Jungle Playgrounds

Wow! These are amazing play spaces! I love the simple materials, variety of spaces and challenge they offer. Both of these ‘jungle play’ spaces are outside the US. Maybe one day we could get one for Oregon kids!

This film says it was made in 1987 and the jungle playground  from the model is built and in daily use. (Soon with english subtitles)

I have a few worries about this type of play in our litigous American society. The first is about the fall zones or “use zones”. These films show a lot of trees being used as supports for the ropes and trees have roots. Not so great to fall on. The second is the ropes. They look like they are just tied on to posts and trees. Hopefully someone is keeping a close eye on them to inspect for slipping, rot, and loose knots.

Besides a few initial worries, I think these play areas are fantastic. Watching the kids jump from one to the other, swing and jump to another piece or letting go while upside down, they are developing great motor skills and look to be having a great time doing it. Another wonderful benefit is the csot of these play areas has to be more managable for a school, small  community center or neighborhood.