Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/living-in-the-real-world-babies-get-out-outdoor-settings-for-infant-toddler-play/5007921/
Imagine a playground for babies.* A what? Probably few images are conjured up. Playgrounds are rough and tumble places where running, jumping, hurling, and the traffic of miniature speeding vehicles and general wild abandon flourish. Life in the fast lane is no place for a baby. Okay, instead imagine an infant/toddler park. Again, it probably seems strange to think of an outdoor place for children under two.Let's start over. Imagine outdoor places that would be wonderful to be in with a baby, that would enable you to enjoy the world outside the walls of your daily place of work, while taking pleasure in the growing power and competence of the child - parks with sun and shade, flowers, gentle breezes, grassy hills, winding pathways, and places to relax and talk and appreciate the sounds of birds and water and crickets and babies.
Now return to the idea of a baby playground. Imagine an outdoor arena for baby play: a setting that encourages the visual exploration of a four month old; the reaching and grasping, rolling and leaning of a nine month old; and the stepping and toddling, pulling and pushing, hauling and dumping, ...