On a recent spring day, the fourth grade students at Ithaca’s Beverly J. Martin Elementary School took the stage to share their dreams for a new outdoor play space.
They discussed a climbing wall and obstacle course, a garden, a koi pond, a volcano structure they could climb in and out of. They wanted a communication board for kids who struggle with language and a bright crosswalk or bridge to keep students safe on their way to the play space across West Court Street. They debated the strengths and weaknesses of mud. They wanted kids to feel “happy and frightened,” to have areas where they could be challenged and where they could be calm.
The presentations were part of an ongoing collaboration between the Ithaca City School District and Janet Loebach, the Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor in Child Development in the College of Human Ecology, to center student voices in the design and planning of their playgrounds and outdoor spaces.
Loebach’s work has been supported through the Einhorn Center’s Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program.