Listen
Explorations of our brains' fragility fill the pages of Michael Paul Mason's book "Head Cases."
Tomorrow's Playgrounds
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, April 15, 2008.
listen:
Back in the day, playgrounds looked a bit different. There was usually a swing set, some monkey bars, and maybe a merry-go-round to push. But as our society became more litigious, parks began to change. Soft sand and rubber chips replaced blacktop, and the traditional metal equipment was replaced by intertwined mazes of colorful tubes and chutes.
The evolution of playgrounds continues, though. A group in New York is developing a new park called an "Imagination Playground". It's fixtures encourage interaction and cooperation between children, and maybe most notably, on-site paid employees working as "Play Associates" to help kids use the park.
Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott talks about the future (and the past) of playgrounds with reporter Beth Jones and designer, inventor and child development researcher Jay Beckwith. Jay is sometimes called the "Father of Modern Playgrounds".
Click here to visit the website of New York's Imagination Playground.
Click here to visit Jay Beckwith's BOLDR website.
(Photo by Andrew Walsh)
Add new comment
Search us
Podcast
Word of Mouth is on the move! Sign up for our podcast and take the show wherever you go.
Contact us
Say what you want to say. How you want to say it. We want to hear from you.
About us
Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show takes the latest ideas and trends from every aspect of our culture and puts them under a microscope. Word of Mouth covers everything from healthcare and the environment, to technology and the internet, to books, movies, music and TV. The show airs Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.
Support From
 | |
THE NEXT GREEN THING
is supported by
supporting environmental education
and awareness and committed
to responsible forestry