PLAYGROUND DESIGN - BHT216

Home Study Play Ground Design Course

"Learn how to design and construct 'effective' playgrounds"

Duration:                     100 hours 

COURSE STRUCTURE
The eight lessons in this course are as follows:

1. Overview of Parks and Playgrounds
2. Playground Philosophy
3. Preparing a Concept Plan
4. Materials
5. Park and Playground Structures and Materials
6. Local and Neighbourhood Parks
7. Community Participation in Park Development
8. Special Assignment

"Children learn more from play than they do from school. It is crucial to their social, physical and intellectual development. Anyone (Parent to landscaper) who develops a landscape that is to be used by children, has a responsibility to understand the full implications of what they are creating. It is critical that we enhance the play opportunities for future generations; and that involves understanding what play is, how children play, and then applying that knowledge to forming a play friendly environment"  

John Mason  Author, the Environment of Play, former Playground Designer with Playgrounds and Recreation Association of Vic. 

 “The Playground Design course shows you how to get specific ideas together to create play areas for children. There is always more than meets the eye with these wonderful areas, and experts with years of experience will outline how to go about creating them.” - Tracey Morris Dip.Hort., Cert.Hort., Cert III Organic Farming, ACS Tutor.

· Determine the procedure to plan a park development, including a playground and other facilities.

· Prepare a concept plan for a park or playground.

· Assess the design of park components, including materials and equipment used in parks and playgrounds.

· Determine appropriate design characteristics for a local or neighbourhood parks.

· Determine legal implications involved in the design of a playground.

· Design facilities to cater for movement throughout a park or playground.

· Manage appropriate community participation in development of a park or playground.

What you will do on the course

· Explain how an understanding of play theory can be applied to the design of a playground.

· Explain how the concept of recreational planning may influence the design of a specified park.

· Determine factors which distinguish park design from home garden design.

· Compare different planning processes used for developing designs for public landscapes, including: advocacy planning, strategic planning and community participation.

· Explain historical influences upon park design, in your locality, including:

· local history

· national history.

· Evaluate the functional depreciation of a specified playground over a period of at least ten years.

· Explain the significance of demographic considerations on park design, in a specific locality.

· Evaluate the designs of two different established parks, and two established playgrounds, visited by you.

· Develop a brief for a park plan, through an interview with management of a specific site.

· Collect preplanning information for a proposed park design; through surveying the site and interviewing both managers of the site, and intended users of the site.

· Develop three alternative concept plans for a proposed park development; in accordance with a real design brief, either prepared by you with a client, or obtained as a brief for a job being put to tender.

· Compare three alternative concept plans in an interview with a client, or prospective client, for a proposed park development; recording the interview session on audio tape.

· Describe the design features of four different items of outdoor furniture intended for use in parks and playgrounds.

· Compare the suitability of different barriers, including bollards, fences, plantings and walls, used in three different parks and/or playgrounds; visited and inspected by you.

· Assess the design of garden constructions inspected by you in a childrens playground.

· Compare various ground surfacing materials in terms of their application in park or playground design.

· Explain design considerations for earth forming, in a specific park and playground.

· Design a park plan for a specified site of 1,000 to 10,000 square metres, incorporating a themed play area.

· Prepare a costing for the construction of a themed play area, designed by you.

· Compare the appropriateness of fifteen different plants for use in a playground in terms of different factors including:

· play possibilities

· hardiness

· toxicity.

· Determine appropriate design criteria for the use of water in playgrounds.

· Determine appropriate functions for neighbourhood parks.

· Determine inappropriate functions for a neighbourhood park.

· Analyse two neighbourhood parks by both; surveying users and observing users.

· Evaluate the design of two different neighbourhood parks, visited and studied by you, against different criteria including:

· Function

· Aesthetics

· Maintenance requirement

· Environmental sympathy.

· Recommend design modifications for a surveyed neighbourhood park.

· Explain the significance of danger to the children’s learning experience.

· Determine how two different specific playground designs have been influenced by concerns about legal liability.

· Conduct a legal risk analysis of a playground which has been established for more than ten years.

· Develop guidelines for minimising legal liability in playground design, for an authority responsible for a specific playground.

· Determine design criteria for different types of trails in parks including: *Fun and fitness trails

· Environmental interpretation trails

· Cycle paths

· Linkages between parks

· Roadways.

· Compare the construction of three different specified paths within parks with reference to:

· Durability

· Safety

· Function

· Maintenance requirements.

· Prepare a concept plan for a "specialist trail" in a park, such as; a fun and fitness trail, a cycle path or an environmental interpretation trail, following design standards in the industry.

· Determine factors which impact on the success of a park/playground development which involves community participation.

· Analyse community attitudes to a park or playground development, which has used community participation, by either:

· survey

· discussion with local Parks Department management.

· Explain how to promote community involvement in park development in a way which will optimise the chance of success.

· Determine a procedure to involve a community in the development of a park/playground facility, on a site visited by you.

There are many different ways of classifying playgrounds, and below is just one. The following classification will have many areas of overlap; but it's a useful way of seeing the diversity of options that you may learn about in this course.

Parts of each of these types of playground can be seen in each other; never the less, this classification may help us better understand the alternatives open to us.

BIG TOY PLAYGROUNDS

Here the playground is essentially a structure, or piece of equipment which offers some play possibility. Like smaller children's toys, there are good items of playground equipment, and poor. Like smaller toys their value is perhaps best judged on:‑

· the variety of play possibilities offered

· the safety of the item

· the quality of workmanship (is it solid?)

Playgrounds of this type are achieved one of two ways, both with advantages and disadvantages:‑

1. Purchasing prefabricated equipment‑workmanship is usually excellent, safety is normally good, variety of play possibility is sometimes limited, cost is usually high.

2. Building from recycled materials‑workmanship, safety, and play possibilities can vary enormously depending usually on who has been involved with it's building. Cost however, is usually relatively low.

ENVIRONMENTAL PLAYGROUNDS

The emphasis here is on creating an environment which is conducive to play. This might or might not include equipment. It might simply be trees, surfacing materials and contour variations.

To develop this type of area well you need a very good understanding of both the nature of play as well as environmental design and construction.

This is an environment to encourage play with places to hide, hidden corners to explore, things to climb, and shade for protection.

COMMUNITY PLAYGROUNDS

The most important thing in this type of playground is the involvement of the community. The success or failure of this type of playground is dependent on the attitude which the community holds far more than on the physical nature of what has been built.

ADVENTURE (Free Play) PLAYGROUNDS

Free play is the essence of this type of playground.
Here the child is in charge of their own environment and activity.
They can change their environment as they wish; dig a hole, build a cubby etc.

CONSIDER:
Many things influence and restrict the type of playground which can/should be provided in any place. Some are:

· How frequently is it used by the same children?

· What is the age of the users?

· Is it supervised or not?

· What other facilities are existing in the area?

· What resources are available? (money, expertise, land etc.).

Distance Learning Playground Design Course

"Learn how to design and construct 'effective' playgrounds"

This course develops a sound understanding of the design and construction of small community parks and playgrounds.  A valuable course for parks managers or designers, .the course covers playground philosophy, design of play structures (for function and safety), materials selection, community participation and park design.

This course was developed by John Mason, author of "The Environment of Play" and former Playground Designer with PRAV. Mr Mason was Australia's representative for the International Play Association in the late 1970's, and has maintained a keen interest in children's playground design since that time.