New playground challenges children and parents

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Sometimes, the presence of other adults can make a parent more protective, for fear of being judged careless. At the playground, the opposite rules apply: There you find a bunch of adults all reinforcing in one another the absurd assumption that children should be encouraged to climb to dangerous heights and get themselves down from those heights as fast as they possibly can.

Why oh why, the worrying kind of parent can't help wondering, can't playgrounds be a little more ... flat? Low-to-the-ground tunnels, balance beams an inch or so off the floor, some not-too-tall animals that children could climb on and pretend to ride (a snake! a crab!) ' surely those fancy designers who are always earning community good will by coming up with the next big thing in creative play could work with that kind of low-lying concept?

The much-anticipated, newly renovated $2 million playground at 116th Street in Morningside Park, which had its ribbon-cutting a few weeks ago, could have been envisioned by some of those designers, to judge from the tasteful, creative layout, a vision of bright blues and greens. More.



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