I am so very excited to share the news! The Imagination Playground (IP) is coming during the month of April to visit WTN. The Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC) recently purchased this playground through a grant funded by the Grable Foundation and is allowing the members of the Play Academy of Pittsburgh to borrow the set for their school sites. Miss Herald, from the WTN Kindergarten, and I have been working with the Academy twice a month since it’s inception and are thrilled that it is finally our turn to share the Imagination Playground. It has already visited Fox Chapel Area School District, The CMU Children’s School, and the Fox Chapel Area School District Family Literacy Center.
Our initial plans are for it to be available for use in the P.E. room. We are working Ms. Brand on incorporating the IP into both P.E. classes for all of the grades and for use during open multi-purpose room times. The equipment may also be used outside, but we’ll have to wait and see what the weather does before we commit to taking it out into “the wild”. Also, keep your eyes open for clean, “found” objects that the children could use to fuel their creativity.
I’ll be sure to post pictures of our PK kids using this new resource here!
If you are interested in seeing the Imagination Playground in action, you might want to check out “Build-it-yourself playground helps kids imagine” at CNN or “Building a Better Playground” from TIME. If you’d rather just get it from the source, here is the video posted by KaBOOM!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHVAn7SdmbU?rel=0&w=480&h=390]
Wow, the kids are going to LOVE this. I can’t wait to play with it!
This looks great! Wow! I would be curious to see pics of a finished playground from each grade: side by side. It would be interesting to see how the structures would differ as the children’s minds matured each year. Or, since they would build a new structure daily, to even see how the class would progress throughout the year. Amazing!!!
That is a really great idea, Melissa! I actually thought of doing that within the classroom next year as well. I realized around December that it would be really informative to keep a block building journal throughout the year to watch their progression. With each new experience and playful practice, they certainly do create more complicated designs.