The Gustavus School Woodlands and its adventurous and creative kids

Gustavus School is very fortunate to have a small woodland located on the property. At recess the students quickly run into the trees to play, climb, construct forts and fairy houses or to find a quiet place to interact with friends. We have seen time and time again at Gustavus and other schools that a natural ecosystem as part of the school grounds is typically more popular than traditional play equipment and these natural areas keep the children engaged for longer periods of time. At Gustavus interaction with nature is a priority for the teachers, parents and students. By watching the children play in the woods, it is obvious that adventure and creative play that challenges their imagination is a priority for the students at Gustavus School.

Concepts Presented

On the evening of March 30, Chris Mertl presented two playscape master plans for the school to the community of Gustavus. The public meeting was well attended by parents, teachers and students. As part of the public meeting attendees helped establish priorities for the master plan. Priorities included the development of a student drop-off area, improving site drainage, creating open space for gathering, developing an outdoor education classroom, and of course the design of the play area that includes both traditional and adventure play elements. The play elements in the designs were inspired by the students when they provided input during the first workshop held at the school the previous week.

The following morning the master plans were presented to all student of Gustavus school during a school assembly. The enthusiastic crowd was very excited about the transformation of their school yard and seeing their ideas incorporated in to the design. Each element in the design was described to the students so they had a good understanding of the master plan. Pictures of each play element in the designs were hung in the school commons. After the presentation each student was given six colored sticky dots. The students were then asked to vote for their favorite play element by placing the colored dots on the posters. After the vote the top priority play items were a zip line (no surprise), a climbing wall, a tree climber, an education pond, a tilted sky runner, elevated boardwalks in the trees, a web climber, and the ability to play in the trees. Corvus Design will develop a preferred master plan based on input at the public meeting and school assembly as well as direction for the Steering Committee.

Two Concept Designs

After hearing what the students and teachers said at the last meeting, we've got two concepts to present to them again this week (see below).

Meeting with the Teachers and the Public

Desired Elements in Play Area:

• Outdoor classroom/amphitheater
• Tree house (in trees)
• Murals
• Hills and variety of topography
• On grade slide
• Music opportunities
• Platforms of various heights in trees
• Willow tunnel
• Water/sand play area (stream for play)
• Four square
• Basketball court
• Merry-go-round
• Soccer/football grass area (with goals)
• New bike racks
• Mountain for sledding
• Drop off for 8-12 cars
• Improved crosswalk visibility
• Rain garden
• Courtyard at entry of school
• Seating including covered
• Keep existing trees (thin if needed)
• Fence along ditch line
• Funnel ball game
• Climber
• Accessible play opportunities and improved access
• Better lighting
• Education pond
• Replace playhouse with simpler one
• Imaginative and creative play opportunities
• Sidewalk to bike shed
• Play area for pre-school in existing shelter
• Stepping stone path
• Boat for play
• Gardening opportunity
• Tricycle trail
• Greenhouse
• Ability to play in the trees
• Path to library
• Rock circle for class/interaction
• Include math and alphabet in play area
• Tree round with historic dates
• Large chess/checkerboard
• Interactive nature sculptures (bird’s nest, spider web)

Meeting with the Upper Elementary Class

 Favorite outdoor activities:

• Roller blading
• Riding bicycles
• Riding a zip-line
• Climbing trees
• Jumping on a trampoline
• Swinging on a buoy swing
• Swinging on a tire swing
• Swimming
• Taking a dog walk
• Ice skating/playing hockey
• Skiing
• Skateboarding
• Doing the penguin slide
• Sledding
• Snowboarding
• Playing four square
• Sliding
• Gardening
• Bungee jumping
• Playing in a playhouse
• Building forts and climbers
• Playing on monkeybars
• Bouncing friend off of a see-saw
• Shooting a sling shot
• Having snow ball fights
• Playing football
• Playing on a water slide
• Playing human bowling
• Hanging out with friends
• Reading
• Playing croquet
• Playing soccer
• Playing volleyball
• Playing tag
• Climbing rocks
  

 Desired Elements in the Play Area:

•  Kickball area
• Roller blading area
• Place to play croquet
• Roller coaster
• Ferris wheel
• Trees to climb
• Apples to pick
• Pond for ice skating
• Water slide
• Trampoline
• Escalator
• Hill for penguin slide
• Grass area for playing football
• A slide
• First aid area
• Four wheeler track with jumps
• Four square court
• Swings
• Water for inner-tubing
• Bumper cars
• Buoy swing

Meeting with the Lower Elementary class

Favorite Outdoor Activities:

• Swinging on a tire swing
• Sledding
• Hula-hooping
• Playing on a playground
• Playing soccer
• Climbing trees
• Playing basketball
• Playing with chickens
• Throwing a football
• Sliding on a fireman’s pole
• Jumping on a trampoline
• Playing in my playhouse
• Swinging on monkey bars
• Playing golf
• Playing in the snow
• Going snow machining
• Riding my bike
• Jumping rope
• Playing volleyball
• Playing on climbers
• Going for a walk
• Playing with mermaids
• Playing with Barbies
• Doing math
• Playing with toys
• Building forts
• Reading and doing my nature journal
• Playing with my dog
• Jumping through the sprinkler
• Ice skating
• Riding a zip-line
• Cross country skiing

Desired Elements in the Play Area

• Bridge
• Mountain
• Stairs
• Bell
• Tunnel
• Cave
• Merry-go-round
• Swings
• Unicycle area
• Fishing
• Bike riding
• Quiet place for braiding and reading
• Ski hill
• Magic lake (stays frozen year round)
• Ice skating pond
• Hide-out
• Hot tub
• Umbrella
• Playhouse
• Lemonade stand
• Climbing wall
• Sledding hill
• Place in the sun
• Sitting area
• A place for dolphins
• Natural area
• Tire swing
• Sandbox
• Sprinkler
• Waterslide
• Slide
• Go-cart track
• Climbing bars
• Tree for climbing
• Wildlife area (especially for cranes)

Welcome to your project blog!

We're working with Gustavus on renovating their schoolground and playspaces. We will use this blog as a place to share with you things like:

• meeting summaries
• resources and links you might be interested in (check out the blog links to the right... they're great)
• your ideas, drawings, etc...
• and anything else that illustrates the process of figuring out what will be built (like the photos below of our meeting with a class