The document discusses the history of playgrounds in America from the late 1800s to the 1920s. It describes how the first playgrounds were simple sand pits created in Boston in 1885 to allow children to play. Playground equipment and dedicated playground spaces then began appearing in the 1890s and spread rapidly over the following decades. By the 1920s, American playgrounds featured elaborate equipment like jungle gyms and tall slides, providing opportunities for children of all backgrounds to play, learn, and develop physically and socially.

1. Too High,
Too Fast,
Too Fun
• How America
Destroyed the Epic
Playgrounds—
And how we can
build them back
up.

2. The
playground
is
a
microcosm
of
everything
we
are.
Different
races,
different
religions,
different
socio-­‐economic
backgrounds
all
converge
in
the
same
place
with
same
goal—to
have
a
good
?me.

3. In just 20 years, we went from this
But
while
the
sheer
number
of
playgrounds
have
increased
in
America,
their
excitement
factor
has
dropped
drama?cally.
It's
no
accident
that
this
drop
in
fun
factor
coincides
with
the
faEening
of
America's
children.
In
20
years,
We’ve
gone
from
this…

4. To This
To
this…
From
1980
to
2010,
obesity
in
children
6-­‐11
went
from
6.5%
to
19.6%.
Teenage
obesity
went
from
5%
to
18.1%.
There
are
many
factors
aEributed
to
this
number,
but
the
loss
of
the
epic
playgrounds-­‐-­‐Torn
down
and
demolished
due
to
neglect,
lack
of
imagina?on,
and
overprotec?ve
safety
laws-­‐-­‐have
played
a
big
part.
How
did
we
get
to
this
point?
Let's
go
back
to
the
start.

5. America,
Late
1800s
1880.
America
is
in
the
middle
of
the
industrial
revolu?on.
In
urban
centers,
people
are
living
in
cramped
quarters.
In
1900,
1.7million
children
worked
in
factories
working
on
average
12
hour
days.
The
Machine
Age,
much
like
the
Internet
Age,
is
turning
the
children
into
pasty
mush.

6. • sand
A
woman
named
Dr.
Marie
Zakrewska
took
a
trip
to
Germany,
and
saw
kids
from
all
sorts
of
economic
backgrounds
all
playing
in
the
same
plot
of
sand.

7. • sand
So
in
1885,
The
MassachuseEs
Emergency
and
Hygiene
Associa?on
(MEHA)
wheeled
a
giant
pile
of
sand
to
a
church
yard
in
the
North
End
of
Boston.

8. America’s
First
Playground
• Boston,
1885
1880s
Here's
a
pile
of
sound.
Go
nuts.
Like
proper
Bostonians,
they
called
to
their
pile
of
sand
as
the
“Sand
Garden.”
And
Boston
went
on
to
install
11
more
of
these
sand
gardens
for
immigrant
children,
eventually
changing
the
name
from
“sand
garden”
to
“playground.”

9. First
Playground
Equipment
• Chicago,
Ill.
1890s
In
1889,
Charlesbank
gymnasium
introduced
the
idea
of
playground
equipment.
Two
pole
ladders,
flying
rings,
hanging
ropes.
All
for
kids.
NY
built
one
in
1890
at
the
University
SeElement
in
Lower
East
Side.
Chicago
built
this
one
in
1894
at
Hull
House.

10. Lower
East
Side,
1903
In
1903,
NYC
opened
Seward
Park
in
the
Lower
East
Side.
On
opening
day,
the
pent-­‐up
need
exploded,
and
20,000
kids
caused
a
near
riot
as
they
rushed
to
play
on
their
new
playground.

11. Boston,
1909
1900s
In
1904,
Los
Angeles
built
a
playground
on
Violet
Street,
and
created
the
na?ons
first
Playground
Department.
35
ci?es
had
playgrounds
by
1905.
The
Playground
Associa?on
of
America
was
established,
with
honorary
president
and
vice
president
Teddy
Roosevelt
and
Jacob
Riis.

