play your heart out
by the idealistic Mama
Berlin, Germany
“What will you remember about Berlin, other than waiting waiting waiting?” I asked.
We *should* be answering things like the amazing glass structure that is the Central Station or the middle-of-the-city-zoo or the Brandenburg Gate or Checkpoint Charlie…
But we haven’t made it to any of those places yet, and it will be a few more days before we do! Life has been consumed with cooking for large numbers of people, struggling through beauracracy, sorting out Womos, bantering with pros and cons of different options, baking bread (that’s our loaf, the round one in the picture), finding more accommodation, buying pots and pans, playing house again, stocking the cupboards, doing washing……
And so we will remember
- the fire engine sirens
- the graffiti
- the blossoms billowing like snowflakes
- the bicycles honking in cycle lanes (that some family members STILL walk in)
- the Turkish market
- couchsurfing
- playgrounds
Ah, yes, playgrounds.
Apparently Berlin has the most green space out of any European city and we can well believe that. There is a park on every corner, and in many of those parks are children’s playgrounds. Ordinarilly, I am not a huge fan of playground equipment, which tends to be limited in its scope for imagination….but maybe that’s just in New Zealand. Berlin playgrounds are different. For a start, there’s no cotton wool safety – it’s all adventure and danger!! German children are allowed to climb high, swing high and spin out of control. It sounds not too different to our backyard – except there are squirrels running along the branches and different bugs and birds to watch.
Another PLUS for Berlin is that very little of the equipment is plastic. It’s no secret that one of my many soapboxes is *use natural renewable materials whenever possible*, and it’s just so smooth and warm to climb sturdy wooden structures. Maybe silly of me. But I do think children who grow up in a plastic environment somehow miss out on tactile experiences, so I appreciate these playgrounds.
We have picnicked in the parks, played Go Home Stay Home with couchsurfing hosts and had plenty of kids-play-while-Dadda-does-business hours too.
We’ll definitely remember Berlin as the place of playgrounds.
And look at this:
When we got to Moscow we saw the first blades of green grass we had seen for quite some time. When we moved a little further west we came across grass we were not forbidden from stepping on. By the time we got to Germany there were people sitting on grass in public spaces everywhere and we felt quite at home. But this particular park still awed me with its greenness after a few brown months.
Tags: children, health, learning, parenting, postcard: Germany, recreation
rayres
I love this post because I went across so much of Europe as a kid with my family that a lot of places are defined by the playgrounds. Dunno if you’re going there, but as I recall Switzerland had the best ones. 😉
check out the Princess of Wales playgroundin Kensington Gardens in London. It’s got a giant pirate ship for climbing all over, tons of sand and running water and lovely planting. It’s all about using your imagination!