After an era of safety-conscious, luridly colored plastic and metal playgrounds, schools are returning to good old-fashioned wood.
Such is the case at Glencoe Primary School, where their newly-completed nature playground encourages exploration, imagination, and getting a bit scruffed up along the way.
Forming a playground committee last year, several teachers and members of the community have tried to create a space that will put creativity back into lunchtimes.
“We had a look at the needs, we also spoke to the children, and especially our sport teacher, to see what the needs were we had to look at, whether it was upper body strength, or balancing skills, that kind of thing,” year 1 teacher Benita Swart said.
She said they wanted to give the children an opportunity to do some free play and connect with the environment.
“You’d be amazed what they can think of when you give them the opportunity,” Ms Swart said.
She said they used the pit area to “toast marshmallows” on a pretend fire made of leaves, spent breaks mining “tree crystals” (better know to us as sap) and used the circuit of beams to avoid the “lava” of the wood-chipped ground.
“When the term started, it’s amazing how they had to report every scratch and every bump that happened… I said, that’s ok, you don’t die of scratches,” Ms Swart said.
“They’re used to smooth surfaces.”
The playground has, however, been designed with safety in mind, and was required to meet a certain set of standards, such as the height of the beams and areas for “soft fall”.
Community member Wayne Goring was responsible for the design and installation of the playground.
“He designed and made some of our bigger structures, so like the ropes, the climbing frame, the zig-zag balancing beam, and our bridge,” Ms Swart said.
“It’s lovely to see the children encouraging each other to climb those ropes and getting to ring the bell at the top.
“We are so pleased with what we’ve created.”
