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Friedberg, M. PaulPlaygrounds for City Children.Association for Childhood Education International,Washington, D.C.Bulletin-27-A6960p.Association for Childhood Education International,3515 Wisconsin Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20016($1.50, payment must accompany orders less than$5.00)

MF-$0.75 HC Not Available from EDRS. PLUS POSTAGEChildhood Needs; Found Spaces; *Inner City; *Play;Playground Activities; *Playgrounds; Recycling;*Toys; *Urban Renewal*Creative Play

ABSTRACTThe work of a contemporary landscape architect is a

living realization of the possibilities for increasing children'slearning by improving play environment. The designer's philosophy andphotographs of six playgrounds are contained in this bulletin,directed wherever there is need to make parks and school playgroundsopen, aesthetic, and welcoming places for children to live and play.(Photographs may reproduce poorly.) (Author/MLF)

PE RM,SSION TO WE PRODUCE THISCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL BY MICRO.FICHE ONLY HAS BUN GRANTED BY

TO ERIC AND OR AN.ZATiONS OPERATiNG UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONFURTHER REPRODUC T iON OUTSIDETHE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSiON OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER

U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,EDUCATION I WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCE° EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATH4G IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

by M. Paul Friedbergwith foreword by Dell C. Kjer

Associate Editor: Sylvia Sunder linEditorial Assistant: Brooke Wills

(Bulletin 27-A, Included In 1968.69 Annual Bulletin Order)

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Contentspage

Preface 4

Foreword 5

Playgrounds for City Children 6

The Child and Nature 12

Traditional Playgrounds or Raw Spaces 16

Carver House 20

Riverview Towers 22

Jacob Riis House 24

Buchanan School (Washington, D. C.) 30

Public School 166 (Manhattan) 34

Bedford Stuyvesant Vest Pocket Park(Brooklyn) 38

Housing and Urban DevelopmentDemonstration Grant 44

Art and Play 48

Play 52

Selected Readings/Credits 56

Preface

In publishing this bulletin written by M. PaulFriedberg, landscape architect, the Associationfor Childhood Education International is mindfulthat here are presented the views of one personoutside the discipline of education. The foreword,which follows immediately, by Dell C. Kjer, pastPresident of ACEI, will give credence to accept-ance of Mr. Friedberg's material as the bold,imaginative presentation of ideals not at variancewith ACEI philosophy but rather a living realiza-tion of the possibilities for Increasing children'slearning by improving play environment andstrongly relevant to the 1970 Study Conferencetheme, "Children and Their Expanding World."

Paul Friedberg himself is constantly growing.His growth in understanding of children's, par-ents' and the community's needs is evident herein his progression, and constant experimenting,

4

toward the ideal as he has expressed it else-where: "What we would hope to work toward indeveloping playgrounds is to interpret the naturalenvironment into urban terms, freeing childrenfrom the stultifying structures of the traditionalplayground and allowing them to construct theirown play environment with the minimum of super-vision."

What has been done in New York and Wash-ington, as shown here in many photographs, canbe done in other city ghetto areas, in suburbs orsatellite cities, in small towns or middle-sizedtownswherever there is need to make parksand school playgrounds open, aesthetic andwelcoming places for children to live and play.

SYLVIA SUNDERLINAssociate Editor

Foreword

In keeping with its history of an interdisciplinaryapproach to the implementation of its purposes,the Association for Childhood Education Interna-tional presents the work of a well-known contem-porary landscape architect, M. Paul Friedberg, toall who are responsible for planning playgroundsand to all others who are interested in improvingthe lives and education of children.

The ideas expressed in the words and creativeplaygrounds of Mr. Friedberg seem to be inkeeping with, and illustrative of, those things wedesire for all children.

The Friedberg playgrounds, presently avail-able to children in a few crowded cities, are uni-versal in their appeal and equally suited to theneeds of children in suburban and rural commu-nities. The principles and beliefs underlying thedesign are those which ACEI has professed forover seventy-five yearsthe "power of play," theopportunity to learn through self-initiated activ-ities, the right of every child to participate in suchactivitythese are among the beliefs we all holdas expressed by Friedberg. Other educational

5

principles inherent in his work are the moreobvious principles of "flexibility," "adaptability,""challenge," and "economy"to name a few.These are elements of all good educational pro-grams and are found in other recent develop-ments in the field of play and recreation, such asthe "adventure playgrounds" developed in thelast few years in Europe and the United States.

But, perhaps the most unique of Friedberg'scontributions arises from the soul of the artist.For he still believes in the mystery of childhoodand, one would assume, in the value of childhoodas a period of life that has merit within itself, notmerely as a kind of preparation for adulthood.

Thus, to become acquainted with the work ofan architect and his colleagues that meets thedemands of these difficult times, that dares prom-ise of facilitating a belief in the spirit of the child,should lift the spirits of all of us who work withchildren.

