Adventure Play at the Parish School

Our very own Jill will be going on tour in Australia! The quality of our playworkers is just that good!

If you want to find out first hand just how great our playworkers are, maybe you need to be coming to AP to check it out for yourself. Get in touch to find out more!

Keen About... The Playful Possibilities Tour!!

I am so excited to be hitting the road with fellow Playworker and phenomenal human and friend Jill Wood from Adventure Play at the Parish School

See below all the possibilities we have on offer or contact us for a bespoke package! We can also simply book in some time online to support you through any current confussion, concerns or points of tension in play that you and your team may be experiencing!

If you would like to host an open session, book in private options for you and your team or ask how else we might be able to support you then please get in touch ASAP! This is a short tour and may never happen again! As much as we hope to get to as many places as possible, there are only so many spots available so get in quick!

All inquiries: [email protected]

Happy New Year from everyone at AP.

Even though the last few weeks on the playground have been days for hot cocoa and fire, we are nearing the deadline for scheduling Visit Days for Adventure Play at Camp Acorn during June.

Check it out at the link below:
https://parishschool.org/campus-life/summer-programs/camp-acorn/ #

Camp Acorn Jorge first came to The Parish School at age 4 after receiving an unspecified pervasive developmental disorder diagnosis. His speech and comprehension were very limited.

TBT: Around 15 years years ago, AP-ers held a dragonfly funeral.

When children spend hours on three acres of marsh each week, they encounter all aspects of the life cycle, which then becomes part their play. Through play they grow to understand and interpret all aspects of the world. Here you can see it was a community event with a coffin, a ceremony, and a grave with a plaque, all child initiated and organized.

Adventure Play is a space where children have ownership of their own play. Because play is a fundamental right of children: everyone should have the chance to be in full control over the intent and content of an activity we choose to engage with.

To children having the opportunity to do whatever they want usually translates as play: building houses, running around in all directions, pretending, making stuff, breaking stuff, decorating spaces, climbing structures, sitting quietly and chatting, figuring out the limits of their physical and emotional selves.... these are all by-products of a marvelous opportunity to follow their own instincts in a safe environment.

At AP, the outpouring of love for this process usually means a lot of kid graffiti - this one really says it all.

Adventure Play's very own Jill is featured in a brand new book!

Tales from the Playground looks like an awesome read and no doubt, Jill's chapter will be all about AP! Check out her thoughts here!

Tales from the Playground - playwork stories from contemporary adventure playgrounds - Common Threads A unique collection of stories about adventure playgrounds around the world, including Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, UK and USA.

Children's play narratives can flow from one day to the next, and often in ways we adults don't expect.

A boy wore a shirt with a banana slug on it. The next day, the boy in the picture paired up with another child to do some drawings, beginning with a banana slug, each adding more characters to the image.

Who knows what will happen the next time they get together - maybe something, maybe nothing at all. This is all part of the play process.

Sometimes the children's favorite thing to do is to create banquets for Parker and Brandon. In this particular case, one of the children decided it was Brandon's birthday and that he should get the majority of the leaves they gathered in the wagon

Playwork is very often about context.

When you look at this moment as a outsider without any background information, it kinda looks like 3 people playing quite separately on one structure. We have no extra information: we don't have a relationship with these children.

The playworkers on the site may see this very differently. They might see 3 children working hard on developing a friendship, but struggling. They may see 3 peas in a pod who momentarily had a fall out. They may have been following the adventures of 3 best friends who have collectively built this beautiful structure after days of overcoming structural issues which they figured out together.

Playworkers figure out the context by being present but unobtrusive. They make themselves available to assist if requested, but keeping enough of a distance so that children still have full autonomy over their own play. We outsiders don't need to know the full story, especially if it interrupts the play. The playworkers are trusted by the children. This trusting relationship means that children allow the playworkers into their little worlds.

It is a privilege to observe a child at play, and it is an honour to be given context to share with others.

Sometimes play can lead to wonderful fashion designs - this one is inspired by tree climbing.