most importantly, they began to present a robust model for the school's STEM programs.

In the November 2015, we returned to Phoenix to work with Allison Paul and her students, focusing-at the students' behest-on creating an outdoor maker space and STEM building workshop behind their school. Aside from the brevity of class periods, the biggest challenge with incorporating more design-build activities into the curriculum at WSST is a lack of shade, making working outside incredibly difficult for most of the year. Students performed significant precedent research and shade studies at full and model scale, ultimately determining that a series of small 'classrooms' would provide more shade coverage throughout the day than a tent or roof structure, while also providing some really cool opportunities to climb, exercise and play. In just seven days hundreds of students, along with teachers and volunteers from the Maryvale Revitalization Corporation, Design RePublic and Downtown Phoenix, design-built four mini-workshops that expanded on the students' models and full scale prototypes. After we left, the structures provided weeks of robust STEM curriculum for the students as they learned about such things as moment and force vectors while working to make structural and design changes that addressed how they were actually using the spaces.

We are excited to return in 2016 to work with students, teachers, parents and volunteers to leverage the need for outdoor amenities at the school to continue to grow the STEM curriculum, build community and empower students' to do great things.

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Helping A Middle-High School Build A STEM Curriculum + Maker Culture Through Play.

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Client The Western School For Science And Technology Location Phoenix, AZ Year 2015 to present What began as a project to put our client's-The Western School of Science and Technology -middle/high school's students at the forefront of designing and building outdoor amenities-a path and seating-to physically connect the new building with its sister school, quickly grew into something much more joyful and significant.