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Playgrounds have come a long way since the early days of hot, steel slides and open-backed infant swings. Safety is a big issue on today’s playgrounds, but so is imagination and ingenuity. Take a look at some of the many unusually cool designs popping up around the world. And if you have a favorite we left off the list (which could easily have been twice as long), be sure to tell us about it in the comments.
1. Nishi-Rokugo – Tokyo, Japan
In Japanese, Nishi-Rokugo means Tire Park. The Kawasaki plants are located not far away, so it’s possible they donated the 3,000 tires that make up the dinosaurs, monsters, bridges, slides, swings, and all the loose ones there for kids to stack and hop on. But this sand-bottom park is hardly just for kids. Parents can haul tires up specially designed tire steps and tube down wide concrete slides. I can imagine it’s the type of place you can spend hours at before you, er, tire, of it.
2. The Fruit and Scent Playground –Liljeholmen, Sweden
A banana slide, strawberry spinners, a pair of cherry swings, an orange see-saw and a watermelon jungle gym are all part of this unusual, small park in the south of Stockholm. It’s a great theme because it also teaches kids the importance of fruit over junk food. Reports coming out of the country indicate that the outdoors-loving Swede is on the way out. According to a study by Karolinska university hospital, obesity among seven year olds in Stockholm has increased from 8.5% to 21% over the last fifteen years. What could be better than exercising in fruit as an antidote?
3. Clemyjontri Park – Fairfax County, Virginia
Not just the name is unusual at Clemyjontri Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. This place is one of the few playgrounds in the world where children with disabilities can play side-by-side those without. The entire park is equipped with ramps for wheelchairs and the ground surfaces are specially designed with a non-slip material. The park is named for Adele Lebowitz’s (a major donor) four children: Carolyn (CL), Emily (EMY), John (Jon), and Petrina (Tri). Mrs. Lebowitz and her husband were also sponsors of a local children’s television show, The Pick Temple Show, in the 1950s. The star of that show, a clown named Bozo, was played by Willard Scott. Bozo, as you might know, would later morph into Ronald McDonald.
4. Pruessen Park – Berlin, Germany
It may be the only playground in the world created specifically for seniors. In fact, anyone under 16 is not allowed inside Berlin’s Pruessen Park, nicknamed the “Playground for Grown-Ups.” The equipment is specifically designed for people over five feet tall and caters to Germany’s fastest growing age demographic: seniors. The idea, obviously, is to encourage them to get out and exercise more.
5. Zabeel Technology Park – Dubai
Perhaps the first playground in the world with a technology theme, Dubai’s Zabeel Technology Park has two zones featuring futuristic technology and alternative energy exhibits, a series of high tech interactive displays, and a maze modeled on the solar system.
6. Takino Hillside Park – Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, Japan
The Children’s Playground in the Takino Hillside Park in Japan borrows ideas and images from nature. Varied lighting and sound conditions create a unique sensory experience for kids, unlike anything else on this list. Check out the cool net play tool in the rainbow nest dome. You can see how a lot of the park is built into, and under the hill.
7. St. Kilda Adventure Playground – Adelaide, Australia
St Kilda Adventure Playground is one of Australia’s best known parks and covers 4 hectares along the beautiful South Australian seafront. The park was opened in 1982 and recent upgrades include a wooden castle, a small maze, and a submarine, nicknamed “The Yellow Submarine.” But the park’s biggest attraction is the beached pirate shipwreck, which is especially popular with dolphins and other sea wildlife.
8. Teardrop Park – New York City, NY
Located between residential buildings in Battery Park City, Teardrop Park is unlike anything else in NYC. Built for a whopping $17 million, the park features prominent rock outcroppings, geologic formations, a secret path, a bluestone ice wall, a humongous, almost dangerous looking slide, sandboxes, water play areas, a reading space with rock seats, and places to rock hop. Best of all, because it’s not so easy to find, Teardrop Park is a real insiders secret. (Shhhhh.)
9. Yerba Gardens – San Francisco, California
It may sound like an unsafe setting, but the rooftop at Yerba Gardens in San Francisco is home to one of the most elaborate playgrounds ever constructed. Aside from the ice-skating rink, bowling center and the 130,000 square feet of open space to play in, the playground includes a beautiful 103-year-old hand carved carousel. The Zeum carousel was constructed in 1906 but could not be installed in San Francisco as originally planned because of earthquake issues. It was eventually housed at Luna Park in Seattle, where it was the only piece of equipment to survive a horrific 1911 fire. The city of San Francisco bought the carousel from a collector in 1998 and restored it to its original condition. It now serves at the centerpiece in Yerba Gardens
10. Playground – Boadilla del Monte, Spain
Spanish architects Eduardo Navadijos and Csaba Tarsoly designed this stunning modern playground with the intention of giving children inspiration to pursue their dreams in an airy and cool environment. I’ve never been to Madrid, a mere 30 minutes drive from Boadilla del Monte, but when I do finally get there, this playground is my first stop.
