I’ve thinking a lot about affordances recently. An affordance is something in the environment that makes an offer to a person, or that reveals a possible function. Here is an example: a flat hard surface about 20 – 40 cm off the ground affords sitting.
Posted in Outdoor play, play, Play spaces, playground, Public space
Tagged affordance, JJ Gibson, Marketta Kyttä, outdoor play, psychology, public space, Roger Barker, skateboarding
The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has announced the winners of the design competitions for the north and south hubs of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Congratulations to both winning teams, and commiserations to all the runners-up.
Posted in Nature, Outdoor play, play, Play spaces, playground, Public space
Tagged London, nature, Olympic park, outdoor play, play, playground, public space
How do you measure the child-friendliness of a neighbourhood? Here’s one test. Would you, as a parent of an 8-year-old child living in that neighbourhood, let your child make their own way to a shop and buy a popsicle (or any variety of ice-cream) – and could your child get the frozen treat back home before it melted?
Posted in Mobility, Outdoor play, Public policy, Risk, Urbanism
Tagged child-friendly cities, nature, outdoor play, planning policy, popsicle, Risk, urban design, urbanism
Photo by Phil Doyle
This afternoon I spoke at an event called ‘Taking Play Seriously’ in Melbourne, with a mixed audience of professionals, volunteers and parents. It followed my talk last week here at the Playgroup Australia conference. In the Q & A afterwards, one attendee – a local government employee and mother of three – told the audience how she had heard me speak last Thursday. Then two days later, her 10-year-old son had asked her if he could go to the local skatepark on his own.
Posted in Outdoor play, Parenting, Risk
Tagged outdoor play, parenting, skateboarding, skatepark
A few weeks ago, I got a call. Channel 4 News was planning to run a story on the death of a child in a school playground accident, and did I want to comment?
Posted in Education, Outdoor play, playground, Risk
Tagged child accidents, Media coverage, outdoor play, playground, Risk
I’m en route to Australia, where I’ll be giving talks to childcare agencies and children’s rights bodies, working with public health officials, and networking with child-friendly city projects. And I’m looking to you, my readers, for your ideas about how to make the trip more worthwhile. Continue reading
Posted in Mobility, Outdoor play, Public policy, Risk, Urbanism
Tagged Australia, child-friendly cities, nature, outdoor play, planning policy, Risk, urban design
