Bogin Playscape Project

September 22- House Concert for the Playscape project

Invitations went out today for a house concert/ fund raiser for the Bogin Playscape project, set for 6:00 on Saturday October 20, at the home of Charlie Parham and Roxanne Schneider in South Amherst.

Music has been a silent part of the playscape project right from the start. The early funding used for the materials and toys we purchased last year were all from funds donated from my music earnings this past year- which is not not to say I earn all that much as a musician, but the money donated always seems like it counts for more when it’s given to a good cause. Music has been part of my life as long as working with young kids and trying to design and build things… it all came out of the same time in my life, and it’s all still connected…

Tom Murphy

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, and it’s time to put out some good news!
The Bogin Playscape Project has received a $7000. grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. We had been waiting for a while to hear if we would receive the grant, and it is most welcome news…

The grant will permit the project to continue for the coming year, and opens up lots of opportunities. I’m planning to spend much of the summer working on my own on some equipment ideas and designs, and devote time to developing the part of the project that I found so difficult to pursue at the same time I was teaching. It took a full day to clear out a space in my cluttered barn so that I can really work, and I’m also spending time looking into what tools and equipment I need for building. I’m thinking very carefully as I start to spend the project dollars and want to keep to the costs low and the tools as simple as possible. I’ve begun a small plywood structure that I think of as a “play base” for a pre-school classroom, with the hope of combining as many activities onto this structure as I can dream up.

I also met with Ellen Rainville and Susannah Howe late in June, and we discussed how the project will evolve for the seminar next year. There are new possibilities for scheduling the class over a winter term or over a series of weekends as a way to include more students and concentrate our efforts rather than spreading the work out over a whole semester.

But this summer is my time to build and explore, and I am pleased to be working on some of these ideas I’ve carried around for so long. I want to thank the Community Foundation of Western Mass for their support, and I will update as there is more to share.

We met in Holyoke again for our last class, and each student received a “ball stomp” and a beach ball as a farewell token to remember this year of play and fun with kids. We talked about what worked and what was a struggle this semester, and each student got a chance to describe how they would like to see the project move forward. We had one more round of exercise groups with the pre-school children, and left feeling glad to have shared this project with both the students from Smith and Springfield College, as well as the pre-schoolers, teachers and families.

Elissa and I met at the Holyoke preschool and were available as the parents dropped off their kids, with Elissa’s iPad showing the videos we’ve been taking the last few weeks. This gave parents a chance to see what we’ve been doing, and also to ask any questions. The director had the great idea for us to show the video to the children as well, so we brought the iPad to each class and let the kids see themselves in action.

The class met at the Holyoke preschool, and we started with a meeting to discuss the end of the semester; I was a bit surprised to find that next week (May 1st) is the last class date, as I thought classes lasted longer into May… but next week is it!

We had another unstructured session where we took out the toys and let the kids have at it. The indoor play room at the preschool is big enough that there was room for each child to have a ball stomp (so we could try a “group stomp”) and we also had the Pogo jumpers and spooner boards out. The kids had fun, and it was great to watch them learn how to pogo jump or slide themselves across the room on the spooner boards with just a little practice. We captured a lot of the play session on video, and once we get all the parent permissions signed, we will post it for viewing. The teachers seemed especially excited about the pogo jumpers; it’s a great find as a low cost ($15.) activity toy that really gives a work out!!

We met at Children’s House today, and after talking with the class about what everyone was doing, we decided to go outdoors with the children. This was mostly in response to the unseasonably warm (and inviting) weather, and it gave an interesting perspective on how kids engage in active motor play. Our focus has been on how kids play indoors, and in devising strategies to increase opportunities to move and play inside. This is different for each pre-school, depending on how much space is available. Children’s House has less “open” indoor space than most centers, being based in a residential home rather than being build as a child care center. It just felt too cramped to try to have the group of us (now 8) inside trying to play with the kids in a small space.

The advantage to moving outdoors was that we could take a bigger group of kids, and spread out and observe as they figured out our new toys. This was another session where we brought several of the toys students had purchased for their “equipment reviews” for some real live testing out. We had five different activities available that kids could choose to try. We had two ball stomps with different sized balls, two “spooner boards”, two foam pogo sticks and a “zoom ball” game. Megan also brought her “bucket stilts”, but the wood chip surface made it hard to keep your balance. I found it fascinating to watch individual children as they approached and figured out what the toys could do, and had to interact with each other to take turns and play. There was some adult supervision, but I especially enjoyed seeing the children figure out turn taking on their own. I watched a 4 year old transform in 10 minutes from a very cautious and tentative bounce on a pogo stick (with a fall or two) to a confident and joyful hopper all over the yard as she “got it” all by herself.

