Open Tabs: Consumed by Playgrounds
I have lots of open tabs on one Firefox window for over a week. So many that I thought I would create another post so that I could close the window and start anew this week.
First things first. I wrote a letter to the editor of Greater Greater Washington a few weeks ago. My letter was published the day we were driving back from NC, which was a good thing. My question created quite a conversation in the blog comments. Since I was driving, I was not glued to the comments all day long. Once I returned home, Henry took Lucy out to a playground so that I could sit down and focus on what was being said. And in turn, what I should say. Henry suggested that I take the high road. I do like to point out that another virtual olive branch was passed after I responded. I decided that watching the first two seasons of Parks and Rec on Netflix turned out to be somewhat beneficial after all. I was very excited about the lively comments. Plus I was definitely channeling my inner-Leslie Knope by not responding to the people who were virtually screaming at me over the Internet.
I have been searching for various types of non-profits who support play. I thought that we could have a loose play equipment playground as a temporary solution, but the question of liability and supervision immediately popped up. Somehow I discovered the New York Coalition of Play, where I found a long list of links of organizations supporting play.
From there, I found Clemson’s US Play Coalition. They have an annual conference on the Value of Play the last week of February. But they aren’t the only ones hosting a play conference. Several are listed on their web page under upcoming events. Several looked interesting, but two jumped out at me. The Engaging Our Grounds 2011 International Green Schoolyard Conference being held in San Francisco in two weeks sounds very interesting and very green! Unfortunately, I don’t think that I can pull off a trip across country in such short notice. But the 9th Annual Natural Learning Design Institute at NC’s Botanical Garden is achievable. I even plan to be in NC that week. But I have to register tomorrow to get the early bird fee. Yikes!
This spring, Morgan and I attended the KaBOOM! Open House. I am making a few funny faces in this set, so I opted for my best side. Ha! I actually met Darell Hammond and he signed my copy of KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play
I saw a post for a public art RFP in Mt Vernon Triangle. That very morning, I had seen a piece of public art that was in fact a slide. Of course, by that afternoon, I had no idea where to find the slide. But as I began to search around, I came across Daddytypes, a blog written by a dad from Georgetown (I think!), who likes a lot of cool daddy stuff. I noticed the turtle from Marion Park in this 1950’s rare play sculpture catalogue. We love this turtle! Kids also love to hide under the turtle’s shell. And sometimes kids color him with sidewalk chalk.
As seen above, a lot of problems would be solved if we could simply play on the GAO playground during after hours. Lucy discovered the “slide park” located on 5th Street while walking to the National Building Museum this weekend.
