Students Find Adventure on New Playscape

Students Find Adventure and Explore Nature on New Playscape

Moorestown Friends School opened a new outdoor Playscape on November 2 with the entire Lower School and fifth grade in attendance to celebrate.

Head of School Julia de la Torre and Lower School Director Jenel Giles greeted students, faculty, staff, and guests, and provided an orientation, with the help of fourth grade students, to the various Playscape elements. The Playscape then officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a special guest: the Fox mascot!

The Playscape is a product of a year-long design process that included students, teachers, and families. Lower School students built 3-D models of their ideal playgrounds, adults provided their favorite memories of play from their childhoods, and teachers prioritized the types of experiences that prompt meaningful outdoor learning. The school collaborated with Studio Ludo, Metcalfe Architecture, ThinkGreen Construction, and Aegis Property Group on the project.

The goal was to create a natural play space with opportunities for open-ended play that grows with students as they get older. Children wanted places to perch, hide, be upside down, climb, interact with nature, be alone, and be together. The Playscape achieves all of these things in one, multi-age, immersive natural environment. The outdoor area is referred to as a Playscape instead of a playground because it’s not just about play structures and activity. The space highlights the instructional value of landscape architecture and the desire for children to engage with and learn from nature.

All of this joyous play takes place among over 14 new trees and over 2,600 native plantings featuring 27 different species of plants that were carefully selected to offer children different experiences at different times of year. Many change colors and have seed pods, berries, flowers, buds, and a variety of leaves in different seasons that children will enjoy collecting, sorting, or building into their play experiences.

We are grateful to the School Committee, parents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends who stepped forward to provide valuable philanthropic support for this project. Their investment will impact generations of young people as they play, grow, and learn at MFS.

On pages 14 and 15, enjoy an overhead peek at play and adventure elements found on the Playscape.

Lower School students, fifth graders, faculty, and staff gathered outside on November 2 to celebrate the official opening of the new Moorestown Friends School Playscape.

PLAYPODS

Two custom-designed playpods provide spaces where students can play, hide, and be alone or in small groups. The “onion pod” provides a treehouse effect, while the “clamshell pod” provides an underground/cave-like experience.

LOG AND NET CLIMBER, PENDULUM SWING, AND SLIDES

The log and net climber allows children of different ages and abilities to engage with the structure, gain height, gather and socialize, and challenge themselves as they age. The pendulum swing invites collaborative play where students work together to get the swing to move and accelerate to new heights. The custom-built slides include both single and community slides, so students can have choice in the types of experience they want.

SIX TRADITIONAL SWINGS

It’s no surprise that children love swings. Students listed swings as the number one thing they wanted on their new Playscape.

RAIN GARDEN

A Rain Garden provides students with an up-close look at plantings and the insects and butterflies it attracts. The wood steppers allow children to walk through the garden, interact with the space, and get a “forest floor” look at nature. The hill on campus presented a stormwater management challenge. The Rain Garden is designed to collect rainwater from different zones on the Playscape and from up campus, routing it to this central space that will feed native plantings.

PARKOUR SET, MONKEY BARS, AND HAMMOCK

This area invites physical challenge and builds upper body strength and is complemented by monkey bars, which were found to be a favorite of students during the design process. Students also requested places where they could socialize and be in small groups. The hammock invites students to spend time alone or in conversation with others. It also serves as another swinging element.

SAND BOX

Students love building things and many requested a sand feature. A large, inviting sandbox incorporates natural log elements for multi-dimensional play.

FIELD SPACE

Older students were eager for a field space where they could play ball games, tag, and team sports. The field invites group play and incorporates green space where there was none before on the playground.