Natural Playgrounds

The playgrounds most of us grew up on were the typical swings-and-slides variety, with some monkey bars and a merry-go-round thrown in. Many of those were replaced with brightly-colored plastic-molded playgrounds that seem fresh off an assembly line.

Last April we spoke with one of the major forces behind this type of park, Jay Beckwith. He’s been called the “father of modern playgrounds”. He told us that this approach needs to change – that playgrounds should encourage social and cooperative play, instead. He created a new model - The Imagination Playground in New York City, staffed with paid “play assistants”.

But there’s another model being developed right here in New Hampshire. Word of Mouth correspondent Willa Kammerer paid a visit to UNH’s Child Study and Development Center in Durham, and filed this story.

(Photo by Willa Kammerer)