New book celebrates American play movement

Published on 16-02-2017 at 17:30

Day 55 of 365. We spent most of the day at Berkeley Adventure Playground--a park that encourages kids to hammer and saw and paint and build to their heart's content. Adventure Playground feels like one of those "only in Berkeley" type of places. Its ramshackle structures and dirt mounds reinforce its reputation as one of the coolest parks in the Bay Area. It's also one of the best places to photograph kids--happy in their natural habitat--a "wild playground". Here's a NPR story on Adventure Playground: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/04/334896321/where-the-wild-things-play 55/365 #365project

A new book published by the Alliance for Childhood documents the steady rise of the free play movement in North America

Projects, initiatives and advocacy for children’s play is on the rise across the North American continent. So says the Alliance for Childhood, which has published a new book documenting this exciting movement.

Playing It Up – With Loose Parts, Playpods, and Adventure Playgrounds describes over 20 play and playwork projects ranging from pop-up play days to staffed adventure playgrounds.

The book is illustrated with dozens of colour photographs depicting children’s deep engagement n their play. The publishers says the book is intended to ‘strengthen the movement for children’s play’.

The 160+ page book is available online at www.allianceforchildhood.org or in print from Amazon.

Main Photo: Children at Berkeley Adventure Playground by Eugene Chan