Year: 2016
The 7 Best Playgrounds of 2016
The days of monkey bars suspended over pea gravel are far behind us. But the evolution of playgrounds is happening so fast, and in such varied ways, the change can seem dizzying. Certainly one of the biggest trends of 2016 is the growing popularity of fitness-focused playgrounds designed for older…
Designer Spotlight: Horst Henke – The Man Who Brought Wood To North American Playgrounds
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know the name Rick Henke. Raised in Kiel Germany, Henke immigrated to the US in the 1970s and founded the Goric Marketing Group USA in 1994. With his background in engineering and his involvement in developing playground safety standards in Canada,…
Playgrounds for Aging Adults
Last week, an article in the Wall Street Journal drew attention to a growing trend: playgrounds for aging populations. Emerging two decades ago in China after a national law mandated fitness programs for all ages, adult playgrounds quickly spread to Japan and parts of Europe and Latin America. Now, according…
Giving Thanks To Two Brilliant Landscape Designers in the American Tradition
Perhaps because the United States was a vast unexplored frontier to the Europeans who settled here, fascination with land and its design potential — for agriculture, parks, cities, playgrounds — is integral to our identity. Thomas Jefferson had an ornamental farm on his property at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. He…
The World’s Top Five Outdoor Classrooms
A few months ago, the published results of a four-year demonstration study of 40,000 children across South West England conducted by Plymouth University, found both students and teachers to be happier, more engaged in the learning process, and more enthusiastic about coming to school after spending time in outdoor environments….
8 Must-Visit New Orleans Parks and Playgrounds
With the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo still fresh in our minds, it seems fitting to wish farewell to New Orleans with a look at some of its best parks, gardens, and playgrounds. What better judge than the people of New Orleans? In this week’s blog, we scour a…
Dancer Giveaway at ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo
In a culturally rich city that blends French, Creole, African, Irish, and German heritage and lays claim to the best beignets in the country, not to mention some of the best jazz, there will be plenty of opportunity for diversion at this year’s ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo in New…
Wait, This Is Exercise? Playground Equipment for Fitness and Fun
For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about ways to get kids moving. While good options for fitness are nearly endless, playgrounds are still at the top of the list. Studies have shown that those who exercise outdoors tend to do so more often than those who primarily work…
10 Ways to Get Kids Moving
Too many calories and too little activity. Those are the two main contributors to childhood obesity, according to the Mayo Clinic. So, if you want to help your child maintain a healthy weight, a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, fish, poultry, and beans is a…
Designer Spotlight – H Nyunny Kim of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
“Who needs to escape the city when you can walk down the street or take the F train to Jay Street or the No. 22 to Clark Street or the B63 bus that goes right to Pier 6 at Atlantic Avenue — and see nature in the city.” That’s Anne…
King of the Hill: Topography in Children’s Playgrounds
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Blair Kamin, landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh was asked about the 40-foot-tall climbing walls at Maggie Daley Park, a sprawling, 20-acre mega-park towering over Chicago’s lakefront. His response: “They were designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates architects and landscape architects (and me!)…
Why Waiting for the Bus Can Be Fun
Stone Abacus, Park City, Compliments of PlaySpace Designs Few of us like to wait at the bus stop. Why? Because aside from scrolling Facebook or surveying the cracks in the sidewalk, there is not a whole to do. Some of the discomfort we feel may be intentional. A recent article in the Atlantic describes how “homeless deterrence technologies,”…
