In the last 20 years, so-called rubber asphalt has spread widely in Norwegian kindergartens. It is practical, from an adult’s point of view, because it cushions falls from great heights, requires little maintenance and can be rolled on with a wheelchair. But that is not the best for our children. The nursery’s outdoor area is the children’s everyday life and an important place for play and learning. Children need nature to understand that they are living beings among all other living things, and that they can influence their surroundings. They can’t do that in a dead rubber desert. In my doctoral dissertation, I show what nature means for children’s play and learning. The findings show that it is high time to bring nature back to Norwegian playgrounds. Nature playgrounds change Nature changes all the time: between different seasons and different times of the day. The rubber mat, on the other hand, is the same. The rubber mat is dead. For example, the nature playground can be dry and warm before it starts to rain. With the rain, streams form, and the soil turns into mud that the children can play with. They can build dams and dig canals in the mud. These opportunities were not there before the rain. When the children go home for the day, they will never be quite sure if the streams and dams they built will be there the next day. Since nature is constantly changing, it also challenges the imagination, motor skills and perception of risk. Kindergarten owners and politicians should prioritize natural surfaces over rubber, believes the chronicler. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news There is no mud in a rubber kindergarten. The playground does not change “by itself” due to rainfall, seasons or growing trees. The rubber mat challenges the children in the same way time and time again, thus the play on it becomes predictable and limited. Learning about themselves and the world The places kindergarten children play are important for how they play and what they learn. In natural areas, they can learn that dry soil mixed with water becomes mud. When they dig channels in the mud, the children learn that they can change the currents of the water. These are basic experiences in childhood, but rare for many children today. The water becomes a form of playmate that responds to the children’s play by flowing differently than before. This is exciting and attractive: “What happens if we do this? Or if we do that?” The changing mud allows the children to investigate and get answers to questions such as “What happens if I build a dam in the stream?” “How big a tower can I build from mud?”. This makes them little explorers, scientists, engineers and artists. This is how children learn that they can influence the world around them. On a deeper level, this is a fundamental part of being a citizen in society – the sense of power, creativity and independence. In nature, children get the chance to shape their own world, but a rubber playground offers few opportunities for this. If it changes, it is because something loosens or separates. Then the playground is seen as destroyed and perhaps closed. If a branch on a climbing tree breaks, the tree is not seen as broken, but as more difficult to climb. Learning to deal with uncertainty When nature changes, the children have to make decisions about new situations. When a sudden downpour washes away the paradise the children have drawn and instead creates small streams, they have to face the new situation, whether they want to or not. This is how they learn to deal with a changing world by being flexible and solution-oriented – something that society and the labor market are looking for. Nature playgrounds give children opportunities to take initiative, be creative and face uncertainty in ways that are not possible on predictable rubber playgrounds. Statistics Norway says that almost all children between the ages of one and five go to kindergarten. Most people spend more than a normal working week there. Kindergarten owners and politicians must prioritize varied and changing outdoor areas over one-sided rubber deserts. For the good of the children.
ttn-69
Growing up on dead ground – Expression
