Children at the University of Oregon’s Spencer View Co-op Family Center now have their own creek bed to dam up, a couple of "quarries" for digging in and a living tree house that’s growing in their new "big back yard." That’s what the UO student parents have dubbed the center’s innovative playground created by UO students enrolled in Stan Jones’ winter term landscape architecture studio. The playground doesn’t include a traditional swing set or a merry-go-round but Jones, whose students consulted with the kids and their parents before designing the playground, says the lay-out is pretty much what everyone asked for. "They wanted a play area where the kids would design their own playtime–not one where the equipment would dictate how they play. They asked for a design where the surrounding environment would be a teaching tool and that’s what we built," says Jones, a UO landscape architecture professor who served as project director. A $10,000 grant from the Meyer Trust helped fund the project, local merchants donated building materials, and the parents contributed some sweat equity. Kids at the co-op, their parents and educators from the day care center will inaugurate the new playground from 10—11 a.m. on Friday, April 7, at the housing project, 2250 Patterson St. SOURCE: Stan Jones, UO professor of landscape architecture, (541) 346-3619; e-mail sij@darkwing.uoregon.edu.

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