[hevi_jos]

In my experience the best playgrounds are not playgrounds at all.

As a kid my playground was the mountains, the beach, playing with sand,dirt, climbing trees, making cardboard's or bricks' or wood houses. Hearing and telling stories around the campfire...

I was terrified when I went back to visit a school I was when I was 4-6 years old. Instead of just one big piece of land for kids to play they had divided it with fences in something like 20 small spaces so they could control kids easier.

It was a prison. I believe this has to affect the kids development somehow.

I also feel bad for a playground like the one in the image: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1094dd57d6a80c1ae1fb131937de5...

Because kids have imagination, they don't need a ship. If they have boxes they have a ship, or a space center or everything they could imagine.

This is like a father buying a toy for his children and then only he playing it, not letting his children play.

A adult designer takes the best part: imagining, and then doesn't let the kids imagine anything else as you can not move or modify anything in the ship like you can do with boxes or wooden logs.

That is making a tremendous disservice to children.

[jeffwass]

> I also feel bad for a playground like the one in the image: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1094dd57d6a80c1ae1fb131937de5....

Disagree 100%.

My kids absolutely LOVE that playground (assuming it’s the one in Hyde Park, London). It’s nowhere near where we live so we’ve gone there maybe 5-10 times tops.

But they love it, and beg to go if we’re nearby.

The main problem I have with it is that unlike the picture it can get insanely crowded, sometimes with a queue waiting to go in, managed by park officials.

Not sure why you think a fun ship discourages creativity. My kids regularly do creative play and role-playing anywhere, at home or out and about.

But it’s also just really cool and tons of fun to climb around on a giant (to them) wooden ship.

[philyg]

In part I agree and disagree with your sentiment. On the other side of the argument, I believe sometimes children too need some inspiration. Perhaps with a set setting they can put more imagination and thought into the scenario that they might want to play