In Praise of Scandinavia’s Playgrounds
visitor to the playground at Valbyparken, a green expanse in Copenhagen, is in for three surprises. The first is that the sprawling public children’s park is built on what was once a rubbish tip for the Danish capital. The second is the free coffee on offer for harried parents. But perhaps the most unexpected is the eagerness of the playground’s staff to hand out knives to children. Or axes, if they prefer. Or even, for tots bored with mere weaponry, some fire-starting equipment. Off you go, kids, and do be careful (oh and parents please keep an eye on them). Sprogs of an age that in most countries would barely be allowed onto a swing unattended scamper away to whittle sticks and soon imagine themselves carving their own magic wand, or the oar of a Viking longship.
The knife-dispensing strategy may appear to some as an oversight that keeps the local hospital bustling with injured kids in summer. On the contrary. Injecting a dose of risk into children’s free-ranging fun is a feature, not a bug. The nature-based playground offers a litany of ways for children to get bruised, bumped, scratched and dirty. There are trees to climb, brambly branches to rearrange, tricycles to ride (often into each other), a play pond to stumble into, then trails to get lost in far from nosy parents. Adult chaperones may fret about lurking hazards, but their peace of mind is secondary. “It’s children who need to be aware of every step they take,” says Helle Nebelong, a former Copenhagen city official who designed the place at the turn of the century. “They must take responsibility for their own safety.” A cadre of young staff are there to catalyse play rather than stymie it.
