Okay, this contains many of my favorite things.Amazing tiny things!Small animal!3D printing!More miniature things!Art idea that most people would think, "What?! WHY?"
Artist Aki Inomata creates beautiful plastic shell for hermit crabs that are crafted into elegant cityscapes.You can watch a short video here.Reading articles about Ani's work led me to this article on Inhabitat about Maker Bot's Project Shelter and the shortage of hermit crab shells.
Accessible playgrounds in the Bay Area
I want all children to have access to playgrounds and nature. One of the main problems I see with accessible playgrounds is that the designers lose site of the whole nature part.How do we make sure playgrounds are inclusive of children of all abilities but still include all the the things kids need to play and learn?How can it REALLY be done? Not just following the letter of ADA compliance that result in playgrounds with no nature and too much hot plastic surfacing?I'm reading and thinking on this. Playgrounds can be crazy expensive. Natural elements might seem to imply too much risk, uncertainty and unrealistic upkeep needs. Why? And what to do?Is no playground better than a playground some kids can't access? Both scenarios are disheartening.Some interesting resources:Bay Area Accessible Playground Finderhttp://www.accessibleplayground.net/Magical Bridge Playground in Palo Alto, CA
Pretty Landscaping Tile
This garden is in East Oakland and thetiles are by http://www.handcrafttiles.com/
Eyes on the road!
Well, I didn't actually get into an accident while taking this picture and driving. I swear! I was stopped in traffic! I simple had to take a picture of this MONSTROSITY. Who decided on this as a good idea?
In case you can't tell, that is a concrete front yard with 4 holes for shrubs... a single shrub in each hole.I get that planting what looks like a steep slope could be daunting but think of the heinous amount of runoff this landscape is producing!This could so easily be solved with some hardy natives. Even just a nice carpet of ground hugging Arctostaphylos like Arctostaphylos uva-ursi would lessen run-off and be a fine weed barrier.
A hike down the street
Cute little Plectranthus ciliatus. This Plectranthus is a South African plant often used as a ground cover around here. It likes shade but wants a bit of sun to keep the awesome red/purple underside. It is more shrubby right here, is in part sun, part shade and seems to be thriving with little water and on a steep grade.This is our little road cut hike near our house. Actually, I can see the entrance to the path from my room RIGHT NOW. Mr. Who and I go there to inspect the state of things fairly often. Snacks can be the best part of a hike when you are 5. Especially if you have carried them in your very own backpack.
Boston Children's Museum
This picture is taken out the window of the Boston Children's Museum while waiting for the tour of the authentic Japanese house (very cool, btw).
I watched the painted hopscotch game get used by several passers-by. There was also a great paver maze at the entrance to the museum. I love using the ground plane as a design element, it's something that kids especially notice and can't resist reacting to.
SF airport - New Terminal 2
Anyone else been to the new(ish) SFO Terminal 2? Kudos to all who made it happen, srsly. It was like traveling on a fluffy cloud filled with unicorns, sushi and coffee.Right after going through security the first thing that hit my eye was the 'Yoga Room'. Say what?Then, tons of art. filtered water stations. sushi.You can read all about the art here.ANDAn indoor play area for kids. SQUEEE!Just that fact that an airport would admit that kids might be actual humans who deserve having their needs met in public was kind of shocking and, obviously, refreshing.
It was a tad spartan but such a great idea. One of the coolest features was the Butterfly Wall built and designed by Charles Sowers.
It had some fun climbing elements with an airiness that I assume was designed it to it so that parent's wouldn't freak out when they couldn't see their child.
Please pardon the terrible blurry pics. I was juggling like twelve carry-ons and a coffee.
Berkeley Adventure Playground
What is an adventure playground?I think of them as a free form playground built by kids and the grownups with them. It's a space where the way kids play hasn't been decided for them already, they get to see a bunch of raw materials and see the possibilities and create their own spaces.They get wood and nails and discarded playground equipment and rope and old boats and whatever other cool stuff the staff can find or is donated. And the kids can use it however they want.I feel lucky to live in an area with an Adventure Playground, you can read about it's hostly here. It's such a cool idea and we have been taking my son since before he could walk. There is something for everyone!You have to earn tools and paint by helping clean up or gathering up old nails. Once J. could walk he loved to collect nails with a magnet fishing pole in order to trade the nails for paint.Here's J as an almost or maybe just 1 year old sitting in a boat filled with sand. Neat!This is an ever evolving instrument. It's got drums and harps and tons of other things that make great noises.I wish I could figure out how to embed this video of my son getting bonked by a hanging float.He is at about 2 years freaking out with excitement at some junk hanging around. At about 28 seconds he gets bonked with the hanging rescue float.Hiii-larious!The last time we went T. helped him build an airplane out of scrap wood.More awesomeness. In this picture you can see not only a a cool boat in the foreground but several boats filled with plants in the middle and then the oh so cool zipline in the background. Kids line up for this over and over and it's so fun to watch them. You must be 6 in order to ride it. I'm not sure if J. will want to!
