Found this trawling through Blackbeltjones. It's a lovely post, and having just come back from the park having had a bloody good swing it feels right to put it up here too. Too tired and stuffed full of apple-pie to paraphrase or embellish so I'm just going to go for a good old-fashioned plunder:
Woke up to a report on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about research in Finland into the use of play and playgrounds as life-extension technology:
BBC Today Programmes (RealPlayer Audio Clip)It was also featured in The Guardian:
“…a study by a team from the University of Lapland found that a group of elderly Finns between the ages of 65 and 81 saw significant improvement in their balance and coordination after three months of swings and roundabouts. Many of the subjects also said they felt empowered by using the playground equipment, although one can claim to be empowered by just about anything these days. The Finns are now planning to redesign their playgrounds to suit grannies as well as toddlers.”
the verb for ‘play’ - Leiki - in Finnish was associated with ‘childishness’ in a negative way.
This research is heartening.
Reclaiming ‘play’ as something that enriches us all throughout our lives (cf. ‘The Play Ethic‘ which also features Finland prominently), and creating places that encourage both that and *ahem* intergenerational play (don’t be dirty…) can only be a good thing.
Or at least, swings and roundabouts.
