Transforming Spaces:

The children of TCS help design Rotary Park

Over the last few years, TCS has been in contact with an architecture ​firm who has been making plans to create a park inside the Holland ​Tunnel Rotary, just across the street from our school.

The children of TCS were asked to help! The students took on the task ​of researching, brainstorming, sketching, and thinking of their own ​ideas to add to the architect’s plans.

What do we need ​for a playground?

In the classroom, the teachers first asked the children to ​think about some of their favorite parks and playgrounds. ​The children visited local parks to research their ideas. In ​addition to the layout and structures, the children also ​observed many of the safety elements in the park.

“Here are the benches for our grown-​ups to sit and watch us.”

“And I am making benches and tables ​for people to eat at.”

“The garbage cans should be next to ​the benches.”

“We need to have a bathroom at the ​park….”

“We need to use big screws like this one, so the ​playground doesn’t fall apart.”

“Maybe we can use a ​squishy floor, so that

people don’t get hurt when ​they fall.”

“We can build a fence like this

one. You can see through it, but it ​will still keep you safe.”

Collaborating with our atelierista, the children ​had the opportunity to illustrate and build their ​design ideas using a variety of mediums. They

engaged in concepts of literacy and math as they

created their designs, such as ladders with

exactly 15 stairs, or a garden with 6 flowers.

“This is a sitting bench. These are all the flowers. 6 ​flowers, all different colors.“

“There are 15 stairs to go up to the slide.”

After noticing squirrels and birds out in the ​community, they also considered wildlife:

“I think we should have a reindeer ​park - inside would be a reindeer ​feeder. You put the food in here, then ​it goes up, through here, and right to ​the reindeer.”

“They want to turn that into a park?”

Another group of children visited the space where the proposed park ​would be. They could view the entire rotary from the adjacent pedestrian ​bridge. The children made some critical observations about the existing ​conditions of the site and became interested in how to transform the park ​to make the space safe for people to use.

“How do we get there? There are too many

cars…that’s not so safe.”

“The rocks on the ground are not safe either… that has to change!”

“Yeah, but we need a ​fence.”

The group brought their reflections back to the class:

They then addressed their safety ​concerns with Dascha, one of the ​Rotary Park architects during a ​Zoom meeting.

“We need to move the rocks because it's not safe. ​You can trip.”

“And there were signs that said no dogs. But it ​was a little dirty and… there were dogs there!”

“We need grass so no one gets hurt.”

“We can make safety signs.”

“This says ‘closed’ so people stay where it’s safe.”

This project is still ongoing. Ultimately, a long-term investigation ​doesn’t need to result in a finished product (in this case a fully built ​playground) but will diverge into many paths based on the children’s ​questions and interests. We look forward to seeing how the new ​Fours will engage with the playground investigation this year.