Here we are: another volunteer community “Swarm Build” — this one at the East Tennessee State University Child Study Center in Johnson City, TN. Fun! We timed it to fit in with the ETSU Early Childhood conference and offered conference-goers a chance to step away from the air-conditioned conference center, put on work clothes, roll up their sleeves, and add some great new features to an already neat outdoor playscape. Together we planted new plants, added bamboo vine climbing poles to an arbor, constructed a boulder-marble-concrete water feature (complete with a kid-controlled water barrel trickle), and created a beautiful tile mosaic mural on a long concrete block wall. Check it out:
ETSU Swarm Build from rusty keeler on Vimeo.
Dear Rusty,
I am a big fan of you and outdoor play. I grew up in Germany until I moved here in 1995 and have spent all of my childhood of one of these “outdoorsy” kids – loved it and it has had a great impact on my life and the things I still do are in nature. I am a teacher at a Montessori School in Westlake Ohio and we have created some more outdoors so the children can do what they love – dig, run, play in natural playsettings. Unfortunately the school is in a suburb and the neighbors idea of “green” is booring green lawns and we have had some of them complain about little kid’s wheelbarrows and trowels or shovels “cluttering” our property. I have been an advocat for the outdoors for many years at our school yet feel sometimes alone when it comes to motivating other adults like collegues and administration. I know about you and know you share the passion. In view of some things I want to do with our property like willowpaths, some natural playground equipment that is safe and “pretty” to not disturb the neighbors and to add to the outdoor experience of our children I was wondering if you ever come to the Cleveland area and would do a workshop on the outdoors and its potential, its reality and its importance for the children and our world. I would be so greatful to hear from you and to find out if you would do an inservice day at our school where we could also invigte other school from the area to spread the message?! Please give me a call or leave an e-mail @440-258-6443 or gaby-johnson@hotmail.com. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to hear from you. Sincerely Gabriele Johnson
Sounds great Gabriele – I’d love to come to Cleveland for a workshop, etc. I’ll get in touch….