DELL C. KJER, Professor of EducationTowson State CollegeBaltimore, Maryland

M. PAUL FRIEDBERG

Because there is so much at stake during theearly part of a child's life, it is important toevaluate how he gains early education. Head Startand other early childhood programs have drawnattention to the importance of early education andattempts to start the educational process prior tothe traditional kindergarten. A child's home lifewill have the major effect upon him in the yearsfrom one to five. Although it is possible to modifythe home life, as would be desirable in manyareas, efforts to achieve notable improvementswould require a great deal of time. Unluckily, thefamilies with the most urgent need for change areleast articulate, least vocal about their needs; analteration of the social and economic order wouldbe required to modify the home life. In view of theimprobability of this alteration, the public environ-mentparticularly in depressed economic areasbecomes more important. Improvement in thequality of public life can have great effect.

Second to the home, the public environmentinfluences a child, for the city child spends nearlyas much time in his early years in the playgroundand street as in his home. The importance of thequality of the public environment cannot be un-derestimated; yet the briefest perusal will revealin our cities the most barren surroundings. Theplaygrounds are destitute and sterile, and thestreets are filled with fast-moving traffic. None-

6

theless, the outdoor public environment, which isbasically physical, is more easily manipulatedthan indoors. It is the place most likely to bechanged, so there we direct our efforts.

Out of doors, many children can come incontact with rich experience, which expandstheir awareness; only through awareness is un-derstanding reached. The primary objective asfar as children are concerned should be the crea-tion of a fabric of richness, because an enrichedenvironment stimulates the play process. It iscommonly said that to a child his work is play,and his play is work. Through this activity heworks toward maturity, by coming in contact withmany realities that manifest themselves in social,physical, psychological and cognitive fulfillments.Deprivation of experience stifles the ability todevelop and limits the whole child. Childrenshould be stimulated to interrelate, to be involved,to participate, contribute and perceive.

Existing Playgrounds

To evaluate progress, you must see where youstand now and see where you have been. In playfor urban children, this is a matter of reviewingthe present form of providing recreation for thosewho live in cities. Playgrounds first came intobeing late in the nineteenth century but did notbecome widespread until the early part of the

twentieth. As the cities became large and moredensely populated and open space within citiesbecame less available and as it became moredifficult for residents to get out of the city intothe open surrounding areas, there was a growingneed for space to play. And so came about thegrouping of abstract activities normally experi-enced in naturesuch as sliding, swinging andbalancing in a single spot, the playground. Atfirst, to those who developed facilities for theseactivities and for children to whom they werenovel, these were quite exciting and inviting. Wehave progressed little since. We have standard-ized the elements into a square of sterility. Rockpiles have been bulldozed and hills have beenleveled into flat asphalt slabs on which super-structures are erected only to hang swings andstand slides.

The fact that life and city have changed has notsignificantly altered the play area. The fact, aspsychologists tell us, that environment plays amajor part in growth has not altered the appear-ances or function of these play areas. For ex-ample, we have fully accepted the notion of a

slide as being a steel tripod elevated from fourto ten feet, with steps leading to the point ofdeparture. We try to overcome the inherent dan-gers of this piece of equipment by placing avariety of resilient surfaces at the bottom. Thedanger of the swing is obviated by increasing thesize of its surrounding cage. All these thingsprovide one-dimensional activity, and the limitsset have never been questioned until now, morethan a half-century later.

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The deficiencies of today's playgrounds, aswell as of the street and sidewalk, are mostclearly defined when contrasting the activities ofa child in a natural environment. For here he isexposed to a wealth of experiencessteppingstones across a stream, a slide down or a climbup a hill, balancing on a fence, digging in theearth, climbing a tree, throwing a rock. In nature,the child doesn't need devices, for he manufac-tures his own interests from the wealth of re-sources at his fingertips. These resources havequalitiescolor, sound, odors, textures, heat andcold. He doesn't consider any one spot as hisplayground; his playground is the world.

Back to Nature's Variations

The child's approach to every kind of resourcein the natural environment should be consideredin the development of the city play environment.It may not be impossible but it is very unlikelythat man will ever bring that total experience backinto the city. The idea would be to abstract fromthe child's actin ities those in nature most univer-sal or basic to living today and relate them to anurban setting. The objective becomes that ofcondensing the many square miles of countrysetting into a half-acre of city space.

In recent years, city parks have been taking anew form. Physically the new form provides muchof the activity Lf natural topography. The geom-etry of the urban terrain is obviously governed byits relation to the total cityscape; but whether playequipment takes the form of a cone, cube orsphere, the activity of climbing up, down, around

and through is very much a part of the physicalexperience. The notion of high and low is a partof man's physical experience. The notion of highand low is extremely important to a child, forwhen he is low he is very small indeed and whenhe is high he is bigger than you. His relationshipsare quite simplified and unsophisticated. To begreat is to be bigger than. Topography can pro-vide interest.

