Saturday, January 30, 2010

Something else to be in love with


I had never heard of this until this week... and now my heart is bleeding because I want one nearby so much. Adventure Playground in Berkeley. It's a major pet peeve of mine, the fact that all playgrounds are exactly the same these days, and I have this dream for a brilliant and amazing playground made from salvaged materials for Austin Creative Reuse. But this is all that and a bag of chips, to say the least. This is the description on their site:

"The Adventure Playground at the Berkeley Marina was opened 30 years ago in 1979. It is a wonderfully unique outdoor facility where staff encourage children to play and build creatively. Come climb on the many unusual kid designed and built forts, boats, and towers. Ride the zip line or hammer, saw, and paint. By providing these low risk activities Adventure Playground creates opportunities for children to learn cooperation, meet physical challenges and gain self confidence. The concept for Adventure Playgrounds originated in Europe after World War II, where a playground designer studied children playing in the "normal" asphalt and cement playgrounds. He found that they preferred playing in dirt and lumber from the post war rubble. He realized that children had the most fun designing and building their own equipment and manipulating their environment. The formula for Adventure Playgrounds includes Earth, fire, water, and lots of creative materials."


I love it, I love it, I love it so much. Is there a limit to things I can create in this lifetime?? I feel like I want to do it all.


Check out this story on NPR about Adventure Playgrounds. Apparently there are 3 in the U.S. but thousands across Europe. ARRRRR, America, get it straight why don't you!!










4 comments:

Nicole B. said...

very cool!

outlawjosywales said...

wow, that is amazing. its hard to imagine something like that here, but it would awesome. i think it would be really hard to get my boy to leave that place.

Alicia said...

I think you are just the person to get that going here in Austin!

Kami said...

Aw thanks, Alicia! I hope I do...