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Comments (39)
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In Rhode Island we have a playground similar to that in Virginia which allows kids of all abilities to play together. It is the imPossible Dream Playground in Warwick.
posted by Kate on 9-14-2009 at 8:47 am
regarding #4 Pruessen park, it is definitely *not* “the only playground in the world created specifically for seniors” (as opposed to your “maybe”), since there are millions like this all over China, and have been for decades, with those spinny discs, walking/skiing thingys, and lots of other apparatus for older folks to stretch on. They’re pretty neat. Of course, everyone else can use them too.
posted by Steven on 9-14-2009 at 10:47 am
It’s not at a public park, but my kids love the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” playground in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Disney World in Orlando. We have a great pic of them riding on the back of a car-sized ant.
[btw, literally horrible ReCAPTCHA http://is.gd/3givC the first time I tried to post this]
posted by Cy Guy on 9-14-2009 at 11:17 am
From what I’ve noticed with most of these parks, they aren’t much for conforming to the new age safety standards that lay down the rubber chips and padded everything. Teardrop Park specifically gets a tip of the hat from me for having little to no safety precautions whatsoever! If I was still a kid, that park would be my favorite!
posted by Steven on 9-14-2009 at 11:17 am
There is a small ‘barrier free’ playground in Omaha called Pipal Park. The park also houses a sculpture memorial of the 1975 Omaha tornado.
posted by vegebrarian on 9-14-2009 at 11:24 am
While “The Awakening” at Hains Point in Washington DC is not a playground per se, it can be a very fun and unusual place for children to play!
posted by Lynn on 9-14-2009 at 11:31 am
I think this should be renamed to 10 AWESOME Playgrounds from Around the World.
posted by Tim on 9-14-2009 at 12:44 pm
@vegebrarian
What would the sculpture look like? Is it just a bunch of slintered lumber and an upside-down car?
kidding
posted by Steven on 9-14-2009 at 1:18 pm
I’ve recently discovered THE best playground for my son…state parks! And you know what? A recent trip to Amicalola park included the freedom to climb on whatever he wanted even if mean he might slip, fall, get wet, muddy etc. Just the day before we found an unmarked waterfall and some guys who taught us how to slide down the 20-30 ft drop. No safety equipment – just common sense and a TOTAL BLAST!
posted by Karen on 9-14-2009 at 2:04 pm
The City Museum in St. Louis is awesome!
posted by V on 9-14-2009 at 2:12 pm
I agree with the City Museum. 3 floors in an abandoned warehouse just off the beaten path in St. Louis. Well worth the trip whenever you are in St. Louis. Our tour guide told us its a big playground for adults
posted by Joe on 9-14-2009 at 2:47 pm
City Museum in St. Louis. There is a fee to get in – but it’s worth the price of admission. Mental_Floss could do an entire article on that place.
posted by Paul on 9-14-2009 at 3:35 pm
Wow all of these are amazing, thanks for this list.
Oh I so wish I lived close to at least one of these.
posted by lydia on 9-14-2009 at 4:02 pm
I remember my daycare used to be housed in a building with a tire playground. They had these big tractor tires that you could climb over, under, whatever. You could sit on top of them, or hang out under them in the shade.
There were also standard things, a small merry-go-round, swings, a slide . . .
My favorite part was the tire wall. It was an A-line frame with tires on chains all the way down both sides. You could climb up and sit on the top tires, it was awesome. Unfortunately, they turned the whole thing into a parking lot.
posted by Lupis on 9-14-2009 at 4:14 pm
“Nishi Rokugo” means “West Rokugo” in Japanese. Not having been there, I’m going to assume “Rogugo” is the name of the area/neighborhood where the park is located, but it certainly doesn’t mean “Tire Park” (park is “kouen”). It’s simply another name for the park, an “a.k.a.”, not the actual meaning. The Japanese call “tires”, “taiya”, a Japanese pronunciation of the same word we use.
Unless, of course, they mean “When people hear “Nishi Rokugo” they think “Tire Park”……
posted by Jamie on 9-14-2009 at 6:28 pm
When I was little my mom used to take us to a place we called the “Cheese Park” in Lakewood, CA. It had all these formations with holes in them that looked like cheese. You could crawl in and out of the spaces. It would be so boring for kids these days, but I was always so excited to go.
posted by Kelli Rae on 9-14-2009 at 8:51 pm
Nishi-Rokugo is an area in Tokyo.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%85%AD%E9%83%B7
Doesn’t look like there’s much there.
posted by Elsa on 9-14-2009 at 9:42 pm
Regarding your entry of the “park for seniors”, there are parts of Spain which have “playgrounds” exactly like that, although, unfortunately, I didn’t see a lot of seniors exercising.
posted by Zubeda on 9-15-2009 at 12:54 am
The City Museum is by far the most awesome playground in the world (or at least in the States)!
