How do we create spaces where children want to play? To get kids outside we are competing with technologically-based entertainment (with the massive marketing budgets that support it) as well as the fears that they and their parents have about the outdoor world.

One solution that is finding currency internationally at the moment is to ask kids what they actually want and to build play space that builds on and interprets what they say.

‘We don’t get any fights here’

De Speeldernis is a play project in the heart of Rotterdam. Set up in 2000/2001, it is now a green oasis in a part of the city where the opportunities for outdoor play were previously limited. There were also cultural tensions locally and a new public space or park was identified as a key way of improving the situation. Sigrun Lobst, German landscape architect based in the city, invited local children to contribute drawings, scale models and ideas for the kind of play space they wanted. She also applied thinking on the subject from Germany and elsewhere in Holland.

The result is a naturalistic play space of 10 000m2 that incorporates water, trees and timber for climbing, places where kids can get muddy, build bridges and rafts, experience nature and engage in adventurous play individually and with their peers. They can do this any day they wish, all year round (except for two weeks around Christmas).

Play is supervised by a mixture of volunteers and paid staff, but Wilco Kwerreveld one of the co-ordinators, says that few disputes occur: ‘we don’t get any fighting between children here. The space, the options they have available and, I believe, the impact of the green surroundings on how they feel and interact all helps’. He jokes that they are not ‘all angels’, but the serious point is that the naturalistic surroundings do have a positive impact on behaviour.

De Speeldernis is always busy, especially on fine days. It’s quite normal for 400 children to come through the gates on any given day. A charge is made for entry (50 cents for children, 2 Euros for adults). Until last year there was flat rate, but so many adults were coming in to enjoy the garden and green space benefits that the children felt cramped, so the new tariff was introduced as a disincentive to non-target users. School parties often visit, sometimes for nature-themed lessons, sometimes simply to enjoy outdoor, natural play. Within the last two years, the site has elicited considerable interest from other city councils and designers. There are now a number of similar projects under development elsewhere in Holland.

Ask and ask again

On the theme of asking children what they want, Dr Ko Senda from Tokyo spoke at a conference in Reading organised by the Sensory Trust – entitled the ‘Ask’ conference (Spring 08). The aim of the conference was to share the experiences of a range of researchers from around the world who are endeavouring to understand how to help children have more opportunity for outdoor play in quality environments. A critical element in the process is consultation with both disabled and non-disabled children to understand their needs and wants. Dr Senda asked the groups that he works with what is it that makes an exciting outdoor experience for children, how can this be improved at specific sites and through the activities they offer. Part of his research involved giving children cameras and asking them to photograph what was important to them in their experience outdoors. Ko’s work highlighted the different perceptions that disabled and non-disabled children have, for exampled the way in which non-disabled children recorded objects and things they liked, whilst disabled kids focussed on how places made them feel.

Above: Hands on learning in the outdoor classroom at Coombes School

UK, the Green City and 'play'

The UK is very much a leader in the realm of reconnecting children and the outdoors and outdoor education. Susan Humphries (Headteacher of Coombes School, Wokingham, Berkshire from 1971-2002) has pioneered the concept of the ‘outdoor classroom’, creating with her team a fabulous learning and play resource. All year round children play and learn in naturalistic surroundings that incorporate woodland, water, crop and livestock production (the school has its own mini flock of sheep) as well as science (the geology trail) and fantasy (its very own modern-day Neolithic monument!). Not only has Coombes become an exemplar for other schools in terms of outdoor learning – Susan regularly advises and runs schools workshops throughout the country – it also earns the highest praise from Ofsted. Inspectors in 2007 described it as: ‘an outstanding and inspirational school that prepares children very well for learning and later life’. In an earlier report, Ofsted observed that ‘the school makes outstanding use of the outside environment as a resource for teaching and learning’.


Above: Use of some of the outdoor classroom space at Coombes

The Eden Project too is developing an experiential programme to get kids playing and learning outdoors. The team is motivated by the fact that today’s kids are not playing outside as much as they did, are missing out on some of the best of childhood and that some serious consequences are likely to arise from this. Already Unicef identifies UK children as some of the unhappiest in the West and the UK government identifies lack of outdoor play as significant a factor in the incidence of childhood obesity as junk food. Eden’s ‘Mud between the toes’ programme offers activities on-site including den-building, fire-making and other survival skills, a schools programme exploring local wildlife places and a major research programme to promote nature-based play.

Play England, (with counterparts Play Scotland, Wales and Play Board Northern Ireland) is part of the National Children’s Bureau and is funded by the Big Lottery Fund to the tune of £155 million. Its mission is to promote excellent free play opportunities for all children and young people. It provides advice and support to promote good practice and works to raise the profile of play among policy-makers, planners and the public. August 6th was Playday 2008 and nearly 500 000 kids got outside and experienced the kind of play that everyone working in this field wants to promote: climbing trees, playing with water, running and chasing – experiencing the kinds of things that most adults cherish as their fondest memories of childhood. Detergent brand Persil supported Playday 2008 as part of its ‘Every child has the right’ (to be a child) campaign.

Figures released by Play England reveal that 70% of adults enjoyed most of their adventures in outdoor environments compared with 29% of today’s children, suggesting that the efforts going into reversing these trends is essential. Parents and children must be part of the process as it is in many cases parents’ fear of accident and injury that sees them banning tree climbing or water-play. Persil acknowledges the pressures that exist for modern parents and promote play ideas, and the desirability of adventurous, unstructured games directly to consumers. The intervention of brand leaders in this way contributes to reinforcing the message.

The value of play in general has been recognised for long enough. The realisation now that it is the informal, unstructured elements that are so important demands that as society we provide the facilities that our children need to create their own games. Discover the case-studies here for yourselves and do what you can to make this kind of play more available.

The Green City initiative promotes the view that proper provision of high quality outdoor space, with a strong green element is central to improving life for our children.