Imagination is one of the most powerful qualities you can foster in a child, and it doesn’t take much. In fact, many adults get too involved in kids’ experiences, which results in the opposite effect: kids with little imagination who need to be entertained. These kids can become adults unable to problem solve and think outside the box. What can you do? Play spaces are a wonderful place to inspire imagination, and there are so many ways to design them to that end.
Think Form and Function
Some adults planning for kids’ play spaces think only of function. They design climbing structures to withstand roughhousing and storms, and you’ll get a few swings. Others create spaces that look magical, but kids can’t create anything unique themselves. So, you either get what looks like an Olympic gym or a world that’s already been established. What you’re looking for is something in between.
The best play spaces have playground sets for kids equipped with challenging climbs and swings with an element of enchantment built in. Think climbing rock walls kids have to scale to get to a platform, structures with moving bases, or swinging rings kids have to balance on. The equipment can resemble a treehouse or a fairyland. But it must also be functional, pushing kids to create a game or story of their own and have wild adventures.
Introduce a Natural Element
You want kids to have stronger imaginations? Introduce them to nature. Natural spaces have so much to explore and investigate, from trees and wildflowers to the critters that inhabit those spaces. Nature encourages kids’ curiosity and interest in new experiences. As a bonus, it’s always changing, so it can continue to keep kids engaged almost entirely on its own. Of course, you can’t always bring kids out into nature every day.
But you can bring nature to kids! You could border your playground with a couple of feet of dirt planters with ground cover, trees and plants native to the area, and shrubbery that covers up any fencing. This creates the illusion for kids that they are “in nature” even when they may be in a busy city surrounded by concrete. More often than not, you’ll find kids heading to play in the grass, dirt, and trees for imaginary play when given a chance.
Provide Rudimentary Tools Over Toys
One big mistake adults make with kids is to provide them with ready-made toys that do everything for them. Electronics, dollhouses with fixed furniture, and robotic figures and cars are just a few examples. Of course, those items have their place, but they also require zero imagination from kids. They’re designed to entertain children, and you want children to entertain themselves.
Though it might sound counterintuitive, if you give kids basic tools, they are more likely to create something on their own. Building blocks, a bucket of loose Legos, or even wood, hammers, and nails, they’ll get to work designing, building, and even working together on projects. With supervision, young children can start tinkering with rudimentary tools, which can foster stronger imaginations and even deeper STEM learning.
Get Kids Involved
One area where grown-ups make a lot of mistakes when thinking of children is not seeking feedback from the actual children. It’s easy to think you know best because you’re older, wiser, and more highly educated. And in many ways, that’s true. But when it comes to what will spark curiosity and engage young minds, kids’ input can be invaluable. So, don’t hold meetings on play space design without a few kids on your panel.
You can bring together a few kids of parents on your team and take them to different play spaces in the area. Set them free to play at will for an hour or so, and observe them while they do. Do they get bored quickly or are they reluctant to leave when it’s time? Then, ask them for feedback — what could have been better? What was missing? As you start your design, ask them to look over your blueprints and provide criticism.
Make It Flexible
And don’t forget to make your design flexible! As the years pass, you may want to replace these bouncy toys with a structure. You might want to plant a garden when you have a staff to help manage it. If you pack too much in too tightly and too rigidly, your design, which is fabulous today, may turn out to be old and outdated a few years from now. Children of each generation tend to have new interests, so be prepared for that.
You’ll want your various structures to be stable enough to support running and screaming children but also easy enough to remove and replace. You can also keep each piece of equipment relatively neutral so that you can swap out one or two pieces without taking down the entire design. As children evolve with the times, you can introduce new elements to keep the spark alive.
In the end, it is much easier to encourage children’s imaginations at a young age than to try to teach creative thinking to adults. Indeed, many adults who never learned ingenuity or inventiveness as kids struggle their whole lives to become independent and insightful. Fortunately, it is not difficult to foster curiosity as young people are naturally inquisitive and relatively easy to inspire. Play spaces are just one great way to do it.
