Parents...This One's For You

Here's a picture of the parking lot right in front of the Kindergarten  Playground. Notice anything different?

How about if we move in a little closer?

Here's an old picture for those of you who might be stumped...

The gate is GONE!

This opens up approximately twenty parking spaces. Twenty! Anyone who has tried to find a parking space afterschool will know how much this small change is going to improve our lives on a daily basis. However, some of you may be thinking: What about lost playground space? What about FOURSQUARE?!?

Foursquare will be relocated to this area:

As you can see, there is still A LOT of blacktop space. And we know how much the kids love foursquare,  so will be sure to add the boxes over here. Part of our goal is to find creative ways to open up more playground space--not take it away--but the parking problem really needed to be addressed. It was a simple, cost-effective solution.

Speaking of new play spaces, here's how the new wooded area looks now:

A few teachers will be spreading out the chips this week. Our hope is to add a few natural playground ideas out here. One idea we have is to build a slide into this hill:

Over the coming weeks, take a few moments to see this new wooded area--it's really beautiful. 

A Small Steps = Big Rewards

We've finally begun! When we were coming up with ideas for improving the playground, one of the questions we kept asking ourselves was What can we do right away that will have the most impact? Purchasing equipment takes time, careful planning, and of course, money that we don't have at the moment. So we starting looking around at our landscape. 

One of Woodside's strengths is our beautiful natural setting. We're so fortunate to be surrounded by trees. This spot, near the swings, is very popular with children. Unfortunately, it is very dense and teachers have difficulty watching the students from the blacktop. Several years ago, the last playground committee sent out surveys to students asking them what they would like to see in a playground. Many asked for more space to play in the woods.

With that in mind, it made sense to clear some of the wooded area as one of our first projects. And we have to say, it's looking beautiful. Pathways are being cleared so the children will have more space to run and play. Sight lines are open so teachers will have an easier time monitoring the students. It also provides a nice cool, shady area, which we really need. 

The branches will be cleared out and chipped. We will then use the chips to spread along the pathways and define play areas. There's a nice little grotto that we envision as a "Fairy Village" play space, where children can construct tiny houses out of branches, leaves and any natural materials they find. A few ash trees that have been removed will be cut into plaque-sized slabs. With the help of some parents, we hope identify the trees by writing their names on the slabs with a wood burning tool, then attaching the slabs to the trees much like the signs you would see at a botanical garden.

These pictures can't quite capture the peacefulness of this space. We're looking forward to seeing how the children respond to this improved play area. 

Another small step we've taken that would probably go unnoticed if we didn't point it out:

Mr. Dedek and our new custodian, Mike, pulled the rotting boards that surround the  main play area and replaced them with new boards. It's not as easy as it may look; rebar goes fairly deep into the ground to keep the boards in place.

It's not a fun project but a necessary one. This area gets very wet due to the run off coming from the hill. The border helps keep the wood chips from washing away. 

Finally, one of the basketball nets has been replaced. The other should be taken care of before the start of school. 

It's a small start, but a good one.