Experimental Play

happy christmas playmates!

2011-12-20T15:39:00.000Z

Pop-up seats and swings

2011-11-13T15:57:00.003Z

Check out Urban Bricolage's coverage of various projects involving pop-up seats and swings for public spaces...(thanks to Playing Out for the link...)

"Keep Playing"

2011-10-24T12:40:00.002+01:00

A forward-looking initiative was recently launched by Play Association Tower Hamlets that aims to get children and families to reclaim the spaces outside their homes to create playful spaces, and hopefully to change people's attitudes. They are looking for 'Play Champions' to work with families on estates there...

Many thanks to Playing Out for pointing this our way.

Possible site for re-location!

2011-10-14T15:41:00.002+01:00

Spotted by Viv in Yorkshire...

Come Out and Play

2011-09-21T09:36:00.000+01:00

On Sunday in our street a group of us organised 'Come Out & Play!', an afternoon when we put bunting across the road and neighbours brought out games, toys, food and drink and.. spent some time together.
It was a real pleasure, and great to run something so simple to set up. We didn't officially close the road, just put up signs encouraging people to take another route, and leafleted the cars in advance asking for people to part a few streets away for the afternoon to give us more space. Hattie brought out a few pieces of snug, a local boy arrived with his secret recipe for giant bubble making mixture, others brought a playhouse, pizza, tea, cake, chalk, softballs and musical instruments. A burst of rain ten minutes before the advertised end led to a hurried clearing up followed by a warm glow of satisfaction about an enjoyable event for locals of all ages. Thanks to http://playingout.net/ for inspiration and tips

Towards a Theory of Classification of Loose Parts

2011-09-13T09:13:00.003+01:00

Taken from EXTREME TIDYING UP

Leaping into the Linhope Spout!

2011-09-07T12:40:00.000+01:00

Can there be anything more fun than jumping 20' down into a bottomless pool of freezing water? These brave kids in the Cheviot Hills (where I've just spent a blustery week) obviously don't think so...

Snug in luxury Japanese hotel!

2011-09-07T12:29:00.000+01:00

Our friend Chi-Chi spotted this poster in the reception of the Korakuen hotel in Atami, advertising their latest attraction - unfortunately she didn't have time to see it in action... if anybody else around the world has photos of Snug, we'd love to see them!

Childs Play in the Sunday Telegraph

2011-09-04T10:46:00.000+01:00

New approaches to playgrounds bring imagination (and danger) back to playtime

"...Where does playground design go from here? The future might just lie in the one thing designers have spent the past ten years vilifying: brightly coloured plastic. Not even a concetre lover could claim Gillett Square in Hackney is a lovely place, but every afternoon, something extraordinary happens. From out of two giant dustbins, children take a big loop, a cone, a wave, a curved section of wall, a mound and some long pieces of plastic like noodles. This is a Snug play set, designed by siblings Tim and Hattie Coppard, and its premise is that anywhere can be a playground.

Snugplay's essence is flexibility. Children can do whatever they want with the shapes, but they're designed to be awkward - nothing slots easily into anything else. They have to use their imagination and, because some of the pieces are pretty heavy, work together. Since its launch in 2008, the kits - costing £11,700 each - have been sold all over the world."

- John Preston, Sunday Telegraph STKids magazine, 14th September 2011.

Nursery Carnival!

2011-08-09T10:39:00.000+01:00

Nursery Carnival held their annual summer playday event in St Marks Park, Ladbroke Grove - this year's theme: "Fishville"!
Sutcliffe Play kindly donated Snug for the day, and it was very enthusiastically played on by the local children, most of whom had presumably never seen it before...

Hot play in Barnet!

2011-08-08T11:19:00.000+01:00

Hundreds of families turned out on one of the hottest days this summer for a fabulous Playday in Friary Park, Barnet, north London. Snug proved to be a very popular attraction for kids of all ages...

Snug Play days in August!

2011-08-03T09:16:00.000+01:00

Visitors to Play events around the country will be able to try out Snug this month.
All are welcome!
Playdays are being held at:-

Wednesday August 3rd
National Coal Mining Museum
New Road, Overton, Wakefield, WF4 4RH
9am - 4pm
and
Barnet Play Day,
Friary Park Road,
Barnet, N12 9PD
11am - 4pm

Thursday August 4th
National Coal Mining Museum
New Road, Overton, Wakefield, WF4 4RH
9am - 4pm
and
Eastwood Play Day,
Eastwood Comprehensive School, NG16 3DY.
(Parking Hall Park, Mansfield Road)
12 - 4pm

Friday 5th August
Aberford Park
Brook Road,
Boreham Wood, WD6 5HQ
1 - 4pm

Tuesday 9th August
Stapleford Play Day
Ilkeston Road Recreational Play Ground
NG9 8JL
12 - 4pm

Thursday 11th August
Kimberley Play Day,
Kimberley School Playing Field,
NG16 1EX. (Parking Chestnut Drive)
12 - 4pm

Saturday 13th August
Old Newland Primary School,
Jack Kaye Walk, Reynoldson Street,
Newland Avenue. HU5 2BX
11am - 4pm

Friday 19th August
Emsllie Hornimans Park,
Kensal Road,
London W10 5AW
12 - 4.30pm

The end of zero risk in childhood?

