Part of what makes imaginative play at Hayground School so unique comes before recess even begins. The playground's new rainbow climber, a work in progress, crystalizes this special environment, one in which students are having hands-on involvement in the design and creation of a play space to best serve their imaginations. Sometimes that means mixing concrete as a 10-year-old.
The Hayground students Gigi Jordan and Nate Feierstein concur that this was the most fun part of the project.
"My class is the problem solvers class," explained Julie Fanelli, teacher of the two 10-year-olds and their 7-to-10-year-old Invention and Innovation classmates, who make up one of Hayground's individualized, mentor-based classes.
Perry Burns is an artist in residence at the school, along with Sabra Moon Elliot. With emphasis on "mentor" over "art teacher," he has been leading the kids though construction of the rainbow climber, a series of colored arches in ascending size connected in the middle by netting. The arches, which kids can play on top of or inside of like a tunnel, were molded with fiberglass into which students shoveled cement.
Nate said he contributed to coming up with the name of the structure as well as the netting component. Gigi was a big fan of the mixing process. "I like watching people when it's their turn to mix," she said. "Then they shovel the mix into the molds. It's satisfying."
Mr. Burns selects different students each day to work on the structure in art class, said Nate, who added that the project was bigger than previous ones he has enjoyed like woodworking. "We haven't built many big things in the school like something that is such an important part of the playground."
As prototype makers and designers, "we started thinking about our campus and the amount of space we have," said Ms. Fanelli, who opened up conversation about their 25-year-old play structures and how to add more interesting spaces that reflect the desires of students.
A few years ago, her class put out survey questions to ask students and faculty what they wanted, "how they like to move: Do they like to jump, climb, or sit and chat?" Her class considered how to accommodate some of these wants and needs: more things to climb, places to hang out, and areas under which to maneuver, like huts and other cozy structures, she reported.
"They have been thinking about functionality as well as aesthetics," Mr. Burns noted with regard to the structure model that they, at first, had no idea how to make. After talking about various materials that would endure the weather, be good for climbing, and look nice, the class settled on cement.
"We really give kids access to just about any material that their imagination dreams up -- pool noodles, clay, whatever they imagine." He said his proteges were there every step of the way. "They bent the rebar, then we poured the cement with them, and with each rainbow, we've added a different pigment."
After working on the second rainbow arch at the end of April, the two biggest arches have now been poured and are in place, ready to be erected, said Gigi and Nate. "Their goal is to right the existing structures and have more parts completed by the end of this year," said the faculty chair, Marcelle Langendal.
Ms. Fanelli said the kids are also designing the netting that will connect the arches for soft play. She was impressed by her students' cooperation and was excited for them to not only see their idea go from seed to reality, but to work with adults, working artists such as Mr. Burns.
Mr. Burns spoke about how it was important to Hayground's ethos to expose the kids to different materials from a young age, so they become adept at thinking, " 'How can I create?' We don't really shy away from any material whether it's welding or cement, we find a way for kids to participate at the level they're able to do it. The younger kids poke at the cement with shovels and the older kids mix the cement, bang a hammer, saw a little bit. It's fun."