Singapore’s National Museum will be the host of a new playground site. Singapore residents have a chance to offer public input on what they would most like to see at such a playground, including safety features, play equipment, and other attractions.
The playground could feature everything from climbing walls with instructors to audio experiences of sounds of nature. It could have traditional swings or nontraditional water play to help kids playing outside cool off in hotter weather. Whatever organizers and participants decide on, it will certainly have an iconic spot for children to expand their imagination: right by the giant banyan tree at the National Museum that is already the site of many different cultural events, including outdoor movie screenings.
The plans for the new playground coincide with a special museum exhibit on the history of playgrounds in Singapore, starting with the first playground constructed in the country around 1930. With the installation of swings, the site became an official playground. That doesn’t mean, however, that children in Singapore didn’t have anywhere to play.
Kids are talented at many different things, and finding somewhere to run around and play games with friends is one of them. Even though it is nice to have such designated places to play, particularly in urban areas, children will always find some way to exercise their creative imaginations. For one of the organizers of the historical playground exhibit, he recalls playing with strings and sticks, inventing games on roads, sidewalks, and in alleys — whatever space he and his friends could find. Children were encouraged to exercise and play outside, especially as tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases ran rampant.
As Singapore continued to develop, more and more land was set aside specifically for playgrounds. Housing development buildings began constructing their own playground areas, adding unique touches to designate the space specifically for that particular building. There was an art to that kind of design that the historical exhibit seeks to highlight and preserve.
Through the 1980s, more safety equipment and features were added to keep kids safe while playing, including soft rubber matting to cushion falls from climbing equipment. Newer designs of equipment also continued to pop up, ensuring that children would always have something to challenge their imagination.
Though the country’s newest playground at the National Museum has yet to be constructed, it will soon contribute to the storied tradition of playgrounds in Singapore.
Art can be a playground for your mind, inspiring your brain to come up with creative solutions for multiple problems. Go to SGArtClass.com today to find out all the ways art can benefit you in your busy life. Whether you’re interested in 3-D sculpture or recycled art, pointillism painting or oil painting, fashion drawing or comic drawing, there is sure to be an art class to pique your creative interest.
To read more about the playground in a historical context, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/the-more-we-get-together-first-in-depth-exhibition-on-singapore-playgrounds-opens-at.