Grasshoppers In The Park Playground is a collaboration to maximise the potential of the outdoor spaces at this parent led nursery.
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Grasshoppers in the Park are an inspiring parent led nursery in Hackney, East London. They contacted Co-DB play after they secured funding from a Tesco Community Grant. Co-DB Play worked together with staff, kids and parents at the nursery to explore, design and then build a new environment in the outdoor space.
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The treehouse, designed by Co-DB Play is a timber structure that circumnavigates a cherry tree in the garden. The design is modular. This allowed there to be a variety of heights and shapes without ever getting too high off the ground for children of that age group. The design is opened so that the structure can be freely interpreted by the children to meet whatever games they are playing day by day.
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All the garden furniture and play equipment was designed to be installed by parents, staff and children as well as the Co-DB team. All the modular pieces, constructed from soft wood timber frames, decking and Corrugated PVC, were constructed at our East London workshop. They were then put together and installed as part of 2 community build days, everyone, parents and carers, kids and staff all got involved.
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The community build days added great value to this project for the client. Co-DB Play were able to offer more as the labour was shared by the wider nursery community. For Grasshoppers the level of family involvement has meant that the parents and carers have an increased sense of ownership of the project and the ongoing use of the equipment.
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"My favourite thing (about working with Co-DB Play) was the level of involvement they managed to achieve within the group, ensuring that parents, staff and children cooperated and participated fully in the ground work and all the final details. I think this was possible also thanks to the extensive explanations that the group provided, so that we all felt we knew what the purpose of even the smallest jobs was...manual work led by thoughtful teaching."
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"The garden now has resources that children and parents really enjoy and use daily. The tree house has been planned and constructed in ways that give the children plenty of opportunities to move in different ways and in safety. Our shed is functional, utilitarian and fun at the same time! qualities not often present simultaneously..."
Luciana Talpo, Nursery Manager |
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All photos © Amy Scaife 2018