Varied topography can also provide safety. Amajor problem of the flat asphalt surface com-mon in playgrounds is that it does not provide thenecessary curb to random movement. Many acci-dents in the playgrounds are caused by the col-lision of two children running at full speed acrossa flat open area. Through studied configuration,the arecs can be broken down into many sectors,reducing the amount of uncontrolled movementwhile providing a series of intimate spaces inwhich children gather comfortably.

Topographic variation can also provide vantagepointshigh areas where two or more childrencan group and engage in passive play, includingwatching other children from their overlook.Children learn from each other by watching. Theiroverlook allows them to group together for socialinteraction and, importantly, to rest while still in-volved in the total play environment.

A playground can be complex without beingchaotic. The topographic anatomy is the founda-tion for complexity and variety in such a creationas a superstructure that lends itself to additionand inclusion of slides, tunnels and swings. Com-plexity allows for continued interest, discoveryand choice. Choice is the beginning of the proc-

8

ess of discrimination, and discrimination is learn-ing. The more choices a child has the more in-volved he becomes, and involvement connotes acommitment.

Complexity Without Rigidity

But in the use of traditional playground equip-ment little choice is possible. The traditional slideallows one approach to the summK, the ciimb upthe set of steel stairs; the expelience is the slidedown. No matter how many times the child re-peats this, it would be riticult for him to gainmore than this single-dimension activity from thisfacility. The slide is out of context; it stands apartfrom any other object or activities. A child mustconform to the preconceived idea of its use. Atthe risk of disobeying the standardized safetyrules of the playground, he may elaborate hislearning opportunities by climbing up the wrongway or shinnying up the supporting legs. Usually,these activities are not allowed.

Now picture a hill that has the same elevationas a slide but can be approached from 360 de-grees by a climb to the summit, large enough toaccommodate a sizeable group of children. Thereis a slide, one method of getting down built rightinto the side of the hill. There is a maze of tunnelsthrough the hill to a central core open to the sky,where there is a ladder to the top of the hill, alsogiving access to the slide. Then there is an ad-jacent hill with an arched ladder or overheadclimber connecting the two hills, yet anotheravenue leading to the slide. Let the slide be wideenough to take two, three or four children.

Many things can happen as an ancillary to theactivity of sliding. Then a playground is complexand meaningful.

A playground should be a sensuous textilewoven of touch, smell, sight, hearing and (butthat it could!) taste. Areas of differing color, vary-ing textures and resonance should be built intothe armature of topography. There is a consciousapproach to tactile variation in the use of differ-ent materials. Wood and stone provide contrastto the sense of touch; there is cold, hard concreteand sunwarmed sand. In the frame bordering thissetting there could be planted flowers to smell!There might be walls for banners to be hung andmurals to be painted. For something to listen to,a series of oil drums of different heights, eachproducing a different sound, can be jumped orbanged upon.

A playground should have challenge. All toooften the consideration of safety limits the degreeof challenge to the child. A basic problem is tomitigate the danger and still provide a reasonablechallenge to the child. Challenge prepares a childfor maturity by developing a knowledge of hispersonal capabilities. He finds out how high hecan go. how long he can balance, the extent ofhis endurance and the foolishness of overextend-ing himself.

Challenge creates the basic interest for a childat play, and physical challenge is a major portionof this interest. The mastery of challenge is anaccomplishment and can be developed by thecreation of a series of preliminary steps that pre-pare one for the final goal. If the design does notallow for gradual orientation and the development

9

of experience, then the progression is out ofbalance. Challenge becomes dangerous onlywhen the child is forced to overextend himself.

Safety is, naturally, a major concern of theparent. A playground should be safe but not atthe expense of experience, for play is a part ofpreparation for the reality of mature life with itsbuilt-in dangers. As the child grows, he mustsometime learn to cross a street, climb a stair, flya plane. But all these activities are done withinrational limitations. The object in the playgroundis not to create dangers from which the child willrequire protection. The traditional swing, a steelslab hung on the end of a chain has, judging fromthe nJrnber of its victims, proven to be the mostdangerous object in the playground. Like sliding,there is nothing wrong with swinging; the prob-lem is the swing. A simple, old, discarded tiretied to the limb of a tree has long provided amost enjoyable and safe activity for rural chil-dren. But even in the city, that same tire hung bya substantial rope, chain or cable can provide asafe and social play experience. The form is theanswer. If you are bumped by the tire, the worstresult might be a good push. The fact that two orthree children can experience the same activityat one time broadens its use, as the swing thenbecomes social.

Play is not only for the development of thephysical and manual skills; it is also a trainingground for social interaction, as through play chil-dren become accustomed to interrelating withothers. From play come the benefits of mutualexperiences and the shared task.

Designing for FlexibilityIn the above I have only begun to explore the

quality of creative play. To develop activities thatmeet a child's needs, it is necessary to knowchildren and specifically the child that the play-ground is being designed for. The designer musthere rely on the endeavor for F-,s direction, forthe task of design is a challenge in itself.