12. Na?onal
Recrea?on
Associa?on
Established
• Regarded
play
as
a
“fundamental
urge
in
human
existence,
scarcely
less
powerful
and
important
than
the
urges
of
physical
hunger
and
sex.”
1910s
So
we
have
physical
hunger,
sex,
then
play
as
the
most
important
urges
in
human
existence.
Breathing?
Must
be
fourth.

13. The
first
Jungle
Gym
• Winnetaka,
Ill.,
1920
1920s
The
Jungle
gym
was
invented
in
1920
by
Sebas?an
Hinton
in
Winneteka,
North
of
Chicago,
who
claimed
the
contrap?on
appealed
to
the
"monkey
ins?nct"
in
children.
Ironically,
he
was
a
lawyer.
It
was
replicated
in
playgrounds
across
the
country.
NY
had
more
than
800
jungle
gyms
alone.
The
original
is
s?ll
standing.

14. The
Really
Tall
Slide
“Children
need
to
encounter
risks
and
overcome
fears
on
the
playground,”
said
Ellen
Sandseter,
a
professor
of
psychology
at
Queen
Maud
University
in
Norway.
“Climbing
equipment
needs
to
be
high
enough,
or
else
it
will
be
too
boring
in
the
long
run,”
Dr.
Sandseter
said

15. • 1924
The
Girls
Need
to
Play,
Too
1920s
Playground
and
recrea?on
were
essen?al
for
the
new
immigrants
of
America.
They
mainly
focused
on
the
boys,
crea?ng
good
new
ci?zens.
But
the
girls
were
also
a
concern.
The
“...girl
living
in
tenements
and
working
in
the
shop
is
nervously
?red
at
end
of
day,
home
is
unaErac?ve…She
goes
out
onto
the
street
and
to
the
cheap
theater,
whose
standard
she
possible
adopts
because
she
has
none
of
her
own,
or
else
she
goes
to
the
dance
halls.
Her
vitality
is
at
a
low
ebb.
[Author’s
emphasis]
She
takes
her
first
drink,
which
the
boy
in
order
to
show
his
gallantry
presses
upon
her,
and
so
she
takes
her
first
downward
step.”

16. • In
the
1920s,
America
went
to
war.
And
during
the
dras,
25
percent
of
the
young
men
selected
were
deemed
unfit
1920s
FIND
IMAGE
OF
WW1
[W]e
have
seen
for
the
first
?me
the
na?on’s
child,
measured,
weighed
and
found
wan?ng...”
said
the
Na?onal
Federa?on
of
SeElements.
(“Study
of
Young
Girls,”
ca
1921)
Young
men
were
described
as
“incapable
of
effec?ve
service,
and
that
at
a
?me
when
civiliza?on
hung
in
the
balance.”
(Lies,
1926)
Then
the
depression
came.

17. During
the
depression,
The
WPA
Picked
Up
the
Slack,
and
Built
13,000
Playgrounds
Across
the
Country.
Aser
the
crash
of
1929,
there
wasn’t
a
lot
of
money
floa?ng
around
for
things
like
playgrounds,
but
when
the
WPA
was
established,
it
created
13,000
playgrounds
in
it's
first
five
years.

18. But
for
the
New
Genera?on
of
American
Kids,
the
Playgrounds
They
Built
were
Boring
1940s
But
even
though
we
were
building
a
lot
more
playgrounds,
and
they
had
more
climbing
and
athle?c
elements,
the
kids
were
changing.
Kids
didn’t
want
supervision,
and
they
didn’t
want
just
swings
slides
and
climbing.
They
wanted
something
more.

19. Enter
Adventure
Playgrounds
1940
In
1943,
Danish
landscape
architect
C.
Th.
Sørensen
no?ced
kids
liked
playing
in
junk
and
burned
out
buildings
from
the
war
more
than
the
standard
playground
equipment.

20. Kids
playing
in
bomb
sites
and
burned
out
buildings—crea?ng
their
own
worlds.
So
why
not
create
a
safe
place
mimicking
that
experience?

