Teachers and parents might not like it but Kiama Public School students are being encouraged to get down and dirty playing in their new Ecoventure Zone playground.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In fact Annette Pust, who designed the nature play space at the urging of the school’s P&C, thinks it’s beneficial for children to get dirty and in touch with nature.
Most of the playground ideas the Gerringong-based designer has incorporated stem from her younger days living in Germany.
‘’I grew up playing differently and I go back [Germany] yearly with my two children, who are aged 4 and 7,’’ Mrs Pust said.
‘’And when I go back with them I see how they play, how much they enjoy it. They might hurt themselves and have a splinter here and there but overcoming a challenge makes them so proud.
‘’It gives them a real boost in their self-esteem rather than being packed in bubble wrap and play safe.’’
It gives them a real boost in their self-esteem rather than being packed in bubble wrap and play safe.
- Annette Pust
Safety though is a priority in the new play space which features three distinct zones.
There is a ‘’quieter zone’’ ideal for outdoor teaching which features timber stairs, benches and a Yarning circle around the big tree on top of the hill.
The second area, a fenced-off native forest patch, is still a work in progress, but Mrs Pust is confident students will soon have the opportunity to explore and maintain the area in the not too distant future.
‘’But it is the active play area which is of course most popular with children,’’ she said.
But it is the active play area which is of course most popular with children.
- Annette Pust
‘’We have logs where they can balance on and a balancing tree will also be put in soon. The most popular though is the plastic slide, which is funny because I wanted it to be concrete.
‘’Having nature as the main theme of the playground, you don’t want plastic to be used as a material.
‘’I had planned a concrete slide, which is a popular material at German playgrounds but the school decided for various reasons not to do that.’’
Siobhan King, Kiama Public School’s P&C secretary was the ‘’heart and soul’’ of the project, said Mrs Pust.
‘’The parents also played a big role in the design and the work. Michael Johnson Landscapes in Gerringong also did a great job,’’ she said.
Nature play advocate and popular book author Maggie Dent dropped by Kiama Public School on Friday to officially launch the new nature play space.
