Playgrounds

Let’s talk about playgrounds in Australia. FIrst off, they have a playground about everything 3-4 blocks, so every child has access to a place to play. Secondly, they are all uniquely designed to not just be fun, but are artistically presented to look attractive. The landscape is even covered with flowering bushes and ornamentals. If you don’t look for it you won’t notice they went to the trouble to beautify the land and provide variety for wildlife. Third, it is apparent that outdoor recreation is not just important for children but for all ages. There are significant chunks of land set aside for walking, playing, sporting, and even just meditating. Most of the time there are also pavilions for eating and even barbecue grills powered by gas.

Because each park is so unique, Henry and I have been park hopping and I made a video to show you some of the variety. The granddaddy of them all is the pirate ship park in Point Cook. When we lived here before it burned down and the city council decided it was too expensive to rebuild. The *children* organized themselves together, collected support and signature from the community, presented their wishes to the council and WON. I’m happy to report that we got to play on the results today!

My second favorite park is the airport park. I love how they carry the airport theme all the way into the benches and pavilion. (Not shown are the benches shaped like suitcases.) Henry noticed today that on the side of the slide there is a slot for a hot wheels car to slide down! How unnecessarily fun!

Third place for me is the crocodile park. It is a great place to go on a hot day because it has water running through most of it. However in true Melbourne fashion, it went from blazing hot 97F/36C to 63F/18C in one day. But we still had a fun time reconnecting with it. The park is positioned right along a water way with lots of boardwalk paths for adults to take a stroll, and even has a spot with no railing so children can learn quickly how stupid it is to disregard their mums telling them not to go over the edge. You have to grow up with a healthy dose of caution and awareness if you’re going to survive the natural dangers of Australia!

As quickly as this area we are in is expanding, I’m constantly wondering who is making all these decisions about city planning. And who is designing every playground? What a fun job! Henry wants to do that. They are not just purchased from a playground company. Every one is a custom design and is different!

It will be an entirely separate discussion to explain the way they structure and view their work/life balance to allow them the time to actually recreate together. But suffice it to say Americans could learn a few things from them.