2011-08-01T11:55:00.000+01:00

Tim Gill recently wrote in The Guardian of the positive climate change in attitudes to children's safety:-

"The time is right to move beyond unproductive debates about the “blame culture” and instead to build momentum behind the idea of expanding children’s horizons. What is needed is nothing
less than the wholesale rejection of the philosophy of protection. In its place, what we need to adopt is a philosophy of resilience that truly embraces risk, uncertainty and real challenge – even real danger – as essential ingredients of a rounded childhood."

Read full article here...

Health and Safety "stifling childhood"

2011-07-16T12:15:00.000+01:00

Judith Hackitt, the Chair of the Health & Safety Executive has recently claimed that "jobsworth" bureaucrats are creating joyless playgrounds as a result of overuse of regulations.

She states that: "The creeping culture of risk-aversion and fear of litigation...puts at risk our children's education and preparation for adult life. Playgrounds have become joyless, for fear of a few bruises."

Let us hope that this tide continues to turn!

Play is recommended in new physical activity guidelines

2011-07-16T12:12:00.000+01:00

The new Physical Activity Guidelines are the first UK-wide
guidelines to be published. The guidelines form part of Start
Active, Stay Active, a report from all four Chief Medical Officers
across the UK. This report describes the evidence behind the
development of the new guidelines and illustrates how
individuals can achieve their physical activity
recommendations.

The guidelines and the report can be downloaded from the
Department of Health website here.

My Playground - Urban Space!

2011-07-16T12:06:00.000+01:00

Check out this short film by Kaspar Astrup Schröder that explores the way Parkour and Freerunning is changing the perception of urban space and how that space is changing the traceurs and freerunners.

Mainly set in Copenhagen the film follows the making of the first dedicated parkour park in the world, designed by the danish team, Team JiYo.

"What's fascinating is the way of transforming the city. Because you can't change it physically—you can't go and move the light post or the staircase—but you can change the way you are looking at it and the way you use it. And in that way make it your own." —Signe Højbjerre, freerunner, Team Jiyo

Hattie frolics in Welsh woods!

2011-07-03T20:30:00.000+01:00

Hattie spent the weekend in Wales at a 'Playcamp' as a prelude to the IPA conference in Cardiff - it involved some interesting activities such as lugging this 23m tree trunk through fields....!

She hopefully recovers in time to give her presentation at the conference, the title of which is:
'How can we create a playful public realm?'

In case you are at the IPA conference on monday 4th July, make sure to catch her at 2.00pm in room K...

Snug is being launched this weekend in Slough!

2011-06-21T22:19:00.000+01:00

2011-06-21T22:12:00.000+01:00

Come along to Slough High Street on Saturday July 5th for the start of the 'Countdown to 2012' activities organised by Slough Borough Council.
Snug has been purchased to be used in public and community events, and will be be appearing across the town in various venues...

Power from Underground!

2011-06-14T10:27:00.000+01:00

Check out this fun video from Mudlevel showing how hands-on ingenuity can harness power from a Tube escalator...

Tennessee children's hospital finds Snug "therapeutic"

2011-06-11T18:03:00.000+01:00

Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, has put Snug in their rooftop garden and are finding that children of all ages are really enjoying the respite it offers from the sterile hospital environment - see this article...

Gillett Square

2011-06-03T12:57:00.000+01:00

The Hackney Gazette is covering Snug in Gillett Square this month...

Snug is currently being brought out for anyone to play on in Gillett Square in Dalston, east London. Times are: on fridays 3.30-5.30pm, saturdays and sundays 2.00-5.30pm.
Go and try it out!

2011-06-03T12:55:00.000+01:00

S&O visit the USA

2011-06-03T12:48:00.000+01:00

Hattie and Tim visited Playcore to see how their Snug manufacturing and marketing is coming along. It was very exciting to tour the factory in Fort Payne, Alabama (which narrowly avoided the recent tornados) to see all the moulds and other processes being developed. We also had meetings in Chattanooga with Lindsay and the marketing group, and also met Cynthia Gentry from the Atlanta Taskforce for Play, who is very interested in all the possibilities for Snug.

We all visited an external courtyard of the local children's hospital, where Snug is used to great effect by the kids in recovery - we saw a lovely young boy who had just had his chemo playing with his younger brother.

We then all met up in Houston for the Children's Museums Conference. Tim & Hattie gave a presentation on Snug's genesis, which was very well received, and the stall was buzzing all day with very interested museum people - fingers crossed for some more sales!

Lindsay and Cynthia Gentry

2011-06-03T12:36:00.000+01:00

Snug at the Erlanger hospital, Chattanooga

2011-06-03T12:32:00.000+01:00

Snug spray booth

2011-06-03T12:29:00.000+01:00

Playcore's Lindsay and Mike

2011-06-03T12:28:00.000+01:00

On the Loop!

2011-06-03T12:27:00.000+01:00

Mike, Brendan, Tim & Lindsay discuss foam!

2011-06-03T12:24:00.000+01:00

Bump Mould!

2011-06-03T12:21:00.000+01:00

it's been a long time since we blogged

2011-06-02T09:47:00.000+01:00

Look out for new posts shortly of photos of our trip to the USA and the Snug Factory there!

happy nearly new year

2011-02-12T15:11:00.000Z

We've only just seen this image used by Playcore for their new year's card.

We like it a lot

And we hope it's going to be a very good year for Snug

as it goes into production in the USA

and the play revolution gathers momentum in the UK too.

We hope the rest of 2011 is good for you also.

home

2011-01-29T23:05:00.003Z

manifesting

2011-01-24T11:37:00.000Z

We don't use twitter as much as maybe we should do, but a friend of ours does and came
across this link to the blog of New York author, illlustrator and 'illustrated surface designer'
containing play manifestos and all kinds of interestingness

...and it's well worth a read.