At the present time there is no single collectionpoint for the information and knowledge gainedfrom the individual designer's experience. Eachdezigner must rely on publisned information andhis own information, neither of which is too great.One suggestion is that responsibility for the accu-mulation and collation of experience be assumedby the manufacturer of playground equipment.Then all designers who involve themselves withplaygrounds could easily contribute and receiveinformation from this clearing house, The manu-facturer should have this information in order tocontinue the process of development and im-provement. To eliminate the possibility of recur-ring mistakes and to have continued growth, thedesigner needs this information.

Underlying the problem, and the solution, ofwhat is required for children, is the question ofhow to provide it. The economics of today will notallow for uniquely designed facilities for everyplay space Fronomics and competition dictatemass production. But the manufacturer operates,of course, on the profit motive System. His cus-tomers are adults. Therefore, most equipmenttoday is geared to attract the adult buyer anddoes not necessarily reflect a child's needs. Toinvolve the manufacturer would seem to give eco-

10

nomic reality to the production of playgrounds,but until the manufacturers of playground equip-ment educate themselves as to real needs ofchildren or are educated, the designer is requiredto accept predesigned equipment. His job hasbeen reduced to choice of equipment and place-ment of it, in which he is limited in selection. Inmany cases the predesigned pieces are so uniquethat it becomes impossible to integrate them intothe over-all design.

What is needed is a universal design that canmeet the needs of children and that has the flexi-bility for designers to use as a tool in achieving atotal concept, a product that can be reasonablymanufactured, shipped and assembled and mod-ified as ideas and information about play change.It should be a facility so flexible that it can bemodified when it becomes obsolete or when thereare inherent design errors.

We spoke before of a hill, an artificial repro-duction of natural topography. Such a hill hasbeen used in playgrounds, constructed of brickand mortar, reproducing to some extent the natu-ral environment. This idea is certainly a stepastep away from the flat asphalt toward a moreflexible and natural foundation for play. By com-parison with usual playgrounds it is very success-ful; however, the hill ;s still a static, immutablething. A child uses the playground for approxi-mately five years; in that time it should continuallyoffer him new possibilities. Great adaptability isneeded, through the addition of other, change-able elements.

To answer this need for greater flexibility wehave developed modular units which, when as-

sembled, can provide the necessary variety. Thisis much the same process by which individualbricks take on the many different building formsfor which they are used. The modular systemallows for the development of a total environ-ment, the core of which is a megastructureagiant primary structure to which can be attachedall the traditional playthings. However, the entireunit is transformed to be no longer a collectionof pieces, but one piece with a collection of activ-ities. The composition is not rigid and inflexible;it is possible to unbolt a portion or all of the play-ground and replace it with new or alternate com-positions.

To date, four different means have been ex-plored for making modular units. They are stackedtimber, tubular steel boxes, concrete "U" and "J"shapes, and pipe and cable structures. Extensivepreparation is not necessary before the installa-tion of the units, and no footings are required, asthe weight of the units and the size of the arearesting on the ground are sufficient to maintain thestability and permanence of he facility on thesurface. This means that all the money spent forthe playground provides facilities for play.

Installing a system of this kind also means thatonly a short time is required from the time of theidentification of the need for a play facility to theactual time of installation. A progressive parkdepartment could stockpile the necessary ele-ments for many playgrounds and have them readyfor use.

Modular units can be manufactured in factories,where labor costs are lower and the quality ofworkmanship is more consistent and higher. The

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installation operation is relatively simple and doesnot require highly skilled labor. The methodologyof construction is of great concern if we are to befurnished with sufficient numbers of play facilitiesin time to meet the needs of millions of childrenwho are growing up. We must look for economy,flexibility and immediacy.

Yet we must not box ourselves in, for in thefinal analysis the playground should never existas a separate and unique area away from thehome. A child does not stop playing when heleaves the playground. Our real responsibility isto create a total environment that embodies allthe characteristics that provide creative play;the ultimate goal is to have the child make hisown playground.

It may someday be the responsibility of thepark agencies to dump a truckload of styrofoamin an area and let the children build what theywish. Or it might be at other times a pile of woodor ropes or cables or boxes or a truckload of olddoors from a building site. These things would beplaced at the superstructure, something to placethe materials agairist. The urban designer couldprovide these backgrounds on a block-by-block,neighborhood-by-neighborhood and district-by-district level. And in these spaces the major hap-pening will occur in order of size and importance.

No more static seesaw! No more immutableconcrete turtles! Instead, a dynamic, ever-chang-ing and exciting environment, one in which a childcan participate. Participate, be involved with,contribute and learn. This may sound farfetched,visionary and Utopian; the only thing that I findfarfetched is the fact that it doesn't exist now.

The Child cnd 'bur°

The natural environmentrich, complex anddynamicoffers the child at play an interestingarray of materials and situations. Here, wherethere are no man-made contrivances, the childbuilds and invents as he explores. In nature hefinds:

(1) watermoving in streams, placid in lakes,dynamic in oceans

(2) earth, sand and stones to build with(3) natural geological formationsnature's

challenges for sliding, climbing andjumping

(4) trees to climb, to swing from, and in whichto build

(5) snow; puddles from sudden showers, and

12

many other rich, interesting, everchang-ing situations to challenge him physical..ly, stimulate and develop him creatively.

