Design
As the idea for a new natural play space developed at the Glen it became clear that we wanted to do it with as much community involvement as possible. The playground would also need to be semi permanent until the Glen's board finished their 5-10 year master plan. During our planning sessions we focused on adding elements that we could source from local resources and donations. We also limited the number of expensive projects to the few that we thought would have the most impact. We decided to set a fundraising goal of $5000 and implement the projects as resources and donations came in.
In order to understand how the playground could be improved we formed a playground committee with parents, teachers and administrators and created this website as a way to connect with families. We used the section of the website under the tab "Creating our Design" to show our community what type of space we hoped to create and what types of projects that would be possible. We held meetings with teachers and put out a survey to both teachers and parents. We sent out a blank plan of the play space via email and asked everyone to give us their ideas. This planning process is documented on our Blog.
Based on the ideas from teachers, parents and administrators the parents on the committee drafted two plans and presented them to the rest of the committee. We then combined the best elements from the two plans to come up with the final design. Next, we presented the final plan to the Grounds and Maintenance subcommittee of the board. They asked that we have playground design professional look over the plan to give us their feedback. We had two local natural playground designers look over the plan and they both gave us positive feedback. Finally we presented the playground design (with the cost and implementation plan) to the board and received 100% approval and enthusiastic support!
Now that the design is complete we are working on installing the new elements.
In order to understand how the playground could be improved we formed a playground committee with parents, teachers and administrators and created this website as a way to connect with families. We used the section of the website under the tab "Creating our Design" to show our community what type of space we hoped to create and what types of projects that would be possible. We held meetings with teachers and put out a survey to both teachers and parents. We sent out a blank plan of the play space via email and asked everyone to give us their ideas. This planning process is documented on our Blog.
Based on the ideas from teachers, parents and administrators the parents on the committee drafted two plans and presented them to the rest of the committee. We then combined the best elements from the two plans to come up with the final design. Next, we presented the final plan to the Grounds and Maintenance subcommittee of the board. They asked that we have playground design professional look over the plan to give us their feedback. We had two local natural playground designers look over the plan and they both gave us positive feedback. Finally we presented the playground design (with the cost and implementation plan) to the board and received 100% approval and enthusiastic support!
Now that the design is complete we are working on installing the new elements.