A Different Approach to Play

Each August, it’s been a tradition that Scott Carson and I meet at the site of Collegiate’s newest construction to talk about the process, the progress, and the plan going forward. This time, it was the new, state-of-the-art playground, situated on the Lower School side of the creek between the Estes Multipurpose Building and the Grover Jones Field/Jim Hickey Track complex.

 

When we convened this very warm Thursday morning, our first order of business was to find some shade, which we quickly did under the canopy over the seating area adjacent to the work site. With generators cranking and workmen from Younger Services (Maryland) digging and plowing, Carson, Collegiate’s director of facilities management and construction, explained the project, actually the second phase of three, that was taking shape before our eyes.

 

“Phase I, which we’re standing under, is shade canopy and a terrace that can seat an entire Lower School grade level,” he said. “Feel that cool breeze?”

 

Actually, on this very hot day, I didn’t, but my recorder was running and Carson, a triathlete and marathoner, was extolling the health benefits of this new recreational area.

 

The initial phase, he said, included a plot of synthetic turf at the base of the steps.

 

“It was all mulch,” he said. “We love the turf because it’s low maintenance, and every Lower Schooler dreams of being Russell Wilson. They love throwing on the turf. It’s beautiful to watch.”

 

Phase II is the creation designed by Kompan from Denmark.

 

“They (Kompan) approach play in a much different way than conventional play companies like those based in the U.S.,” Carson said. “It’s less like forts and slides and more tension cables, physical challenges, upper body strength, mental acuity, leadership, lead-follow, follow directions, things like that. This is completely different than what we’ve done in the past, which is awesome.”

 

The study which has resulted in this innovative play area actually began several years ago. More recently, a committee including Collegiate administrators and teachers as well as Katherine Heidt, the Lower School nurse, conceived the plan that has come to fruition through the good graces of the Parents’ Association.

 

“We wanted something different,” Carson said. “The high and low ropes course that went in last year and is in plain sight was probably an inkling of what we could do here at the Lower School, on a different scale, of course.

 

“The pendulum in children’s play has really swung back and forth over the last 20 or 30 years. Now, you’re seeing the pendulum swing back to allow for more risk taking and decision making.”

 

With an emphasis on safety, of course, I said.

 

“Absolutely,” Carson responded. “Here, we’ll still have conventional slides down the hill and swing sets. In the central space, we’ll have a tower of cables called a SpaceNet. At the very top, there’ll be a ball that kids will ultimately climb to and hit. It’s a challenge, right? You want to get to the top. Not unlike reaching the crow’s nest in the ropes course.

 

“Off of the SpaceNet, we’ll have these vinyl nests like little tree houses which you climb up to and seek shelter, or children will perhaps develop games around lead-and-follow. Coming off that SpaceNet is a five-pipe system. This is a Parkour course, which has rope challenges between pipes to test not only your strength but your mental acuity and balance.”

 

This is certainly different, I commented.

 

“Kids are going to approach this in a number of different ways,” Carson said. “It’s not like, Here’s a slide. Go down a slide. Or this is a climbing structure. Let’s climb over it.”

 

There’s more.

 

“We’ll have Spicas, which are rods that come out of the ground that bend and twist and rotate,” he said. “Kids will get up and swing around on the bend of the pipe. Or just stay still. Or reach the top. It’s really up to them about how they use it. It has enough moveable safe pieces where our kids can figure it out on their own.”

 

The perimeter will be a rubberized safety surface, much like that on other Lower School play areas. Phase III will be “safety-surfacing” the remainder of the facility.

 

The SpaceNet extends 18 feet into the air, which is about the height of the gutter line on the adjacent building. For perspective, the crow’s nest on the ropes course is 62 feet high. The athletic center is roughly 35 feet high.

 

“This is not too high, but high enough,” Carson said. “The beauty of this is kids have choices. There’s ground-level activity, like Spica. It’s up to the kids to figure out how high and what challenge they’re comfortable with. You’ll see that development over time, not unlike that philosophy with the ropes course.

“The icing on the cake will be that first day when they cut the ribbon and you see the look of Wow! on kids’ faces. That’s the most fantastic part. I think our community will love this facility.”

   -- Weldon Bradshaw