More about this german approach to learning and

more about this German approach to learning and playing look
up the European Federation of City Farms or go to
.bdja.or g/ .
The Gateway School - St. Louis, Missouri
A previously mentioned example that must be cited for further
discussion when considering play and education is Gateway
School in St. Louis. Besides providing for education through
more natural settings, this playground has also sought new
ways to combine mathematics and science into the play
environment. “The plan was that the school be a playground
for the mind” (Landscape Architecture, 2000, p. 71).
At Gateway School, children can use their entire schoolyard for
both learning and playing. For example, the math and physical
science play areas consist of flexible spaces designed to clarify
abstract problems. Features include Solar System Walk, the
Hydrolics Lab, the Physics Playground, the Distance Scale, the
Math Playground and numerous outdoor classrooms, complete
with comfortable seating and microclimates.
The cosmic display, for example, is a portion of the Math
Playground where pavement surfacing has been used to cut
sections through geometric forms. The whimsical combination
of these forms makes them fun to play and imagine with even
when not in Math class. The measuring stick, a bright yellow
oversized measuring tape, allows children to gauge real
distances. It can also be used for fun games such as leap frog
and long jump. The limestone ellipse in the Physics Playground
is an area of crushed stone and sand that allows for digging, and
provides a place for building simple structures or machines.
Innovative Play Structures Research Project August, 2001
Page 36

Whether a child is in class or not, it is always ‘play time’ when
you get to manipulate your own environment. Geography is
taught at the meeting place above the Amphitheatre where the
map of Missouri is sandblasted into a directional compass. The
Amphitheatre itself is a place where school plays and creative
productions are presented.
Gateway School has been awarded the American Association of
Landscape Architects Merit Award. Although this project had a
very large budget provided by some major corporate sponsors,
many individual ideas can be borrowed and incorporated into
more modest scale playground developments in places such as
Manitoba.
Local Examples
In Manitoba, the move towards creating educational play
components in the school ground is beginning to be considered.
At David Livingstone School, in Winnipeg, the school and
community decided that an outdoor classroom that could also
serve as a teenage ‘hang out’ area, would be beneficial. The
classroom is designed as an elliptical shaped space bounded by
two concrete seat walls. The pavement serves as a scientific
and cultural educational tool. A central sundial locates the
cardinal directions, Aboriginal spirit totems associated with
these directions such as the eagle, coyote, bear and bison are
used as reminders of cultural stories. A pole in the centre of the
classroom serves as a measuring device for the sun’s
movement.