Playgrounds that Inspire
Written by Beth Flanagan
When we were kids, we had rope swings. We built forts. We built toboggans out of cardboard boxes and coasted down grassy hills. We adventured – the world was our playground. But times have changed. America’s children are bored these days. They play video games and watch TV for stimulation. So, what do you do when the average playground leaves them yawning?
Here’s one story of an incredible playground that happened by accident.
Originally built as an exhibition piece by Jessica Stockholder, the NYC Madison Square Park multicolored platform, with its geometric form and blue “sandbox” mulch, immediately drew the attention of children - swarms of them - like bees to honey. Though it was never intended to be a playground, it’s obvious that this is what kids want.
The artist at her installation at Madison Square Park
Stockholder, who loves to watch people interact with her art projects, was genuinely amazed at the public excitement over the new installation. “I’ve never worked in a place like this, with all these people and kids,” she told the New York Times. “I didn’t realize it would be such a magnet, that it would be the thing people really wanted to sit on, and that kids would like it so much.”
Perhaps the project speaks to a societal need for uninhibited imagination, more freedom and brighter colors.
Here are some more awesome playgrounds – just because:
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