21. Kids
would
use
their
imagina?ons
along
with
their
bodies,
and
create
some
really
great
adventures.

22. Abstract
1950s
That
was
going
on
in
Europe.
In
America,
things
were
gevng
artsy.
1953,
a
company
called
Crea?ve
Playthings
started
an
offshoot
called
Play
Sculptures,
using
ar?sts
as
designers.

23. The Art world starts to notice playgrounds
1950s

24. Garner
and
Ketcham
designed
the
first
popular
character
themed
playground,
the
Dennis
The
Menace
playground,
in
Monterey,
California
in
1952

25. 1952
• Monterey
Park,
California
Dennis
the
Menace
Playground.
1950s
It
included
some
very
interes?ng
rides—one
of
which
kids
referred
to
as
“the
spinning
crane
of
death”

26. It
has
it’s
own
facebook
fan
page—but
it
has
7,000
fans.
And
they
remember
the
spinning
crane
of
death!

27. In
the
1960s,
the
space
race
starts,
and
we
start
reaching
for
the
stars.
Walt
Disney
had
the
concept
of
“The
Weenie,”
which
draws
kids
you
into
the
park.
That
is
what
these
did.
Instead
of
building
a
statue,
put
money
into
a
themed
environment
that
commemorates
the
person
or
the
act,
but
gives
back
to
the
children
of
the
community—what
a
great
idea!

28. • La
Laguna,
San
Gabriel,
1965
1960s
In
the
1960s,
true
theming
really
begins.
This
one
in
California,
by
Mexican
ar?st
Benjamin
Dominguez,
was
made
of
concrete
and
had
a
great
nau?cal
theme.

29. New
York
City,
1967
1960s
NYC’s
“Ancient
Playground”
1967
designed
by
Richard
DaEner
in
Central
Park,
which
was
based
on
the
theme
of
ancient
Egypt.
It
was
a
direct
response
in
NY
to
the
boring,
regimented
parks
that
Robert
Moses
built
in
the
earlier
era.

30. The 1970s
It’s
about
to
get
funky.
The Golden Age of Playgrounds

31. This
is
from
a
company
called
Game
Time,
out
of
Litchfield,
Michigan.
I
think
Gene
Roddenberry
might
have
something
to
say
about
the
design,
but
I
would
so
want
to
play
there.

32.
• La
Cienega
and
Olympic,
1975
1970s
From
Miracle
and
Jamison
in
Grinnel
Iowa.
A
Giganta
actually
stood
at
La
Cienega
and
Olympic
in
Los
Angeles.

33. 1970s
Game
Time.
The
Mark
IV
Satellite
tower
is
just
an
explosion
of
color.

34. The
people
love
it!
1970s
Another
from
Miracale
and
Jamison.
Ideally
Trouble
Free.
A
quote
from
the
director
of
parks
at
Brooklyn
Park,
Minnesota,
discussing
the
great
feedback
the
Astro
City
has
goEen.

35. Slide
close-­‐up

36. 1970s
The
70s!
I
don’t
know
how
much
fun
there
are,
but
they
look
amazing.

37. 1980s
Then
the
lawyers
took
over.
Mass
Tort
Lawsuits
against
Asbetos,
Formaldehyde,
cars,
the
Dalkin
Shield—America
fell
in
love
with
Lawsuits
in
the
1980s.
-­‐-­‐And
on
the
playground,
climbing-­‐-­‐
Climbing,
heights,
was
the
biggest
target.
But
climbing
gives
people,
especially
kids,
a
huge,
perhaps
biggest
sense
of
accomplishment.
“Children
need
to
encounter
risks
and
overcome
fears
on
the
playground,”
said
Ellen
Sandseter,
a
professor
of
psychology
at
Queen
Maud
University
in
Norway.

38. Seward
Park—In
1903,
20,000
Kids
Riot
For
the
Right
to
Play
Remember
Seward
Park
in
New
York,
where
20,000
kids
caused
a
near
riot
for
their
right
to
play?