There is much to be learned from the worldnature provides for the child. It is the environ-mentnot the facilitiesto which ".ne child re-sponds. When the play situation is transposedfrom country to city, the experience of nature islost and in its place is fabricated for the child anartificial, stultifying play situation.

The obvious need of children is not just a placeto playa circumscribed area with three or fourpieces of equipment, swing by sandbox, slide byteeter-totter, side by sidebut a total world towhich he can respond.

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The traditional playground has been fashionedfrom a symmetrical square or oblong of space,soberly allocated by the city authorities for itsintended use. It has been flattened, squared off,and possibly skinned of its grass. The ubiquitousfence encloses it with its rules and regulationsstamped on the entry gate. No this, no that! If thechild is too young to read the big NO, there is nomistaking the restraint upon him as he enters.There are the spikes on the enclosing fence; alethal chain link encloses the set of swings andthe very stamp of regimentation is set upon thebattery of seesaws and the row of swings. Weknow it is a playground because of its sterilityand seal of authority.

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Now presumably the city fathers have alreadybuilt playgrounds on the city squares of half-acresor quarter-acres allotted to this use. So where dowe go for space to play?

The urban environment offers us a series ofleftover spaces, such as backyards; an empty lotwith a vagrant tree; perhaps a dumping place forabandoned cars, furniture, tin cans and bottles.

Even in a crowded city, in the shadow of tene-ment houses, in the narrow alleys, or on thatvacant lot, there are possibilities for retrievingthe wasted land and putting it to use for children'sliving.

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At Carver, where the two-block-long mall inan existing housing project was redeveloped, thenotion of play was dealt with in the most tradi-tional sense: arch climbers, wooden corrals andbalancing bars, which were considered sufficientfor the young residents. But, interestingly enough,the formality of the amphitheater steps and thehighly textured screen walls were infinitely moreexciting to the child, who could climb and jumpfreely and who could interpolate the objects inthe environment and accommodate them to hisnature of play. The formal playground itself liesdormant most of the time, with the exception ofthe sandbox, which offers a great variety of build-ing experience.

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It takes a while to destroy preconception;change is evolutionary rather than precipitous.To form a play environment at Riverview Towers,catalog equipment was intermixed with a seriesof terraced levels, which grew out of existingtopographic conditions. Observation during con-struction indicated that the total environment oflevel changes, concrete stepping stones, bridgesand slides was more exciting to the child than theformalized play facilities specified from thecatalog.*

The important lesson learned at Riverview wasthat by working with the existing topography wewere able to develop a rich fabric of opportunitywhich the child responded to. Too many so-calledplaygrounds have had the play value removed bydestroying the existing qualities of the site. AtRiverview we learned: that the child accepts and

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22

adapts himself to changes in topography; thatmovement itself becomes an important approachto play; that individual objects in an environmentare less important than a total environment; andthat play could exist on many levelsphysical,social and intellectual.

Again, as seen from the examples of the childin nature, the greater the variety of environmentalexperience the more exciting play becomes.

By no means do we mean to denigrate manufacturedequipment; in fact, the final responsibility for producingfacilities for the play environment must be with the com-mercial sector. Only a manufacturer can gather and syn-thesize information on a comprehensive scale to producenecessary facilities on a large-sLale economic basis. Theproblem today lies with the approach of the manufacturer,who deals with the unique, unchangeable, single-piece idea.Designs are so specialized that it is difficult to Integratethem into the total design; in many cases it is difficult tointegrate one piece with another, and the individual piecesare designed by several different designers.

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The designer, aware that play is not neces-sarily limited to the play area, can design environ-ments for living to meet various needs. At Riis,not only was the existing playground limited (afew concrete pipes, a small dome and a wallmaze with some painted games), but efforts wereconcentrated on growing grass rather than onneeds and interests of the residents.

The plaza was redesigned for recreation of allage groupsthe elderly, the teenager and thechild. Teenagers, whose need for privacy is greatduring transition from childhood to adult life,gravitate toward the semi-enclosed fountain areawhere they can be part of, and yet separate from,the other age groups.

The amphitheater is for all. In summer at leastfive nights a week there are various entertain-ments, such as plays, dancing groups and boxingmatches. This amphitheater becomes a giantspray pool during the day, where older children,whose chances for vigorous activity are relativelylimited in the city, can enjoy water play.

The playground is laid out in a group of sculp-tural block mounds. Relationships between themounds are critical, for they form the basis of"linked play," a concept offering exciting, deci-sion-making possibilities as the child goes fromone experience to the next. For instance, to getto the slide, the child is no longer restricted tostairs but can climb to the top of the mound fromany side or crawl through one of three tunnels

24

that penetrate to the center and climb a ladderup the opening to the top. There are inherenteducational possibilities for the child who can sitawhile and rest while watching others below.

