Playground Fun

Recently, the kids and I went once again to the local playground or “Spielplatz,”  and I realized that playgrounds are another expression of cultural differences.  Some friends of ours who are doing a fellowship in California posted a picture on their blog of a great playground on Venice beach.  It is a large version of a standard American playground, made mostly of plastic, with bars that are the required width so no one will fall off.  Things like merry-go-rounds and see-saws have all but disappeared from American playgrounds, presumably because it was too dangerous for kids.

Here, going to a playground is like going back several decades in a time machine.  They are all made mostly of wood, rope, and metal.  There is always a stand-alone slide and a sandbox.  If you are lucky there will also be one or more of the following: swings, a see-saw, a zip line (James’s favorite), a merry-go-round, rocking horse, and something I call the spinning rope of death.  The last one is like a giant rope ladder with rope swings attached to it that is wrapped around a pole.  Adults or older kids run around spinning it as fast as they can and try not to get hit by the kids who are clinging to the ropes for dear life.  The kids think this is a blast!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that there are no training wheels here.  I realize my children were very late to learn to ride two-wheel bikes.  But, I haven’t seen any training wheels at all here.  In fact, come to think of it, I haven’t seen any tricycles either.  Even little kids who are 2 or 3 years old ride on “first bikes” that are like mini-two-wheelers with no pedals. They push themselves along with their feet, learning first to balance before learning to pedal.

As I’ve mentioned before, ALL of the kids either walk, bike or scooter to school by themselves from Kindergarten on.  I’ve even seen entire classes of kids riding their bikes behind their teacher to go on a field trip.  Not to generalize too much, but there seems to be a little less coddling of kids here than is typical in America.  Here’s some shots of my kids flinging themselves around at the Spielplatz and having a blast.

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