The social life of playgrounds

I have a thing for playgrounds.  I think they are awesome.  The playground above is at an abandoned elementary school in Irvine, the old Vista Verde School (below).  I also love abandoned things, so I have a special soft spot for this playground.  A couple weeks ago my friend Giulietta had the amazing idea to dress up like a leprechaun and hide in various places around the abandoned building so our kids could find her, at which point she would shower them with chocolate gold coins.  That is a whole other story though!

I have been thinking about how interesting playgrounds are.  Of course I go to a lot of playgrounds because I have little kids and they insist on it.  I really enjoy the normal day to day life of the playgrounds we go to- watching the kids play, getting excited when they do something new they couldn't do before.  Now that they are getting a little older playgrounds give them this opportunity to practice the social rituals of meeting, introducing yourself (it is so funny to watch little kids approach each other- when they were younger a lot of times they would just walk up and kind of stare at each other until a grownup facilitated and introduction or they wordlessly ran off to play, lately Stella and Charlotte have sounded kind of like little adults- "I'm Charlotte.  You can't call me Charlie.  This is Stella.  You have a pony!"

Now that they are older I also get to join the ranks of adults who stand around the edges of the playground or sit on benches, making nice conversation or just getting to be quiet for a little bit until your kid calls you over for help with the monkey bars.  This is such an improvement over the days when I frantically trailed my kids around the big toy, holding my arms up to make sure they didn't fall out the opening by the sliding pole or face-plant off the ladder.

So I really enjoy the playground, especially the dual social aspect of kids interacting with other kids and me interacting with other grownups.  That is kind of the everyday way we tend to think of playgrounds.  But I think they also serve these other interesting social functions- lots of people use them, not just people who have little kids.  During the day, I often see older kids at the playground- especially middle school aged kids, not old enough to drive yet.  Kids this age need to go out and wander around, by themselves or with friends.  They have so few places to go in a lot of suburban landscapes, but I think being able to wander around, free of adults, is actually pretty important for kids.  Playgrounds give them a place to go and hang out, a place that feels pretty safe but also they are on their own.  In a neighborhood without a park or another public place to go, playgrounds also become places for grownups without kids to be outside in public.  I met this cool guy at the Vista Verde playground who was playing guitar- he had a guitar with an amplifier built in and ended up talking to me about old blues music.  he had a little glass thing he used to press on the frets.  I know nothing about guitars, but I learned something and it was great to hear music at the playground.

I think playgrounds are particularly interesting social places at night.  I still sometimes visit a playground at night if I need a place to walk to, to sit.  When I was in middle and high school, I would regularly go back to my elementary school playground at night.  I used to hide  a pack of cigarettes there, and I would swing on the swings and smoke a cigarette.  I visited it because it felt like home, and it made me feel safe, and it gave me a place to go to.  I wonder if other people do this?  I have to assume they do.  I also went to the playground with my friends.  Sometimes we would get into a little trouble (cigarettes, a beer) but it was basically harmless.  We loved to play games.  It would be a bunch of 17 year olds, playing tag like third graders.  Or I would just go with a few friends and sit and talk.  It felt like we owned the night, it felt a little dangerous to be out after other people were in, and to be in a space that wasn't really meant for us, and mostly it just felt really really good to be outside on a warm night with stars and breezes and friends.