By the way, we are @snugandoutdoor on Twitter - please follow us if you tweet and let's see if

we can build a strong network of creative playpeople.

snugging the states

2011-01-13T13:20:00.000Z

The Snugplayusa.com website is live and looking wonderful - please take a look.

snug tv

2010-11-12T18:28:00.000Z

snug in the usa

2010-11-10T12:17:00.000Z

Hattie and Tim are just back from the USA where they've been launching www.snugplayusa.com
with Playcore. This photo is of Lyndsay Richardson and Brendan Shanley of Playcore at the NAEYC and NRPA shows in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. The response to Snug in the USA was fantastic - lots of interest as the above article shows, taken from a US architectural magazine.

coffee table snug

2010-08-26T16:26:00.000+01:00

We have just received our copy of Playground Design (Links Books, distributed by RIBA Books)
SNUG has an 8 page full colour spread and our experimental playground at Daubeney School is well featured.
This is an excellent and substantial publication of successful playgrounds from around the world - well worth getting a copy

PLAYPUMP

2010-07-08T17:56:00.001+01:00

Many thanks to Ned Crowe from Arup for passing on this fantastic way of pumping water using minimal technology and maximum fun.

the gathering

2010-07-05T17:57:00.000+01:00

play beyond the playground

2010-07-05T17:23:00.001+01:00

A wonderful gathering of artists and playful thinkers took place at Snug & Outdoor HQ last week.

Tim Gill - (http://www.rethinkingchildhood.com) Writer, researcher, adviser on children's play and childhood, Stuart Lester - Senior Lecturer in play at Gloucester University, Chris Meade - Director of If:book (http://www.bookfutures.com/) and long time co-conspirator, Chris O'shea - (http://www.chrisoshea.org) digital artist making playful public installations, Reem Charif architect/designer with Febrik, (http://febrik.org/) creating playful spaces with children in Lebanese refugee camps, Bruno Taylor (http://www.bigbrudesign.co.uk) and Vincenzo Vi Maria (http://www.vdmdesign.net) designers who subvert public space with play, and Hattie and Tim from Snug & Outdoor….

All day we discussed flexible space, disruptive space, play as the creation of uncertainty and of balance. We looked at playful wonders in refugee camps, school playgrounds, a Japanese plaza, Gillett Square, London bus stops… We ate delicious food, drank coffee and wine and agreed that this is fun and inspiring…

Who knows what next….??

chicago loving snug

2010-04-15T16:01:00.000+01:00

We just had a lovely email from Sheila Scullin at the Chicago Children's Museum saying,

"The Snug Kit is a HUGE success. I’ve seen the most wonderful things take place in our gallery. My favorite so far has been children with severe physical disabilities getting a chance to get our of their wheelchairs and enjoy the kit. It’s been amazing.

More feedback soon!

from Chicago Now blog

2010-03-10T22:03:00.000Z

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/wee-windy-city/2010/03/scenes-from-ready-set-move-at-the-chicago-childrens-museum.html

"Last week, I swung by the Chicago Children's Musuem with my three kids to pass the time on a gray and chilly afternoon. Although this is one of our favorite spots in Chicago, we hadn't visited in a few months. We were all excited to see the new updates and exhibits in place.

I was particularly impressed with the Ready, Set . . . Move! exhibit. This unassuming space contained a wide variety of large and unusual play items. I found the simplicity and design of this exhibit to be quite remarkable.

The materials themselves are not like anything that I have seen before. Options include everything from simple couch cushions to concave semi-circles that could be used as rocking seats or turned upside down to create raised stepping stones. The CCM staff unobtrusively encouraged my kids to move all of the components around and try the same piece in many different ways.

While I was watching my kids play, I noticed that the components seemed to spark a different sort of creativity and physical energy. According to the CCM website, "The components in Move are from the Snug Kit, developed by London-based artists Tim and Hattie Coppard. The award-winning Snug Kit makes its United States debut at Chicago Children's Museum."

I loved the fact that all three of my kids (ages 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 14 months) had a great time in this space -- each of them using the materials in a different way.

Ready, Set . . . Move! will be at the CCM through May 16th. Check out the slideshow to get a better idea of what awaits you at this exhibit.

playful anarchy

2010-03-03T11:50:00.000Z

Here's a link to a good article on the inspirational anarchist Colin Ward, recommended by Ken Warpole.

Stuart Brown does play on TED

2010-02-20T15:17:00.000Z

dingdingdongdingdingdongding

2010-01-06T22:25:00.001Z

Thanks to Birds of Lidingo for sending us this fancy footwork from Amsterdam. The foot piano is designed by Alfons Van Leggelo.

snow & outdoor

2010-01-06T19:15:00.000Z

How fantastic to see snowsculptures and snowball fights all over town. Tell us if you see any unusual snow play happenings please. This bespectacled snowdrunk seen in Alexandra Palace.

Hattie & Tim visit the USA

2009-11-30T10:58:00.001Z

We have just returned from a very interesting visit to the USA, where we visited the wonderful Chicago Children's Museum which has bought a Snug Kit which they are organising a whole new exhibit around, called Move, which opens in January.

We also visited Chattanooga, Tennessee and Washington DC, where we attended the national early years conference and trade show...

Hattie looking Presidential!

2009-11-30T10:57:00.001Z

The amazing Anish Kapoor "Bean" in Millenium Park

2009-11-30T10:53:00.000Z

Chicago skyline at night

2009-11-30T10:49:00.000Z

Hackey Playday!

