Made From Scratch

Pure good vibes delivering #playtheory #buildingforplay and #bouncy upcycled bike tyre workshops @lollardap (possibly the oldest adventure in LDN?) alongside the wondrous @rootandshoot looking forward to the next round! If only google correctly ranked real #adventureplayground spaces, perhaps they would get the urgent support they deserve!

This summer, amid the craziness of the world, I had a perfect pocket of joy at @shambalafest where myself and my amazing friend Lizzy Fleming @mfsplay brought the 100% reCYCLEd bouncy playground system, so the children of the festival could design, make, bounce, swing and play in mid-air between the trees 🌳♻️🚲 Watching it evolve over the 5 days was a dream, with children experimenting with moves and shapes, and weaving their visionary designs ❤️❤️❤️ Thanks to @tribewoodland and @joebeek for inviting me to bring the bounce, what an amazing crew, such joy working alongside them, adding our bouncy rubber web fun alongside the magic of the kids-built timber structures being shaped around us. More of this please! We can bring this to a school or festival near you, get in touch to discuss 🛠️ Thanks to the amazing Shambala festival, what a setting to make in, and also to my beloved independent bike shops from where I sort and clean their used tyres and tubes and process them into endless play components. Support them where you can, times are hard for the small businesses and they have so much knowledge, expertise and care @seabasscycles @finchesemporium @vgcycles ❤️❤️❤️ #play #installation #buildyourown #kidsdesign #childledlearning #playgrounddesign #sustainabledesign #zerowaste #trashtotreasure #teachdesignskills #makeyourownplayground

Play is so much more expansive than one physical activity - and a playground is so much more than a climbing frame, isolated and exposed in an expanse of rubber behind a metal fence. playgrounds and children need wildness ! ( even in small doses ) We love sneaking in patches of trees, places to hide, and to get muddy in the most unexpected places. We design around what exists- never removing equipment unless it’s decayed or condemned… or REALLY not challenging the age group of the children. This school is lucky for London that it has space to run an play sports… but the overall feel is barren, exposed an synthetic. We worked with 90 children on a design project here earlier in the year an they told us they wanted a space to hide, to be in nature, read outside, make things, an more chance to have contact with nature. The most underused corner of the playground was also the most waterlogged… so like the “ naturetopia” project we build last winter we removed tarmac to make a playable SUDS system, hidden behind the sports pitch. The headteacher had the idea of us building a permanent camp so children could have the joy of hearing rain on canvas and another place to engage in imaginative, communication and fantasy play. This added to the many nooks of new seating, and 30 linear meters of new planters made of reclaimed materials and larch sleepers. Not seen here but we also made a massive loose parts construction area and renovated existing structures and built a cool freeform arch into the playground. Earthwrights fabricated the cool pentagonal tower reading den, and the brilliant robinia parkour boxes we assembled around the new Norway Maples we planted between the pitches. They sent it up to us from Devon on a massive truck and we put it together, an the MFS team clad it, painted it and made the lovely windows. Thanks @earthwrightsplay and the MFS team on this - Llew, Dan, John, Matt, Austin, Sarah, Santi, and Phil. And to the children, staff and parents of @winnsprimary for thier patience during the build an there investment in play ! #naturalplay #londonplaygrounds #play #playgrounds

This summer build we were so happy to work with the wonderful @earthwrightsplay who fabricated this robinia tower for this site in Hackney. This school has one of the smallest playground surface areas to population of children- so it was a design challenge to fit in all thier wishes. Big up the amazing PSA from the school who fundraised, an the school staff who are play focused an requested a MEGA sand play area, recognising the sensory and therapeutic benefit of mastery play. This ended up being 40 tons of sand retained in custom made larch that acted as seating and balancing. A 30 sq m living green roof bike an scooter store we designed with colourful transparent wall that retains the sand to maximise use of space. #sensoryplay #londonplayground #senplay #naturalplay #madeinhackney