In linked play the child can get from one placeto another by ..aing stepping stones, arch climb-ers, bridges or even the slide. He can movethroughout the playground on different levels, atground or intermediate level; on stepping stonesor over the heads of other children by use ofclimbers or bridge.

Materials used in Riis are mostly natural mate-rials. The granite blocks have small projectionsor depre6sions to make climbing easier, withvaried and graduated heights to permit childrenof different ages to play simultaneously in thesame area. The trellises placed throughout thesite have been repeated in the playground wherethey are much lower for younger children toclimb without having to exceed their skill levels.:f challenge is inherent in the playground experi-ence the child will be less likely to seek challengein the street or in more dangerous situations.

Riis is basically a child's world. There are nofences; the design is geared toward freedom inusing space. Rich, heavy materialsdurableenough for a great deal of use and abusewood,granite blocks, bricks; water and sand; sculptureand planting attract many to an everchangingenvironment.

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As the idea of a total environment for play andrecreation becomes more strongly established inthe mind of the designer, many opportunitiesbecome available. The schoolyard of Buch'nan,which was a flat asphalt area enclosed by achain-link fence, was modified under an Astorfund grant into a community recreational facility.The sidewalk was widened to become a sittingarea for elderly persons and other adults. Treeswere planted close together to form a canopy ofleaves over the sitting area. The view was orientedprimarily toward the children's play area. Thedesign of the play area offers a wide range ofexperience and challenge to the broadest pos-sible age profile. There are stepping columns,bridges, tree houses, modular concrete units, acable spiderweh, arch climbers with swings sus-pended from them, a mound with three slides andtunnels, and a cable slide from the summit of themound to the sand area in the valley.

30

Beyond the playground is a depressed basket-ball court, which accommodates the school dur-ing the day for free play activities and is used byteenagers after school and on weekends. Thesteps for the depressed basketball courts offerspace for informal games; it is also used as anamphitheater. By depressing the basketball courtwe have,. through design, eliminated the usualfenced enclosure. Beyond the basketball courtare a snack b .r, restrooms, and athletic director'soffice.

The use of this rather limited space has beenexpanded by juxtaposing the facilities for variousage groups. The young child watches the olderchild, the older child watches the teenager, theadult views the entire area; this interaction cre-ates a participant-viewer situation. The child be-comes the actor, the adult the spectator. Therecan be observation without policing.

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The schoolyard at P.S. 166 is of modest pro-portions. In this rather limited space (100' x 175'),there has been incorporated a kindergarten playarea, an amphitheater, an underground comfortstation, a variety of play facilities, including con-crete modular units, spring pads, wood steppingblocks, outdoor blackboard, arch climbers, geo-desic domes with swings attached and woodbridges. On the street, a small indentation pro-vides a sitting area with benches and chess tables.

The amphitheater is transformed into a giantspray pool on days when the area is not beingused by the school. Concrete walls have beentextured and painted in primary colors. The kin-dergarten play area is very much the same qualityas the total area except that facilities have been

34

scaled down to meet the size of the three- to six-year-olds. Placing the facilities of one agn groupnext to another permits the younger children todevelop skills as they observe the older childrenin action.

By using the space under the large slidemound for the comfort station we were able toprovide much-needed bathroom facilities withoutusing up any space from the playground itself.The geodesic dome offers an opportunity to playat three different levels. There is sand under thedome, swings hang into the space formed by thesemicircle, and the structure itself offers a climb-ing opportunity. Therefore, children play on threelevels with a reasonable compatibility and safety.

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In the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyna vacant lot was transformed into a vest pocketpark to be used for a period of two to three yearswhile a larger parcel of land was being preparedfor a housing project. The park project was basedon the notion of self-help. The people of thecommunity were given the opportunity to buildtheir own park on the theory that they would in-crease their self-respect and pride through theact of construction; unfortunately this idea provedfallacious.

It was quickly seen that in a poor community,one could not ask local residents to give awaytheir labor, the only available commodity, theonly means they had to earn money. Therefore,some of the local unemployed men were givendecent wages to build the facility. The teenagersrequested an opportunity to work on the park andwere satisfied with modest payment. Youngerchildren ran errands and got involved in thepaintingvery much in the Tom Sawyer-HuckFinn tradition. The result was that in ten days thepark was completed.

It was noteworthy that the building of the play-ground was as much of a recreational experiencefor the children as was the final product; theywere involved with the real world, doing real

38

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things, and this was exciting. A lesson learned inthe building of the park was that in an area in adeteriorating state, it was not right to use second-hand materials that looked obviously used andinferior before their use on the site. But it wasessential to develop an exciting, well-built facilitywith which the local community could clearlyidentity.

The final product offered a wide range ofchoice, from wood stepping columns to treehouses; balancing pipe, slide poles, and pipeclimbers. A small amphitheater built into the siteoverlooking an open flat area is used for volley-ball games or as a small stage for local produc-tions.