2009-11-30T10:16:00.000Z

A large amount of people flocked to Gillett Square in Hackney, East London last month to participate in a hugely successful Playday run by Snug & Outdoor, who transformed this civic space into an exciting, temporary play landscape.

In addition to two full Snug kits we brought in The Albion Kids Show who introduced a climbing tree, sandpits and a log slide, as well as other materials such as ropes, fabric, a swing suspended from the trees, a painting area, hula hoops and circus skills equipment.

Two outreach projects in neighbouring estates allowed us to introduce experimental play workshops aimed at inspiring imaginative responses in local children as well as raising local awareness of the Gillett Square event.

It was a truly inspirational sight seeing so many people of all ages enjoying themselves through play in the square. Snug allowed the space to be in a permanent state of flux - one minute a group would organise themselves to build a 'rocketship', the next, another group would be making a huge tent with fabric supported by the Snug Cones! It was remarkable how children of different ages and backgrounds were able to make friends and play together without conflict.

The universally positive feedback from all parties involved in the project serves to demonstrate the value and need for more of this kind of provision.

The project was organised in association with Hackney Cultural Services and Hackney Cooperative Developments

playaway

2009-10-30T09:44:00.000Z

Hand from Above from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

We just came across this delightful film from Chris O'Shea on the www.thisisplayful.com website.

Meanwhile we've been having a playful time in Hackney this week. Photos of the fun here soon.

from angel to spain

2009-10-14T19:30:00.000+01:00

Children enjoying Snug at the Mediateca Expandida : Arcadia exhibition in Gijon, Spain

Snug Rob - Sutcliffe's designated Snugflogger - and Hattie, at the Primary Capital Programme conference, Islington.

--

life on mars

2009-10-12T09:03:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Tim Wright for this link to some space-aged U.S. playgrounds of the seventies.

eurekakaka

2009-10-01T21:16:00.000+01:00

The snug kit at Eureka!

Snug is finding its way into museums around the world.

* Eureka! in Halifax have SNUG permanently outside their entrance for children and adults to play with before and after visiting the museum.

* Chicago Children's Museum have recently purchased SNUG as the centre-piece of their new exhibition called 'Move' which is due to open in Jan 2010. They are in the process of developing an educational program and resources around SNUG for their visitors (adults and children).

* Dr Fraser Brown from Leeds Met University will be researching how Snug is used and perceived by children, parents, teachers and museum staff and how it might be used to enhance the museum experience.

* Laboral Centro de Arte y Creation Industrial in Gijon, Spain are exhibiting SNUG from Oct 2nd - Dec 7th in an exhibition called 'Mediateca Expandida : Arcadia' that looks at games as strategy and language in contemporary culture.

BLextraordinary

2009-10-01T19:55:00.000+01:00

The BLeX (Big Landscape Experiment), developed by Snug & Outdoor with Hampshire Environment Department, has been shortlisted for a Landscape Institute Award in the Communications & Presentation category. A lunchtime awards ceremony will take place in London on 19th November 2009

The awards aim to bring greater awareness of the contributions that landscape architecture and institute members can make in helping to create an improved environment.

www.landscapeinstitute.org

For more details of the BLeX click HERE!!!

Snug featured at V&A!

2009-09-22T15:29:00.000+01:00

As part of London Design Festival 2009, the story behind Snug’s development will be featured this week at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in the new Sackler Centre, as well as at the 100% Design Exhibition.

It will be included as a case study on a new website to be launched this week by UAL highlighting the best of ‘British Creative Industries Practice and Research, Enterprise and Education’

putting the whizz into wisbech

2009-07-28T13:09:00.000+01:00

Check out the Wisbech Adventure Playground project that we are working on with Sutcliffe Play: http://www.wisbechadventureplay.net/

parklife

2009-07-28T12:54:00.000+01:00

Photos from The Treehouse Gallery to be seen in Regents Park, a wonderful encampment of treehouses, swings and happenings. Recommended.

Badly Designed School

2009-05-28T19:03:00.000+01:00

Here's an interesting article from CABE:'Badly designed schools won't be built' . "Schools minister Jim Knight has announced a new minimum design standard for Building Schools for the Future (BSF). Designs falling short of the standard will not get built, and taxpayers will be guaranteed value for money from the government’s investment in BSF."

Tim gathers no moss

bodyspacemotionthings

2009-05-28T18:53:00.001+01:00

Snug and Outdoor went to play about at Tate Modern over the Bank Holiday, experiencing
Bodyspace-motionthings by Robert Morris - "a huge interactive sculpture with massive plywood seesaws and giant rolling cylinders which first graced Tate Britain in 1971. But it was sadly closed after four days due to “exceptionally exuberant” visitors who trampled the place down. Now Morris has recreated the work especially for the Long Weekend." Here are pictures from Hattie's iPhone.

snug goes to suffolk

2009-04-14T22:25:00.000+01:00

snug in the afternoon

2009-03-11T17:57:00.000Z

stop frame animation by Toni Lebusque

if:so pictures

2009-03-02T13:17:00.000Z

The if:so salon held at the South Bank last week brought together an inspiring range of people from the worlds of literature, new media and play. Hattie showed the Snug Kit in miniature and we discussed ways it could be used to explore narrative and inspire creative writing. if:book associates talked about their education project for secondary schools and much more.

early experiments

2009-02-11T08:21:00.000Z

Via Boingboing.net comes this enjoyable time-lapse video of a nine month old baby at play.
Note that he wasn't left alone all that time - the parents edited themselves out.

eureka moments

2009-01-26T23:21:00.000Z

Hattie writes:

I jotted down these at the "Just Playing" event at Eureka! last week:

“it helps if someone puts in our way the means of making use of what we find”

and here are some more quotes that I've gathered over time about play and creativity.

