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The very first adventure
playground in Emdrup, Copenhagen Denmark, was called "Skrammellegepladsen".
The Danish word "Skrammel" means junk, reusable rubbish etc and "Legepladsen"
means playground. It is noteworthy that the term "Skrammel" has a positive
connotation in Danish, whereas the term 'junk' has a more negative value in
the English language. Over the years, Emdrup has also used the term
"building" playground.
John Bertelsen, the very
first playleader of Emdrup, also coined the phrase "skrammologi" or "junkology"
to refer to the philosophy and theory of junk play,
The very first adventure
playgrounds in Britain were called "junk playgrounds" or "waste material
playground". In 1953, Lady Allen of Hurtwood and Sir George Peppler met over
lunch to discuss and agree a new term for the junk playgrounds. Lady Allen
felt that the junk playgrounds were worthy of a better name and arrived at
the term "adventure playgrounds".
In late 1953 the
National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) sent out a letter with the
following definitions:
“1. Creative or Junk Playgrounds – Chiefly bombed sites where
bricks, timber and various materials have given the children a creative
outlet for building walls and forts and generally exercising their
imagination.
2. Natural Adventure Playgrounds – Either a rough undulating site, probably
an overgrown quarry or a site that has not been cleared and leveled but
which is left with its natural features – the children playing games over
fallen tree trunks and up and down miniature hills and hollows.”
The above definition did
not meet with general approval and so the NPFA requested submissions of
further possible definitions. In March 1954, the Clydesdale Road Playground
submitted their definition to the NPFA quarterly meeting:
“It was agreed that
the term ‘adventure playground’ should describe a ground where tools and
materials only are used, as distinguished from a ground provided with
imaginative and natural features which should have a distinctive title.”
In June 1954, Mary
Nicholson (in ‘Notes on Adventure Playgrounds’, an NPFA mimeograph in 1954)
wrote the following definition:
“An adventure
playground is one where most of the site can be used by the children for
games of their own invention; where a variety of tools and materials are
provided, and where the children can rely on the backing of a capable and
friendly adult…”
After the term
"adventure playgrounds" had entered into common usage, Lady Allen was asked
to define it for The Oxford English Dictionary in no more than seven
words. She originally defined the adventure playground as:
"a creative
playground with tools and waste material."
Then Lady Allen amended
the definition for A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary as:
"a playground where children are provided with miscellaneous
equipment, often waste material, from which they may contrive their own
amusement."
However, there remained stark differences of opinion regarding both the name
and definition of junk/adventure play. In a letter to Joe Benjamin (1959),
John Bertelsen wrote:
“The junk playground should be characterized by signs of wear and tear. It
should be a safety valve to children whose town existence otherwise keeps
them nice and well-ordered. I think by calling these playgrounds by other
names something very important is excluded - the margin that keeps room for
destruction and junk play.”
More modern definitions of adventure play reveal a widening disparity
between the original definitions of adventure play (that included the
emphasis on junk or building materials}) and the more current views of
adventure play:
"Their primary function is to help to create an atmosphere which is child
centred; where there are no meaningless limitations or restrictions, apart
from precautions necessary against injury; where guidance and help is given
when asked for or needed. The relationship between the playworker and
individual children is of great importance: they must know when to help a
child and when to withdraw so that the child can work through a problem with
or without assistance and this develop confidence through co-operation and
self-help."
Chilton, T. (1988)
“The adventure playground is now also associated with play equipment, known
as play structures, built from timber such as telegraph poles, joists and
planking along with cable, tyres, nets and ropes. Because of the size and
technical competence involved, these structures require adults to take the
lead in their design and construction. However, children and young people
can also be involved wherever it is appropriate.”
Bonel, P. and
Lindon, J. (1996)
“An adventure playground can be described as a space dedicated solely to
children’s play, where skilled playworkers enable and facilitate the
ownership, development and design of that space – physically, socially and
culturally – by the children playing there.
The indoor and outdoor area is enclosed by a boundary which signals that
the space within is dedicated to children’s play and that activities such as
digging, making fires or building and demolishing dens – activities not
normally condoned in other spaces where children play – are provided for and
encouraged.”
Conway,
M. (2009)
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