I live in St. Louis, and it is the one place every visitor to STL must go to. There is no other place like it on earth!
posted by Jenna on 9-15-2009 at 3:22 am
In Valencia, Spain there is a place called Gulliver Park where the whole play area is constructed like a giant, so all the kids (and adults) playing there are like the thousands of Liliputians from the book Gulliver’s Travels. It’s pretty awesome.
http://www.web-valencia.com/valencia-gulliverpark.htm
posted by Laurie on 9-15-2009 at 9:30 am
There is a wonderful playground on the Vanderbilt University Campus as part of the Susan Gray School for Children. It is the school’s first barrier-free, fully accessible playground for preschoolers ages 3-5. It includes wheelchair-accessible swings, a fort, two motor-skill learning centers, rockers, garden boxes, a play station and an outdoor classroom.
posted by Lisa on 9-16-2009 at 8:57 am
Maybe it’s because I’m used to triple digit heat in Texas, but do some of these look like they could get really hot in the summer?
posted by Elizabeth on 9-16-2009 at 3:06 pm
Not to nitpick, but it’s Yerba Buena Gardens–and it really is great, especially for a hidden park right in downtown SF.
I’d put Gasworks Park in Seattle on the list–many happy hours climbing the old pipes in the playbarn when I was a kid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Works_Park
posted by Charisse on 9-16-2009 at 11:47 pm
Just an FYI: the carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens operated in San Francisco from 1913 until 1972 at Playland at the Beach. It’s tenure at Luna Park was due to the 1906 earthquake, but it was there for only 7 years.
After it was sold at auction in 1972, it operated for a short while in Long Beach, and then it went to Yerba Buena Gardens.
posted by Chris Knight on 9-17-2009 at 1:15 am
St Kilda Adventure playground in in Melbourne not Adelaide.
http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/print_adventure_playgrounds.htm
posted by Michael Rogers on 9-17-2009 at 7:31 am
i think this park is pretty neat, kids playing around on large beautiful sculptures
http://www.friendsoflalaguna.org/
posted by ann on 9-17-2009 at 1:53 pm
i agree. city museum should be on the list. i have taken a dozen friends on weekend trips to st. louis solely for a trip there.
http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp
posted by doctor tecate on 9-18-2009 at 10:34 am
there are many playground for seniors in spain as well like the one shown.
about the playground in boadilla I doubt it really exists. That photo is clearly a rendered view; I live close to Boadilla and never heard / found nothing like that.
If it existed it would be private, look at the kids in uniform. Seems to be a project for a private kindergarder to make dull parents to thinks their kids will be smarter if they play on such a place
posted by zaphod bleebox on 9-19-2009 at 1:45 pm
Nothings as spectacular as the parks in the original topic, but here are some Atlanta playgrounds with pictures.
posted by Chuck on 9-27-2009 at 9:27 am
Steven, you’re not too far off! The sculpture is actually made of twisted metal salvaged from the cleanup, if I remember correctly. It’s been painted blue…it’s v. abstract and sort of reminds me of a cactus.
posted by vegebrarian on 10-8-2009 at 10:57 am
I like Fairy Tale Town in Sacramento, CA. Built back when my mother was a child, and utterly impossible to build these days I’m sure due to safety rules.
My kids love the Crooked Mile there, which is a twisty concrete path ranging from several inches to at least two feet off the ground. No handrails, and too narrow for passing. Kids go running around on that thing and just have a blast.
posted by Stephanie on 10-24-2009 at 3:26 pm
Regarding the park for handicapped children we have them all over the state of Texas. In fact where I live we just opened on up. And in Odessa there is a huge one………
posted by iainsmommy on 10-24-2009 at 10:49 pm
I and the little kids in my life often go to Clemyjontri Park! They can play there for hours and I’ve definitely seen lots of kids with handicaps playing alongside – very nice to see that! I own a bean bag chair company http://www.ahhprods.com, and have to say that the only thing that these playgrounds haven’t thought of yet is adding some bean bag chair landing pads!
posted by Jade on 10-25-2009 at 1:27 pm
Someone up-thread says that St Kilda adventure playground is in Melbourne. They’re wrong, that park is just north of Adelaide.
http://www.byokids.com.au/content/view/230/96/
posted by Gillian on 10-25-2009 at 6:37 pm
The Dennis the Menace playground in Monterey CA is a very fun park with lots of (previously) fun (now precariously “dangerous”) stuff.
posted by AdamWho on 10-27-2009 at 7:23 pm
I totally made the #3 Clemyjontri Park better! See photos of what crazy stuff me and some kids did with bean bag chairs! http://www.ahhprods.com/bean-bag-chairs-blog/view/28491/bean-bags-at-best-playgrounds-part-2
posted by Jade on 11-4-2009 at 6:07 pm
hey!!
i really en enjoyed your post!!!!!
cheeers!
posted by m on 11-12-2009 at 12:06 pm
and where were this when i was a kid
posted by Cheap on 11-13-2009 at 11:06 pm
St Kilda adventure playground is indeed in Adelaide but there is a different park with the same name in St Kilda Melbourne, Thus the confusion. Both are considered Tourist Attractions. MOOKA!
posted by Bandwidth Bandito on 11-14-2009 at 12:38 am