“A playable environment offers risk, sacrifice and serendipity”

"We use the material world around us to facilitate the imagination"

"The capacity to see connections that had not been seen before”

"Disturb the indolence of the mind"

"remove the film of familiarity"

"Imagination gives you hope and possibilities"

job!

2009-01-14T12:20:00.000Z

Sutcliffe Play are advertising for a marketing executive to sell the Snug kit - a fantastic opportunity to ensure the message spreads to spark the playground revolution!
Here are the details.

fair play and happy new year to you

2009-01-06T11:05:00.000Z

WHY NOT start 2009 by clicking HERE to download Fair Play, the DCFS play strategy, which mentions Snug & Outdoor and the Snug Kit. Then get in touch with us about buying the kit and/or hiring our expert services to help you and the children you work with to have a surprisingly playful and fruitful new year??

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T17:30:00.000Z

strategic play

2008-12-11T11:26:00.000Z

The Government's National Play Strategy has just been launched and can be downloaded from http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/play.
As part of this investment, all local areas will receive funding. Building on the 63 local areas that are already receiving funding, a further 89 local authorities will receive play capital and revenue funding from April 2009.

Children’s Minister, Delyth Morgan, said: “We know that children need play to develop the skills for a successful future. Through the Play Strategy, we are ensuring that all our new investment is shaped by local consultation, and we are supporting community-led projects, including through new funding to support our key delivery partners in the third sector. In addition to investing in new play areas to meet immediate needs we are also laying the foundations to ensure that play becomes a greater priority across local children’s services and throughout local planning and delivery over the longer term.”

Maggie Atkinson, Director of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said: “I very much welcome the government's new play strategy. The strategy will help local authorities, their partners and communities to transform public parks, children's play areas and school grounds so that all children have the opportunity to enjoy playing outside with their friends in a safe, stimulating and exciting environment."
--

playscapes

2008-12-10T08:31:00.000Z

This is a blog packed with interesting design ideas - take a look: http://playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/

article from the Hampstead & Highgate Express

2008-12-08T08:19:00.000Z

a snug fit

2008-12-05T13:15:00.000Z

This article is from Scholastic Education News:

A revolutionary new range of play equipment has been opened at a London school by two ex pupils.

Children at Fitzjohns Primary School in Camden met Hattie and Tim Coppard, the designers of Snug, who attended the school in the sixties.
Children in winter coats played in the school playground and Governors, parents and other local schools attended the launch of the Snug kit which is the result of 15 years research and observation into what makes a good playground.

Hattie says: “I was so excited about going back to my old school, it’s where it all started and I have such great memories of the playground. Now I hope Snug can help create fantastic memories for current and future pupils of Fitzjohns.

“Snug is a completely new approach to school playground design, creating a flexible environment for play and learning which changes the psychology of the playground. Children work together to build their own wonderful playscapes and this encourages their cooperation and creativity.”

Head teacher Rob Earrey comments: “From the moment Snug arrived the children were intrigued and literally couldn’t wait to get on it. As soon as the last screw was turned, the bright green mound became home to all sorts of imaginative play.

“The moveable parts are used to great effect and the amount of imaginative play that now happens during the day is staggering – a very tangible result of this is the fall in the number of lunchtime complaints and incidents.

“Snug is creative, imaginative, intriguing, enticing, but most importantly fun. I love it and so do the children.”

Hattie’s playground design company, Snug & Outdoor also launched a new campaign to bring creativity to school playgrounds and are offering five schools a free playground consultation.
Contact Hattie at Snug & Outdoor by visiting www.snugandoutdoor.co.uk.

education show 2009

2008-12-01T15:09:00.000Z

Don't miss our seminar at the next Education Show:

Snug In the Curriculum. This is how it's billed:

Speaker
Hattie Coppard

Date/Time: 28 Mar 2009
13:00-13:45

Seminar Details

Snug is a radical new approach to school playground equipment. It consists of a family of large scale modular play elements for children to create their own dynamic, exciting playscape – where they can have fun, explore & learn. This is a chance to hear the designer of Snug give practical examples of how schools are using Snug as a creative learning resource across the curriculum.

# Seminar Streams Early Years
# Primary
Location: Booking Code C11

because you're worth it

2008-12-01T14:55:00.001Z

We've just been to Bedgrove School near Aylesbury, a fantastic infant school with a huge reputation for their inspired work on outdoor learning. The school grounds are filled with gardens of touch, sight, smell, butterflies and storyteling. There's a garage, a pharmacy, a library, lots of vegetables - used by the pupils to cook lunches for each other - and above all an atmosphere of energy and committment. Oh, and they have the SNUG kit and love it. Staff were talking about the imagination it unleashed, for instance a young pupil using one of the 'noodles' as a moustache, dumbells, oars and much more within the space of a few minutes.

Snug & Outdoor are proud to be working with Bedgrove on a resources pack on how to use SNUG across the curriculum, exploring narrative and play and much more. We'll keep you in touch with developments. Meanwhile this clip from BBC's 'Outnumbered' is a wonderful example of how children merge media in their make believe. The same character buried a dead mouse in a recent episode inventing a ritual which included the lines, "Dust to dust, for richer for poorer, because you're worth it."

revolution now

2008-11-28T18:06:00.000Z

A quick post to welcome our beautiful new-look website and celebrate the launch of the snug kit at Fitzjohns, Hattie and Tim's old school. It's also the launch of S&O's campaign for free play.