Indian Rock
We went off to explore Indian Rock in Berkeley this week. It did not disappoint.J is just now 5 and somehow, once we climbed to the top of the rock (using the awesome stairs cut into the side), I was REALLY nervous having him up there. I like to pride myself on not being a helicopter mom but in this case I just kept picturing him sliding down to his doom and I couldn't hack it. I made us go back down. There was plenty of scope for imagination around the lower parts of the rock.We established our forts...
And attacked!
Foolishly I did not look up the rock before hand and so could not spout knowledgeably about the geology. Check the wikipedia article or this post from the awesome Oakland blog Oakland Geology. Rhyolite! Neat!We had to leave because I was getting grumpy (I've been grumpy a lot lately) and I had to pee (this park lacks a bathroom making it totally unpractical for me) and we had to go to the store. We'll be back to explore the more north side of the park later though definitely! Also, need to bring more kids so they can like play capture the flag or something!
This garden is tight
Is that the best graffiti or what? I love that it was clearly a teenager carrying around a paint marker for graffiti, enjoying the garden and commenting on it. It's such a social thing to do, really. It reminds me of the very old graffiti in ancient temples.There was an NPR article... let me find it... here it is. An Archeologist quoted in the article describes ancient graffiti as, "a spontaneous verbal outburst" that adds intimacy to the historical record of the ancient Levant and Mesopotamia". She also describes graffiti as, "intimate, vocal and spontaneous".Awesome! That is totally how I feel even about crappy graffiti.Someday I want to try moss graffiti, there is a good tutorial for moss graffiti here. This would also be a fun outdoor project for older kids!Anyway, this garden IS tight and made even more so by the fact that is is a guerrilla garden. This garden is on an embankment by the road near my house that Frank Snapp has been gardening in (he also gardens on the median strips along this road) for many years. He uses natives and Mediterranean plants that require little to no upkeep. The garden is wild, just the way I like it. I haven't met Frank but I hope to this summer.I'll blog more about some of the plants in this garden and how J and I 'hike' there.
Schoolhouse Creek Common Berkeley, CA
I came across the awesome Schoolhouse Creek Common Garden playscape in Berkeley during a Bring Back the Natives Tour in 2008. Here is the write up on the Bring Back the Native site. I think this was my very first experience with an actual natural playscape and I was really excited by it.This playscape has so many great features, including boulders, a tire swing, a mesh tunnel, tree stumps (movable and not), CA native plants, a nice BIG sand pit, a small hill with boulders and plantings, and secret paths.I have brought my son here a few times over the years although we were never regulars since it is a bit far from my house. The last time we went my son was about 4.5 and we had a really good time. the first thing I did was get out my sketchbook and some pens and I started to make a map of the garden. this was a great opportunity to talk about maps and to have my son help me. He got really into it and really got the concept of translating what we were seeing to the paper. I sent him off to explore and to report back with what he found.Note to self: find that sketchbook, scan and upload it.We have actually have never encountered any other kids at this site and I would really love to see a group or even just two kids playing here to see what they do! J and I made maps, and we played Hide and SNEAK(TM), and dug in the sand pit looking for dinosaur bones.You can read more about the process of building Schoolhouse Creek Commons here.
Rainbow slide in Sweden
I've seen a couple of pictures of this slide in a playground in Sweden.
How fun does that look?! I want to go there immediately. I love the slide/bridge over a stream environment creation and that there are so many elevation changes visible in this picture. I wonder what the rest of this park is like!Oh I searched around online web and found out it is The Fairytale Playground in Malmo.Here's a picture where you can see more of the park.
LOVE those grass mounds to the left.and here's a link to Alex Smith's post on Playgroundology about the other awesome playgrounds in Malmo. Actually just go read his post about all the themed playgrounds in Malmo. Links and pics galore!The Spiral Playground, also in Malmo, reminds me of the DNA strand in front of the Lawrence Hall of Science.Here is my nephew climbing it
Oh this is a good pic too. You can see my son's bald head. Heehehee
On the hunt for great play areas
A and J climbing up the bank.I'm always on the hunt for great local play areas. It is easiest to start with hunting for actual playgrounds. Anyone with the care of a small child will tell you the importance of knowing your local playgrounds intimately.Just driving around isn't good enough for really exploring. I also use Yelp and Google Maps. Yelp is so useful for reviews and finding out if a playground has a bathroom or not (crucial!). In Google maps get to neighborhood level in regular Maps (not satellite) view and look for any green areas. We moved into a new house about a year ago and I found, three blocks away, the most fun little informal play area. I swear I had walked by it a million times and never even knew it was there until I saw the green band in Google Maps. It's a long skinny path mostly used by dog walkers BUT a creek runs along it for a whole block and in one spot you can cross to find a tiny little grassy picnic area. Creeks are about the best thing ever to play with, you can make dams, watch the flow of water, float boats made form leaves and bark, throw rocks, there are so many possibilities. The other non creek section has some rocks and planting beds and some neat trees. Perfect!
This area is quite urban and even though I can drive 10 minutes and be on the beautiful bay in Alameda or Berkeley it's nice to have some tiny bits of nature in walking distance.Where do you play that isn't an actual playground?
Kids playing on a neat-o tree.
Lake Merritt Gardens - Sensory Garden
I love the Lake Merritt gardens. It is the perfect place to take a 2 year old! We often come to the sensory garden and J. also loves the Japanese Garden.
