Games of the North - Playing for Survival

Every culture has games, and a large portion of the time, these games evolved to help children/youth learn skills and model behavior they would need as adults.

This movie follows four modern Inuit athletes, and will be 'released' April 18th it looks like.Here's the trailer:



Here's the text from the website, and also where you can see if it will be playing on a tv station near you (or how you can request it?): http://nativetelecom.org/games_north_playing_survival

For thousands of years, traditional Inuit sports have been vital for survival within the unforgiving Arctic. Acrobatic and explosive, these ancestral games evolved to strengthen mind, body and spirit within the community. Following four modern Inuit athletes reveals their unique relationship to the games as they compete across the North. As unprecedented change sweeps across their traditional lands, their stories illuminate the importance of the games today.

This is also great - some grade six students at Aqsarniit School in Iqaluit, Nunavut did a project on some of their favorite Traditional Inuit Games.So, now you can learn some of the things you'd see in the movie! Traditional Inuit Games

The Kneel Jump

Another resource for games from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network: Alaska Native Games - A Resource Guide

Also, some more information from the Virtual Museum of Canada: Living Traditions - Inuit Games

Blanket Toss: This lithograph titled "Qumuaqataijut" is by Soroseelutu Ashoona , Cape Dorset, 1976.
© 1976 West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, Cape Dorset Nunavut

Sublime Yellowknife Mini-Golf

Walking around in Yellowknife, NWT (revisiting old stomping grounds) we came across this mini-golf course that was a little bit worse for wear in places (officially it's the Wade Hamer mini-Putt). While not high design, it's well integrated into the  landscape and the feels like you're playing in, well... Yellowknife. Yellowknife lies at a northern edge of the Boreal Forest (black spruce and paper birch type of landscape), smack dab in the middle of the Canadian Shield (large expanses of exposed rock at the surface, glaciated smooth... punctuated with vegetation). Downtown is only about a ten minute walk away.

I don't know what kind of use this got in its heyday (it was there after my time), but I'd definitely go and buy a putter and some balls to play it even in its more decrepit shape!

Integrated into the landscape.

Curling rock (without handle)

Ride and putt?

Designed For Play Slideshow

Dwell Magazine slideshow of tidbits of interesting playgrounds: Designed For Play

Outreach and Design Links

We found a good list of links at the new Friends of Margaret Fairley Park blog. They appear to be at the start of a public park process, and these are links they gathered to help inform people and get information out. We heartily support such methods of outreach and getting information out there!

Stewardship of Public Lands through Education

A friend sent out an email with some links that relate to stewardship through education (click on the logos):

http://www.hartleynature.org/about/history.html


I was just at this facility and was VERY surprised to find such an awesome place so close to the Strip in Las vegas: Springs Preserve. They had incredible interpretation on the site, with very thoughtful design that created a lot of opportunity to learn and experience, in a fairly compact area (although the whole preserve is large).

Eccles Elementary in Cordova - A few Pictures

They put a playspace above the new gym (set into the hill), so we collaborated with MRV Architects to make this a patterned playspace using resilient tiles. Maze... four square... a two-lane "track" around it... and other random fun that kids can use to their own imagination.

We had fun (and complexity) in designing this playground on a sloped site. The photo doesn't show it, but the playground steps up toward a covered play shelter. The school had previously purchased some play equipment that we found places for... and you'll see kids love things like the tilted sky runner and the web climber in the background. Equipment can be good!!

Playspaces Design Guide

We developed a Playspaces document to be able to better engage in discussions of what we call 'complete play' with our clients. We'd like to share it with you: Corvus Design Ideas Series #1 - Playspace Design

We'd appreciate your feedback... and, please... feel free to use this if you feel it could be useful in talking about 'complete play'.

Cheers!