If you support the work Snug & Outdoor has done to promote creative play, please encourage schools you know to buy the amazing Snug kit. Children love it, however they're not the people who buy it.

Public art can be tiny!

2008-10-24T18:32:00.001+01:00

These playful miniature street sculptures by Slinkachu caught our eye... thanks to Pixelsumo for bringing them to our attention...

on holiday in Clifton Park

2008-10-21T08:31:00.000+01:00

Snug & Outdoor have been working with LDA Peterborough on designs for a Play Pathfinder in Rotherham. As part of the consultation process for Clifton Park, we went into two schools with writer Chris Meade and worked with pupils on poems - here are the results:

Poem made in a morning by Chris Meade and students at
CLIFTON PERFORMING ARTS COLLEGE

I walk to the window,
Feel the warm morning air hit my face
Hear the birds as they tweet
See the sun shining down on me,
And think:
I will arise and go to Clifton Park
Take the Playfinder Path

To the watery part where
We splish splash splosh
Spend your dosh
On ice cream chocolate and crisps too
In the minimarket near you

Scoober dive
Do the jive
Under water
Come alive
Swim with dolphins
Swim with me

I walk past the graffiti wall
Only to recognize my best friend’s name
Painted small.

Chilling, chatting, Cliftonparking -
In the Chill Zone, a big round space with comfy seats,
We talk about.. well, what boys talk about:
Football, cars, women

Fresh air is like swimming
But fresh air is nothing like the thrill of rides

Rides:
Tickly stomach
Feeling the breeze

On a perfect skate park afternoon
You forget everything
Get that tense feeling –
Adrenaline rush
Sxreech
Boink
Duff
Shwoo
AAAAAAAHH
Snap crack

makes me want to do it again

girls make you try harder – your mind goes blank

As we race past Trouble Corner
Where feeling safe
is knowing there is someone you can trust to help.
Keeping it safe for ourselves
We help out, keeping it clean and that.

To feel safe in trouble corner
Not any gangs, drugs or drink
No dirty toilets stink

You keep yourselves to yourselves
You know there’s someone there

Laying back relaxing
many people reading
letting all drift away
people’s imaginations
thinking of the day

On Holiday in Clifton Park
by the side of the path
watching
the clouds and birds go past

I lay on the grass and make little faces
Out of the clouds

playing tiggy with my mates

racing round the playpath

the feeling of happiness spreading
flooding through my stream
the slow beating of my heart
the rhythm of music
relaxing me more

***

Poem made in an afternoon by Chris Meade and students at
EAST DENE PRIMARY SCHOOL

I run up the path
to Clifton Park
On my bike reeeet fast
Going GRRRRRRR

Smell that ice creamy hot doggy chocolaty smell
Of blue white silver invisible fresh fresh air

AHHHHH

I will play with my brother, my friends,
On this wavy landform
On the swings

WHEEEEE

Which tickle my belly with their thrill
Make me sick with excitement

YUKKKK

I will go to the beach to build
A car of sand, a lorry,
Get good and muddy,
Sit in the puddles making water bombs

SPLASH

Go to the science park
Where there’s numbers and everything,

12341234

And the haunted park
Where words ECHO ECHO
And ghost snakes HISSSSSSS

At Halloween
When witches and tygers and pirates
Eat melted mud, twig chips, leaf pie

…AND SPROUTS

Oh, and coloured carrot
That make you go hyper and
All jumping about.

BOING BOING

And an evil bunny underneath the swamp

Let’s start to climb…

CLAMBER CLAMBER

Up Clifton Park

Go slowly

Butterflyfeeler
Goosebumper
Icebreaker
Niki and Nikitha scarer
Getting the shakes

The ground gets
Smaller
Everything smaller
Climbing higher and higher
Feeling scared (not brave Murtaza)
Hold on tight…

GRRRRRRR

And at night build a sand theatre
In Clifton Park,
Watch a crazy show
About a park forest with colourful hair
A gorilla and a lion and a bear
About all you can imagine
About everything you know

***

playground politics

2008-09-30T13:23:00.000+01:00

Just found this on YouTube: "Playground Politics". Winner, Best Positive Message MoveOn.org's Obama in 30 Seconds Contest by Diane Paragas Brooklyn, NY

free kit!

2008-09-30T12:42:00.000+01:00

hattie in conversation with daughter dora

Hattie Coppard will be talking about SNUG & the curriculum at the TES Education Show 2008 at Olympia on 10th October from 11am - 12pm in the workshop space. Snug will be on display on stand C10.

Click HERE for an opportunity to win £11,000 worth of Snug kit on the teaching exhibitions website.

snugmobile!

2008-09-28T20:07:00.000+01:00

Here are photos of Sutcliffe Play's special SNUG, lorry used to deliver the Snug Kit to schools across the UK.

Now how cool is that!?!

