-When it comes to play, what's old is new-
January 2001 (Ithaca, NY) - "We build play environments for the soul," says Rusty Keeler, founder and designer of Planet Earth Playscapes. Keeler, who works throughout the country creating one-of-a-kind, community-built play environments, is an expert on childhood play. A modern-day Peter Pan, he knows how to put adults in touch with their inner child, which comes in handy during the design process for one of his community playscapes.
"At the beginning of the design process, I ask adults to think back to their own childhood," he explains. "Where was their favorite outdoor place to play? What were the smells and sounds? What did they do there? What did it look like and how did it change over the seasons? These are very important questions."
Keeler is also a popular speaker, not only because his ideas about childhood play and development are at the cutting edge, but because he is able to take his listeners on a sweetly reminiscent journey back to the best part of their childhood. At a recent national conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on educating young children, audience members enveloped him with hugs at the end of his presentation. "They were so nostalgic for those special places where they played as children," says Keeler, "and I had just taken them back there. The value in this exercise is to help them remember that their favorite places were not on playgrounds full of plastic and steel equipment. Their favorite places were by babbling streams searching for crayfish, or in the woods, climbing trees and digging for bugs in fallen, rotting logs. And that is the kind of environment we need to create for our children today."
Part of a growing movement, Keeler is being embraced by childhood educators who are recognizing the importance of a natural play environment for children of all ages. These environments contain places in which to hide and to explore, often near water; spaces where small children feel safe, and where they can play the kind of imaginative games that are so important in their development.
Keeler has built playscapes across the United States, and was recently hired by the Cornell University Early Childhood Program to create a soundscape at the university's daycare center.
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- Planet Earth Playscapes
- 182 Hart Road . Spencer, NY . 14883
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