Walls were painted by students from Pratt Insti-tute. The whole development of the vest pocketpark was a modest but revealing experiment,indicating that a community could, under theright direction, find a reasonable amount of eco-nomic relief while rehabilitating their own physi-cal environment. It was also revealed to theresidents that play and construction were notseparate concepts for children, that limited, junk-filled lots could have positive, fruitful use and thatmen could find paid employment and take prideand responsibility in the meaningful regenerationof their neighborhood.

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For the massive program implied in developingsmall block-by-block facilities essential for bothyoung and elderly, one could not rely on indi-vidual design and specialized building techniques.Moreover, if the final answer to playgrounds isthe systems approach, the manufacturers wouldbecome involved, and rightly, for they can providequality and economy on a large-scale basis.

Through the Beautification Act, a federal grantmade possible some experimentation. Four mod-ular systems were designed which could be stock-piled and quickly placed on a site requiring afacility.

Because these modular systems do not requirefootings, they can be erected for a short time(one or two years) and easily dismantled withoutany great capital loss. The only expense is forlabor in erecting and dismantling. An advantageis that changes or additions can be made as de-fects are observed or new ideas developed. As aplay facility would be in place during the life ofthe child user, it was important to consider howthe playground itself could be modified period-ically to sustain continued interest for the child.

The four systems were:1. Stacked wood timbers. These are 4" x 4"

treated fir timbers used to develop rectilinear andpyramidal forms through various connections,bridges, ramps and arch climbers. The woodforms can be connected to facilitate continuous

44

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play. Swings are suspended from some bridgesor climbers. By connecting these large forms toone another, the total play area was increasedand security was strengthened as the change ofmovement was substantially diminished.

2. Tubular steel bars. These bars, bolted to-gether, form a large primary structure, from whichbridges, seesaws and swings are hung. Thestructure itself can be climbed on or through. Anartist-designed plaque could be attached to givethe structure color and dimension.

3. Concrete modular bases. From J and U unitsdoweled together and stacked are formed minia-ture urban developments. Swings, slides andslidepoles can be attached.

4. A series of pipe and cable units. Althoughprimarily for climbing, this unit can also be usedfor playing tag.

With the aid of a manual giving limited instruc-tions, local communities could design and erecttheir own play facilities. Built-in flexibility andease of modification assure easy revision if thereis obvious error. Because these are manufactureditems, there is a reasonable guarantee of quality.

Since no foundations are required, the moneyis spent for above-ground facilities as opposedto the traditional approach in which one-third ofthe cost is for below-ground foundations thathave no play value whatsoever.

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Having artists and sculptors design pieces forchildren to play upon often leads to an unprofit-able compromise, not only for the artist, whomust modify his aesthetic tastes to accommodateplay, but also for the child, who may find that thefacility offers only limited play possibilities. It is,of course, important to expose the child to art.Ideally, children should come to feel comfortableand at ease with works of art. With frequent ex-posure, his sense of perception will expand, butit is wrong to pervert the child's idea of an artobject to that of a plaything. If a piece has anyplay value that is an extra benefit, not its primarypurpose. Art should not be confined to galleriesand museums, where children are conducted onannual or semiannual pilgrimages by teachers orparents to give them their quota of contemporaryculture. Nor should the artist have to subvert hisprimary purpose to accommodate physical play.

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Play is a continuum of either mental or physicalactivity. The following is a miscellany of physicalplay experience:

You see the springboard, a 4' by 4' platformsupported on four truck springs that jiggle andmove in response to the child's action. He mayjump from one to the next and feel the changeand movement resulting from the kinetic energyof the spring.

Stepping stones and climbing units offerchoices. Here the pattern and size of the columnallow a number of path opportunities. The childcan go up and play individually by accepting thechallenge of achieving the summit of the highest.Games of tag are possible, either at ground levelor from top-of-column to top-of-column. Columnscan be chalk-numbered for sequence. By them-selves they, might prove limited but when com-bined with other opportunities they are one se-quence of the whole. Stepping timbers formbridges, caves, vantage points; they can becarved, punctured and modified. The bridge givescontinuity to movement and action and gives thechild the opportunity for improving balance skillswhile he crosses both physically and mentallyfrom one activity center to the next.

A swing, which normally might be considered apotentially lethal but exciting experience, hasbeen modified to the most rational forma

52

simple, round tire, which in form and substance issafe. The platform permitting more than one at atime to swing enhances cooperation and inter-action. The child's capabilities are expanded. Heflies, he floats, he rocks. The swing is an exten-sion of his feet as are skates to the skater, orskis to the skier.

Very much as a swing expands the capabilitiesof the human body, so too the slide allows forrapid, graceful action. By expanding the widthand length of the slide, the experience can beexpanded. The older child expresses his inter-pretation of the play piece by pitting his ownskills or strength against the traditional use. Theyoung child will slide on the seat of his pants. Ifan older child tries to jump the entire length ofthe slide and misses, the angled side cushionsthe tall and deposits him in the sandpit below.