And Hattie is on the road again this week with Robin, Noel and Bernard for another of their Genius Loci sessions, this time in Edinburgh. For details on how to book a place email lisad@sutcliffeplay.co.uk or telephone 01977 653200.

shell drawing

2008-08-28T16:13:00.001+01:00

Tim spotted this beautiful line of white shells that cuts across the beach at Shingle Street in Suffolk...what dedicated holidaymakers!

snug cosy

2008-08-19T10:56:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Jo Klaces for knitting us this beautiful Snug & Outdoor tea cosy.
The pot has never been snugger, our tea breaks never more inspirational!

summer party

2008-08-12T09:53:00.000+01:00

Partygoers, including our administrator, Karee Barclay and daughter Kemi, at the Snug & Outdoor/if:book Summer Bash, plus young guests having fun with bits of Snug kit. Oh, happy day!

kids need risky play

2008-08-12T09:11:00.000+01:00

"A major study by Play England, part of the National Children's Bureau, found that half of all children have been stopped from climbing trees, 21 per cent have been banned from playing conkers and 17 per cent have been told they cannot take part in games of tag or chase. Some parents are going to such extreme lengths to protect their children from danger that they have even said no to hide-and-seek."

'Children are not being allowed many of the freedoms that were taken for granted when we were children,' said Adrian Voce, director of Play England. 'They are not enjoying the opportunities to play outside that most people would have thought of as normal when they were growing up."

Thanks to Bob Stein for spotting this article from the Guardian.

Appeal Court judgement changes law on risk in playgrounds

2008-08-11T17:13:00.000+01:00

In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal has made an important judgement which goes some way towards rebalancing the law in the field of health and safety.

It has quashed the conviction of a Head Teacher who was prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act after a tragic accident in which a child fell down some steps in the school playground and subsequently died. In it's ruling, the Court concluded that there was simply no evidence that the child was exposed to risk by the conduct of the school as required by the statute.

The judgement makes clear that from now on, in order to prosecute under the Act, the authorities will need to prove that the injured person was exposed to a real as opposed to a "fanciful or hypothetical" risk to health and safety. Previously the courts had given the term 'risk' it's ordinary meaning of denoting the possibility of danger rather than actual danger.

Mr Porter had run the preparatory school since 1975 which catered for children aged 3-16 years. It was not a purpose-built school, and part of the site was located in a disused quarry. There was a higher and lower playground which were linked by a set of brick steps. The school had a superb safety record and there had never been an accident on the steps.

The accident happened during supervised playtime. Having made his way down the steps, the child (aged 3 3/4 years) jumped from the fourth step from the bottom, lost his footing and fell. He suffered a minor head injury and was taken to hospital where he subsequently died after contracting MRSA.

The Head was prosecuted under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Under this section, he had a duty to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, that children were not exposed to risks to their health or safety by the 'conduct of the school'.

In his judgement Lord Justice Moses gave helpful guidance as to how the courts should approach the question of whether a risk was real or hypothetical. The fact that there had been no previous accident on these steps was relevant. So was the fact that there was nothing wrong with the design or construction of the steps, nor did they create a foreseeable risk of danger. Significantly, there were numerous other places in the playground from which a child might choose to jump. He said that the fact that a young child might slip, trip or choose to jump from one height to a lower level is "part of everyday life". Where risk is part of everyday life, it is less likely that an injured child could be said to have been exposed to it as a result of the conduct of the school.

two silly people on the south bank!

2008-08-05T14:38:00.000+01:00

2008-08-05T14:36:00.000+01:00

rolling and roles

2008-06-24T18:58:00.000+01:00

Here's a nice pic Tim took of people rolling down a grass slope at the Thames Barrier Park.

Hattie is a speaker at the forthcoming Places to Play conference which will launch Luton's Playbuilder programme. She will be talking about how we can deliver a truly playable public realm and what role artists can play.

urban wordplay

2008-06-23T10:44:00.000+01:00

Sarah Butler is a writer and literature development worker whose consultancy company UrbanWords specialises in projects which use creative writing as a way to explore and question our relationship to place. She interviewed Hattie and Chris about public projects involving text and you can read her full report, A Place for Words at
www.urbanwords.org.uk/urbanwords/placeforwords1.html

Here's an extract:

"Ask children what they want in their new playground and they might say, oh, some swings over there in the corner, maybe a slide, and a sandpit. Now get a writer to guide them through the process of creating a group poem that asks them what they think play is; what makes them feel safe; and how their dream playground would make them feel, like the organisation Snug and Outdoor do when they start to design new play spaces for children, and you get a totally different picture. A group of children with physical and learning disabilities in Southampton, working with the poet Chris Meade, told Snug and Outdoor that their dream playground is the place that makes you go ahhhhh setting up a real challenge and opportunity for the designers and architects to respond to. By engaging creatively with space and their emotional responses to space, the children were able to get past the play spaces they already had or had already experienced and re-imagine the possibilities of a new space.

Snug and Outdoor used a similar process in a public art project, Hackney Hotlinks, that explored the relationship people living, working or visiting Mare Street in Hackney had with that place and what their aspirations and hopes might be for a regenerated Mare Street. Using writing workshops, spontaneous conversations and a temporary installation of visual and sound projection, the artists were able to get past the negative and the everyday and start really exploring the relationship between people and place. Hattie Coppard, Director of Snug and Outdoor is adamant about the benefits of creative consultation. It’s about exploring imagination, not gripes, she says. It’s about getting people to express something they haven’t imagined yet."

Sarah is now doing further research, funded by Arts Council England, looking at ways of:
* Effectively consulting with communities – helping to give voice to groups of residents who might find conventional consultation techniques hard to handle
* Helping developers, architects and communities think creatively about the spaces they inhabit/want to create
* Finding ways of expressing Heritage and natural ecologies in the creation of new spaces that have a distinctive sense of place using writing techniques to help communities to appreciate/understand local heritage and using this to help engage with new developments during and after their planning and construction

South Bank graffiti

SNUG & OUTANDABOUT

2008-06-05T14:23:00.000+01:00

Hattie is on the play trail this summer as part of a roadshow organised by Robin of Sutcliffe Play, travelling the nation to talk play.