39. Seward
Park
Playground
Today
This
is
what
it
looks
like
today.

40. All
being
torn
down.

41. All
being
torn
down.

42. Do not play on or around
Kids
need
to
conquer
fear-­‐-­‐If
you
suffer
a
fall
before
age
of
9,
you
actually
have
less
of
a
fear
of
heights.
The
need
to
assess
risk.
They
have
been
doing
it
for
thousands
of
years.
And
we
are
stun?ng
them.
This
one
was
turned
into
art
project.

43. There
are
many
elements
that
add
to
this:
The
sedentary
nature
of
TV
watching
and
video
game
playing,
large
por?ons
and
faEy
foods.
But
the
lack
of
fun
playgrounds
has
played
a
part.
We
have
traded
the
threat
of
lawsuits
for
obese
children.
Traded
video
games
for
higher
health
care
bills.

44. It is up to us to create the
playgrounds of the future—to
merge art, play, social and digital to
build the next generation of
neighborhood play places.
But
It's
beyond
that.
The
idea
that
children
can
play
outside,
can
wonder,
and
and
dream
in
the
physical
world.
Even
though
we
are
crea?ng
fantasy
worlds,
they
are
far
more
real
that
the
worlds
of
Warcras,
Wizards
101,
and
everything
else
the
children
are
playing
in
today.
There
is
a
very
fledgling
movement
of
building
playgrounds
kids
want
to
actually
play
in.

45. This
one
in
the
Netherlands-­‐-­‐It’s
like
something
right
out
of
a
Tim
Burton
Movie

46. The
Peter
Pan
park
in
Kensington
Gardens
London
is
a
great
of
example
of
a
park
kids
beg
to
go
to-­‐-­‐Giant
pirate
ship,
teepees,
water
features,
rope
climbs.

47. Budapest,
Hungary

48. I
love
this
one
in
Alameda,
even
if
it
is
a
liEle
overboard.
See
the
guy
in
the
car?
That’s
a
security
guard.
The
slide
is
so
fast,
it
needs
it’s
own
security
guard.
I
appreciate
the
effort.

49. .
Dual
slides
in
Montogomary,
PA—this
was
built
to
honor
a
mother
and
child
who
were
murdered
in
the
town

50. Tom
OEernesses
“Bronze
Guy”
shows
the
crosssec?on
of
art
and
fun

51. David
Rockwell,
the
man
who
created
Nobu
and
the
Mohegan
Sun,
raised
2
million
dollars
in
private
funds
to
build
a
collabora?ve
play
area
in
New
York's
south
street
seaport.
Climbing
nets,
big
sandbox,
pulleys
and
pulls.
Kids
work
together
to
get
tasks
done.
Excellent,
but…

52. …
It's
also
very
expensive,
since
the
park
employs
"play
associates,"
to
help
kids
play
and
keep
them
safe.
Which
you
can
do
in
the
most
expensive
city
in
the
country,
but
won’t
play
in
Peoria.

53. • Paris
Giant
slide
in
Paris

54. Pirate
shipwreck
park
in
Australia

55. A
very
old-­‐school
Adventure
Playground
in
Berkeley,
Cal.
There
are
1,000
adventure
playgrounds
in
Europe.
There
are
only
3
les
in
the
United
States.

56. Not Just for the Kids
Walt
Disney
conceived
of
Disneyland
because
he
was
sick
of
taking
his
two
liEle
girls
to
the
merry
go
round,
while
he
sat
on
a
bench
and
fed
peanuts
to
squirrels.
He
wanted
to
join
in
the
fun.
Adult-­‐sized
playgrounds
are
equally
important.

57. We
can
build
these,
and
get
the
kids
back
out
there.
• And
make
playgrounds
that
both
adults
and
children
can
play
on.

58. • Slide
Billy
Jensen
If
you
want
to
join
the
fun:
@Billyjensen
-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐

59. • Kids
who
live
a
half
mile
from
a
playground
are
nearly
five
?mes
more
likely
to
be
a
healthy
weight
than
kids
without
a
playground
or
park
in
their
neighborhood.
October
2008
issue
of
the
"American
Journal
of
Public
Health"