Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/it-aint-easy-being-green/5009136/
"A playground should be like a small scale replica of the world, with as many as possible of the sensory experiences to be found in the world included in it. Experiences for every sense are needed, for instance: rough and smooth objects to look at and feel; light and heavy things to pick up; water and wet materials warmed by the sun; soft and hard surfaces; things that make sounds (running water) or that can be struck, plucked, plinked, etc.; smells of all varieties (flowers, bark, mud); shiny, bright objects and dull, dark ones; things that are both huge and tiny; high and low places to look at and from; materials of every type, natural and synthetic, think, thick, and so on."- Richard Dattner, Design for Play
How many playgrounds approach Dattner's ideal? Most early childhood programs don't even try. More typical is a rather small fenced area with a few pieces of playground equipment. But the child's outdoor experience does not have to be bound by the playground. The playground may be planned as part of a larger outdoor context:
_ all the accessible outdoor space - the sidewalks, the city parks, the ...