Play

I had the chance of attending Planning-ness 2013, an un-conference for creative thinkers who want to get their hands dirty. I attended eight sessions in total but one really stood out for me: “HOW TO DESIGN FOR CHILDREN” by Ben Durrell and Megan Dickerson.

Why play ?

Play is the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem solving (Henry Jenkins, New Media Literacies).

As children we spent most of our time playing, it’s like a daily job. We lose that growing up. Playing makes people happy. Happy people develop stronger communities. Adults deserve creative time and places to play. We do not get enough. Creating “playgrounds” enable connections between people and lead to playtime.

Where can we play ?

Historic sites, housing projects, museums, public parks, universities, coffee shops… at work!

Who can design playgrounds ?

Artists, graphic and video games designers, urban planners, social workers, psychologists, marketers, teachers, strategic planners. Anyone.

Let’s do something!

One of the exercises we did was to draw a map of one of our favourite space we had as a children. It could be a park, a room, a building or a particular street. It’s surprising how well we all remembered the details of each space. Objects surrounding us seem so big. Every corner was a hiding place. Every obstacle was a new challenge.

For more, or to attend to the next workshops, visit [Planningness](planningness.com). This is Ben and Megan full presentation.