August 2009
By Bret Liebendorfer
Columbus News – Columbus, OH
The program is inexpensive and is something that can easily be added to a playground.
Working on their hands and knees, parent volunteers have been busy adding painted blacktop games and patterns they hope will upgrade the Norwich Elementary School playground.
The volunteers are working to turn the space into a Peaceful Playground. It aims to increase exercise and educational opportunities through adding painted blacktop games and activities while decreasing bullying.
Examples of the new painted blacktop games that will be painted before the start of the school year include a giant United States map, number grids, a letter walkway and a giant circle. The multi-use circle is large enough to fit an entire class around.
Most games are noncompetitive and focus on a common goal for the group . The best part, the painted blacktop games are easy and inexpensive to add.
The idea for the program, which is designed for children between kindergarten and sixth grade, came from Playground Designer Melinda Bossenmeyer after her time as a principal in Southern California.
More than 7,000 similar programs exist across the county including ones in Columbus and Westerville, but Chace said often the school’s staff is not taught how to incorporate the painted blacktop games into recess and physical education.
The goal at Norwich is for gym teachers to teach standard rules to students, and for teachers to use the program in their lessons about subjects such as colors, shapes, spelling, math or directions. The low impact games also reduce injuries.
The low-impact games should reduce injuries.
“For educators that are creative, they can think of some really cool things,” Chace said.
Chace said the school’s PTO has been active the last five years expanding the opportunities at the playground by raising funds, securing grants and volunteering their labor for initiatives like an outdoor classroom and a $12,000 asphalt walking path that is one-sixth of a mile.
Students log their miles walked and some have traveled the distance equivalent from Hilliard to the North Pole.
“We greatly underestimate how much these kids need to exercise,” Chace said, adding research shows one-third of children are obese and all districts are affected.
The low-impact games should reduce injuries such as the three broken arms Chace said students suffered last year.
Also, the program’s cost of $1,000 plus paint is cheap compared to traditional playgrounds units which can cost $20,000 each.
For more information visit peacefulplaygrounds.com.
Columbus Local News – Parents Purport Paint Job Creates Peaceful Playground