Several children stuck by the ball stomps for a long time (10-15 minutes) and just repeated stomping and catching and enjoying the feeling of mastery of a new game.
The spooner boards were very different outdoors on the wood chip surface, and adults got more involved when we brought out a rope and tried to use it to pull (and let the kids pull) themselves across the yard on the boards. One little boy took a spooner board all over the yard and kept experimenting with different places he could get it to slide over while he tried to stand on top. A risk taker seeking out new horizons! I’m sure he would have ridden it down the outdoor slide if we let him (we were there to supervise). The zoom ball game seemed to need the most supervision, coordinating the two partners who open and close their arms to send the ball back and forth on the strings.

There was so much to see as we watched kids either active or more passive, independent or looking for help, going about the important work of play!!

Today Elissa and I traveled to the South Hadley Network for Children office, and spoke about the Playscape Project to a group of early childhood directors and administrators. I had met with this group once before last year before the project started, and it was vital in making the connection with the Collaborative (formerly Hampshire Educational Collaborative) who became the fiscal sponsor of the project. I was struck when I first met this group how they immediately grasped the importance of active play for pre-school kids, and how the world has changed in making it more challenging for preschools to offer active play opportunities. Although I had only met a few of the group’s members, I felt this was a kind of “advisory panel” I would return to as the project unfolded.

So I was glad to return and give a report on how the projects has progressed. It was the kind of gathering that was certain to bring up new ideas and connections to pursue, given the experience and knowledge within the group. As expected, there were several new “leads” to pursue regarding other groups and organizations working on expanding play and motor activities for young kids. Several of the program directors also sound interested in more direct involvement in the playscape project, and offered contact information. I am grateful to the “network” and hope this connection can continue to grow!!

Today we met as a group and began the process of gathering the new permission forms that need to be signed by parents. This is the “internal review board” (IRB) permission form generated by Smith and Springfield College, and will give us permission to bring new equipment designs into each center. It also gives us permission to take video of the play activities, and post some on the website as a means of sharing what we have learned.

Our session with the preschoolers was different today. We brought in a few “ball stomps” and also two “spooner boards”. We put the equipment out in the playroom and watched the children explore. The spooner boards were purchased with Bogin playscape funds, and students will complete an equipment review as they observe how children use them. Each student has the opportunity to research and explore low cost toys (under ($50.) and purchase a piece of equipment for the project. We spent time last semester looking in catalogs and at websites for equipment reviews, but there’s no substitute for having the equipment in your hands when you are trying to see if it works! The spooner boards were fun, and look like they are pretty indestructible- we will post video and reviews when completed.

We met again at the Holyoke preschool, and heard about everyone’s plans for the next few weeks. Megan is ready to buy some material for building, and several students are ready to buy low cost (under $50.) toys for the equipment reviews. Up till now, students have looked online and in catalogs at equipment, but now we will have real live toys to use and observe with kids. Before we can bring them into the preschools, there’s still the complicating issue of the new permission slips required by Smith and Springfield College. Once we can get the families signed on, we can have the students working directly with the pre-schoolers, and move beyond observing to participating!!

Elissa took more video of the exercise groups at the Holyoke preschool, and I’m thrilled to finally have those activities “captured” in a way we can share them. Once those permission slips are signed, we can post them on the website. Watching kids play and laugh and have fun is the best way to show what kids need…

We met at the Holyoke preschool today, and this was the largest group of students so far; we were glad to see Wambui Kabochi from last semester, and we have added Elissa Maruca, who was part of the management class from Springfield College last semester that helped with the research page. Elissa is now my student intern for the next three months, and will be able to join the class and the project as part of her internship. The class is working on building the student page of the website, which is now up for viewing. Kristin is organizing the student page, but also helping each student post on their own on the student blog. Each student is working on different projects, and I’m hoping the website will soon show more of the work that is taking place.

Elissa used her iPad for some video of the children during a play group at preschool today, and the video quality looks great! Our next challenge is to get the new Smith College and Springfield College permission forms signed by the children’s families so we can edit and post some video on the website. The permission slips also explain how we are hoping to share new equipment designs once they are ready for trial.