Observing at a Playground

On a beautiful spring morning at Rainey Playground, on the water in Long Island City children were experimenting with modern style playground equipment. There were several man-made hills with playground slides dissecting them, a rock climbing wall, and three free-standing sculpture-like pieces of equipment. One was a large steel globe that the children could sit on and spin, one was a large wavy pole with a small platform around the bottom that they could stand on and spin around, and the most coveted one was a pod type dish for two children to sit inside and spin while two steel bars looked as if they were orbiting around it.

The kids found the space pod with the orbiting poles the most enticing. Kids of all ages were drawn to it. It was amazing how different kids of different ages found ways to experiment on the equipment. Since it was not something they had ever seen before they had to discover on their own why it was there and how they could have fun on it! The littlest of children were content to sit inside spinning the disc to make it go faster. The older children (5 and up) grew tired of just sitting inside the pod and were happier pushing the pod around faster and faster. When they grew tired of that, some of the stronger kids realized if they held onto the bars after pushing they could hang whilst it spun around! The older children were respectful of the little kids who wanted to get out or slow down, carefully helping them in and out of the pod in between rides. They were amazing in their ingenuity, creating new ways to have fun together.