There is need for play with movable material.Since the playground was not fenced off duringthe construction of the playground at P.S. 166,the children were free to play on the site andmake use of the cobblestones and boards. Playduring this period was perhaps richer and moreimaginative than that upon the completion of theplayground, a disappointing but real fact indicat-ing the need for an expanded and enlightenedapproach to even the most creative of play-grounds.

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Selected ReadingsLady Allen of Hurtwood. Planning for Play, Lem-

don: Thames and Hudson, 1968.

Association for Childhood Education Interna-tional. Housing for Early Childhood Educa-tion. Washington: The Association, 1968.

. Physical Education for Children's Health-ful Living. Washington:. The Association,1968.

Frank, Lawrence. Play Is Valid. Washington: As-sociation for Childhood Education Interna-tional, 1968.

56

Photo CreditsAll photographs, except those indicated below, were supplied by M.Paul Friedberg. Credit and thanks are due the following: Donna Harris,photographer, Merri llPalmer Institute, Detroit, p. 2; Bill Anderson,photographer, New York, p. 14 (outside photo), p. 28 (outside photo);Michael Sullivan, photographer, Office of Economic Opportunity, p. 19

(bottom photo); David Hirsch, photographer, New York, pp. 21, 25, 26,27, 28 (inside photo), 29 (two inside photos), 31, 32, 33, 48, 47, 49 and50 (inside photo); Murray Fles, photographer, New York, p. 41 (topphoto), p. 42 (inside photo); Katrina Thomas, photographer, New York,p. 45; Alexander Georges, photographer, New York, p. SO (outsidephoto); Wayne L. Schiffelbein, photographer, New York, p. 54 (bottomoutside photo).

Selected ACEI Publications

Bulletins

Aides to Teachers and Children-24-A. Practicaland informative discussions on selection andtraining of aides, 12 articles, bibliography. 64 pp.$1.50.

B ibliography of Books for Children-37. 1968 rev.Selected list, annotated, classified, prices, agelevels. 132 pp. $1.50.

B its & Pieces: imaginative Uses for Children'sLearning-20-A. Teachers, Head Start experts,parents demonstrate uses of finds, leftovers, andgive sways to increase children's skills and learn-ing. 72 pp. $1.25.

Children and TV: Television's Impact on the Child21-A. Articles from many points of view on tele-vision's impact on children. Illustrated with photo-graphs and imaginative drawings. 62 pp. $1.25.

Equipment and Supplies-39. 1968 revision. Listsof materials for nursery, kindergarten, primary,intermediate; classified lists of tested and ap-proved products. Age levels. Classified index;directory of manufacturers and distributors. 120pp. $1 50.

Housing for Early Childhood Education: Centersfor Growing and Learning-22-A. Educators,architects, school administrators discuss inter-action of program and facilities in planning, build-

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

ing anew or remodeling early childhood learningcenters. 84 pp. $1.50.

Let's Make a Picture. San Diego County, Depart-ment of Education, art guide on approaches toteaching art; developmental levels in paintingand drawing, teaching ideas. Bibliography. Illus.in beautiful color; black-and-white line drawings.74 pp. $2.25.

Physical Education for Children's Healthful Living23-A. New concepts of physical education.Basic movements, sequential skills. 80 pp. $1.50.

Leaflets & Flyers

Films for Early Childhood EducationM. Anno-tated list compiled by ACEI Nursery School Edu-cation Committee. 16 pp. 500 ea.; 5 copies, $2.Play Is Valid CE-3. Lawrence K. Frank presentsACEI's position on value of play. 8 pp. 10G ea.;25 copies, $2.

The World in Children's Picture BooksN. Com-piled for X11th World Assembly of OMEP. 16 pp.500 ea.; 5 copies, $2.

Creating with Materials for Work and Play-5.1969 revision. Articles on use of clay, paints,paper, block, wood, puppets, musical instru-ments; science materials, cooking, room environ-ment, formulas, natural materials. 12 leaflets,$1.25.

Nursery School Portfolio -1. The nursery schoolchild, his needs; the nursery school. 1969 revi-sion. 16 leaflets, $1.50.

The above publications may be ordered directly fromAssociation for Childhood Education International

3615 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20016

A complete publications list with membership information will be sent upon request. (Orders amountingto less than $2 cannot be billed. Include check or money order payable to ACEI.)

654)ASSOCIATION forCHILDHOOD EDUCATION

swoop INTERNATIONAL

3613 WISCONSIN AVE, N.W., WASHINGTON, D. C. 20016 BEST COP1 AVAILABLE

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION (ACEI's Official journal): Bringsyou each month professional articles, editorials, reviews and newsnotes. Published monthly, September through May. Membership(includes subscription to magazine with the Eranch Exchangeinserted) 1 Yr. 36.Annual Bulletin Order (includes the ACEI Yearbook and allbulletins and leaflets published during the year) $10.