On these gorgeous autumn days I’m so happy to be up in the trees fixing things. Thanks to @southwest.play for sending a part out speedily. A human maybe 50-60 years ago planted this incredible variety of tree in this grove of a Hackney school, and it’s providing a cool green glade of play possibilities ever since. For several years now we have been planting as many trees as we can on all our projects, or weaving play opportunities within the existing trees. Summer projects coming up soon ! Watch this space #play #naturalplay #climatechange

We love revisiting projects many years on from building them. The growth of the trees and shrubs we planted here 10 years ago around our new structure helped transform a barren, exposed playground into a shady green glade. We actually grew a “treehouse”! Climate resilient city trees recommended by our friends @tm_hackney include Norway Maple and Hornbeam, of which these two are. We love designing playful planting which mitigates the effect of climate change on children’s access to play. #naturalplayground #hackneytrees #naturalplay #schoolplayground

Revisiting this project one year after starting this build. It’s incredible to see how it has been embraced by the agile community. Children choosing to make things, chill an read away from adults, or sit in dappled light under shade of a tree. This type of intervention in a school yard improves the health, happiness, creativity and resilience of children. It’s also helps mitigate the effects of climate change on children’s access to play, with a built in SUDS system, tons of shading natural materials. Respect to this school for investing in play, making, access to nature and structures scaled and designed for those that may struggle while inside the school building. #schoolplayground #outdoorlearning #londonplayground #naturalplayground

Another cool half day workshop build with @rootandshoot and the MAGIC Shoreditch adventure playground. It’s a wonderful challenge to make genuinely using 100% repurposed materials ( apart from 2 karabiners) There is a wealth of materials to build make create invent and mess about with that can work super effectively for zero budget on an adventure playground, ( or school playground ) collected by the children and community. Tyres are wicked for this, and with minimal processing and no amalgamating with other stuff such as the glues or resins uses in surfacing… they can be almost endlessly reused or deconstructed with no specialist equipment. Get in touch with us or @rootandshoot for installs big and small specific to your space ! And workshops for you to make an create. We love adventure playgrounds ! The culture of curiosity, and experimentation within expansive playful possibilities in an APG keeps our own play design and build approach infused with that sense of wonder and magic, rooted in the radical transformative access to feral free play all but mega important for those children that have the least in this city. Play for all ! and big up London’s diverse, supportive, endangered adventure playgrounds, and the work of the unsung playworker. #adventureplaygrounds #playworker #londonplaygrounds #recycledmaterials #recycledplay #wearenature

So happy to be learning bouncy bike tyre method from Jeremy @rootandshoot at the wonderful space of Shoreditch Adventure Playground last week.

We love listening to, and working with children an young people to co-design unique playable landscapes. We are working on the master plan now for another project in a school in Walthamstow. A Nicola Adams statue, squirrel mountain, and secret infinity tunnel were some of the ingenious and inventive ideas. #playground #codesign #londonplaygrounds #playworkersofinstagram

This beautiful structure we designed an built in the summer was part of a wider landscaping project focusing on increasing biodiversity an increasing accessibility to nature for children in a busy inner city school, near major roads. Our “treehouse library” concept was embraced by this creative and supportive primary school, who were keen to extend opportunities for learning reading, and creative play outside for those particularly who may struggle in a a school environment. One of the rooms in the structure has nooks for small groups to chill….whether you want to read alone tucked into a single window seat, or to climb up a ladder into a loft platform for 3, bathed in coloured light high above the playground below. The playground also has provision for forest school an a loose parts construction area was part of this build, along with hedge an tree planting to create shading and wildlife corridors. We are going to be sharing a lot more of our transformations from design concept to unique playground build realisation over the next few months, as we have a break in playground construction to focus on development, and sharing what we have learnt from play design and build over the last 12 years ! ( and I’m gonna try an get my head round posting and chatting more on here, and overcome my resolutely analogue ways, an digital aversion! ). #playground #schoolplayground #outdoorlearning #loosepartsplay #forestschoolideas

As the sun is shining and we're starting an exciting new project, we're thinking about what we were up to this time last year ☀️ Swipe to see what this playground looked like before we got to work!