Chris O'Shea

Our talented designer friend Chris O'Shea has created a fun new app which turns an iphone or ipod touch into a toy vehicle...watch the video here.

A recent interactive installation of his that also caught our eye is Body Swap - which transforms the body movements of two people projected onto a screen. The clever bit is this: the images are swapped, so that each takes control of the other! ...watch the hilarious video here.

Gillet Square in FX magazine

Last month, FX Magazine ran an article titled 'Youth Opportunities' about the need to engage young people, now more than ever, in post-riot UK. SNUG in Gillett Square was sited as an inspirational and innovative example of public space design.
See the full article here.

London snow

Kids in Hattie's neighbourhood have 'reclaimed the streets' with this curious object!

Strange landscaping in the woods

These mysterious earthworks were spotted in Sudbourne Woods in Suffolk, and are actually a Forestry Commission bike park in the process of being built from pieces of carpet and sand piles.

Snug featured in Popular Science magazine...

Snug is included in an article entitled 'State of Play - the future of fun' in the current issue of Popular Science.

Pedestrians can now loop-the-loop!

German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth have created an aerial walkway in Duisberg, Germany called 'Tiger and Turtle - Magic Mountain'. It consists of a staircase which winds like a ribbon through space in the manner of a rollercoaster, and includes an 'impossible' closed spiral loop - surely an irresistable challenge?!

It also looks amazing at night...



















































































all photographs by Heike Mutter & Ulrich Genth, via Dezeen

happy christmas playmates!

Pop-up seats and swings

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"

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!

Spotted by Viv in Yorkshire...

Come Out and Play

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

Taken from EXTREME TIDYING UP

Leaping into the Linhope Spout!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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?

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"

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!