‘Genius Loci’ seminars will address the current issues which challenge and confront play providers today.

The first seminar will be on 11 June in Dublin, hosted by Sugradh, the IPPA (the Early Childhood Organisation) and Allplay. This will be followed by seminars in Belfast (June 12), Wakefield (July 10) and Cardiff (July 18). Autumn dates in London and Edinburgh are to be confirmed.

Managing Director of Sutcliffe Play, Robin Sutcliffe, said: “In Roman mythology a genius loci was the protective spirit of a place, often depicted as a snake. Now it usually refers to a location’s distinctive atmosphere and is the foundation for one of the principles of landscape architecture – that designs should always be adapted to the context in which they are located.

“This should equally be applied to play spaces and forms the background to this series of seminars.”

Hattie will be the first of the day’s speakers, her theme: “Nature is all very well but…”

Hattie will be followed by Noel Farrer, landscape architect, CABE Enabler and Director of Farrer Huxley Associates – a London practice specialising in the development of meaningful, quality spaces for people to enjoy and play. He will look at public realm space and asks “Who needs standards anyway?”

Bernard Spiegal, Principal of PLAYLINK, will then address the issue of consultation with a talk titled “Consultation – stop it, please, stop it!”

The final talk of the morning will by given by Robin Sutcliffe of Sutcliffe Play. He will state his case with “What’s your problem with fixed play equipment?”

The seminars, which cost £50 (€70 for Dublin) will include lunch and a CPD certificate of attendance.

For details on how to book a place email lisad@sutcliffeplay.co.uk or telephone 01977 653200.

A Bouncing Bench and Calvinball

2008-06-05T14:12:00.000+01:00

The best cartoon strip in the world on organised play - recommended by Bruno Taylor of BigBru designs who also sent us this fantastic picture of his amazing bouncing bench.

Design for Play: Creating Successful Play Spaces

2008-05-19T15:07:00.000+01:00

Snug & Outdoor have just received details of this presentation, available now:

A presentation based on the forthcoming publication Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces, by Aileen Shackell, Nicola Butler, Phil Doyle and David Ball, published by Play England and the Department for Children, Families and Schools is now available on the Free Play Network website at:

http://www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/designforplay

Online Discussion Forum, 16 - 27 June 2008

There will be an opportunity to put your questions direct to the authors of Design for Play in an online discussion forum on designing for play from 16 - 27 June 2008 on the Free Play Network website, http://www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/discussion/designforplay

Speakers and Workshops

The Free Play Network can provide speakers and workshops on the issues raised in Design for Play.

For more information on Design for Play and other Free Play Network services, please contact:

Nicola Butler
Director
Free Play Network
129 Lancaster Road
Barnet
Herts
EN4 8AJ
020 8440 9276
nbutler@freeplaynetwork.org.uk
www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk

Join the Free Play Network contact lists

We would appreciate your help in disseminating information about the Free Play Network's work. If you care to, please:

* Send this notice to individuals and organisations offering them the opportunity to join the Freeplay Network emailing list. This will help keep them informed about events and developments.
* To subscribe to their email list, go to: http://www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/join/index.php

Joke (from year 8 pupil, brum)

2008-05-07T17:34:00.000+01:00

Q: Why did the chicken cross the playground?
A: To get to the other slide.

Make every place a playful space

2008-04-30T13:28:00.000+01:00

Would you like to swing on a bus stop? Bruno Taylor shows you how.

"WE ARE NOT INTENDING TO HAVE ANY PLAYTIME"

2008-04-30T12:18:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Hattie went to the Nuffield Foundation for a presentation of the research undertaken by Professor Peter Blatchford and Dr Ed Baines into the 'social and educational significance of school break times'. Hattie was an advisor to the study.

The research showed that school break times are being reduced in time and number across the country and particularly at secondary level. One extreme example is the new Academy built in Peterborough (Norman Foster designed) which has no playground at all -
"We are not intending to have any playtime. Pupils won't need to let off steam, because they will not be bored" - Headteacher.
"We have taken away an uncontrollable space to prevent bullying and truancy"
- Project manager.

The research shows that breaktimes are overwhelmingly popular with pupils and that secondary school students in particular want longer lunch times - many are only half an hour long. Staff value break times as a space where pupils can get physical exercise and develop important social skills.

Taking away outdoor space and controlling every aspect of the student's environment flies in the face of other government initiatives such as Every Child Matters, Learning Outside the Classoom, and worries about obesity etc.

To find out more, see: The Social and Educational Significance of School Breaktimes by Peter Blatchford and Ed Baines. Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, London.

Places for Spaces

2008-04-26T08:49:00.000+01:00

This week we've been running a Places for Spaces workshop for Solent Architecture Centre. Here are a couple of photos showing councillors, council officers, developers from Brighton, Southampton and Portsmouth experimenting in Cosham High Street with the help of large foam blocks, carpets and parasols. (this equipment has been developed for Hampshire's Big Landscape Project and is available to any secondary school wanting to experiment with their outdoor spaces.)

Adult's play

2008-04-25T13:59:00.000+01:00

In Manchester a playground for the elderly opens.
(Not one of ours but a nice idea).

In London a woman and a cuddly toy shark are seen asleep on the tube.