Growing IN Place

I saw this on the Children & Nature Network website. A symposium on March 5th called Growing IN Place, presented by the Natural Learning Initiative, discussing how planners and designers can meet the challenge of enhancing the wellbeing of urban families everywhere.

Their website has tons of interesting links as well. It's time designers and planners took the baton with regards to livable, walkable communities.

Sir Ken Robinson

I've been very patient, waiting for his new talk on TED to appear on their website..... with on avail. Must be saving the best until last. So in the meantime, check out his newly designed website with lots of new stuff, radio and TV interviews.

Some days it's just what you need.

Nolan's cheese

Is this completely off topic? My kids absolutely love it (children), it's about mice (nature) and creativity and play go hand in hand...... Plus, it is fantastic. Hats off to John Nolan.

I first saw it posted over here. (And I appreciated her spoiler otherwise I might not have watched it all, the mouse doesn't die.)

The unfinished......

I started reading "The Power of Play" and do mean to finish it but other things intervened. So far it is a wonderful, thought-provoking book. To get a quick fix I checked out David Elkind's blog on the Just Ask Baby website.

The post on working mum's got my attention, for obvious reasons. I work and I'm a mum..... cutting to the chase, the punchline of the column is,

"Overall, it appears that maternal employment need not be a significant factor in a child’s long term emotional, social and intellectual development."

Interesting stuff, read it anyway.....

Rubber mulch

Many people have used rubber mulch in playgrounds with the best of intentions, thinking that it is the safest option, but today I read "The Myth of Rubberized Landscapes" by Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State Univeristy and want you all to get rid of it NOW and trade it in for wood chips.

I know splinters are a worry............ but that's nothing in comparison to "Rubber mulch is highly flammable and difficult to extinguish once it is burning" just for starters.......

Please.

Kids? Noisy?

The Fairplay for Children charity in the UK write that Berlin have amended their city's noise pollution law so that it is "fundamentally and socially tolerable" for members of the younger generation to make noise.

How they could ever have morally upheld a law to say children shouldn't make noise is beyond me.... but if you check out the article, you'll find not all people think like that and I quote: "Some day-care facilities have even been forced to close after local residents have gone to court in search of a quiet life."

Amazing........

Anyone for Denmark? and Sweden.....

Free Play Network have posted about an International play study tour of parks, adventure playgrounds, schools and kindergartens in Sweden, Denmark and Berlin this summer. And all travel between sites will be by bike. (Berlin is a separate tour, I don't think they are expecting you to cycle from Berlin to Copenhagen.)

Just from the photo above (Valbyparken designed by Helle Nebelong), my kids would love it......