Play Space
Designers, child care providers, families, educators, community members, policy makers, and child care advocates explored unexpected ways that innovative play spaces help both children and communities grow.
About the Project
A partnership with Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC), Play Space explored unexpected ways that innovative play spaces help both children and communities grow. Play Space challenged designers, public leaders, educators, childcare providers, families, and communities to share their perspectives on play space and to re-imagine outdoor play spaces for Philadelphia’s libraries, recreation centers, schools, sidewalks, and yards.
The project included:
Precedent Exhibition: An exhibition of 40 existing play projects.
Art of Active Play: Community design-build projects, a family play day, and a healthy play panel show that showed the link between physical activity and childhood health
Design Charrette: A workshop where designers and in-home child care providers developed replicable, nature-focused
Design Competition: The design competition atrracted 50 teams from 11 states and 7 countries to create designs that inspire innovative outdoor play for a Philadelphia library, recreation center, and school
Play Talks: A series of 7 public talks and discussions for designers, educators and families. The talks presented new research and approaches to child development, education, ethics, design, and policy that are reshaping our thinking about play—and play spaces.
Exhibition: A capstone exhibition presented the findings and designs from Play Space at Philadelphia City Hall
Danielle Parnes worked on this project while employed by the Community Design Collaborative.