Guide for Kids' Play Areas: Overview of Addis Ababa's Playgrounds
In an exciting development, Adanech Abebe, the Mayor of Addis Ababa, has announced plans to create outdoor play areas for all children in the city. This initiative aims to provide playgrounds for young children, with at least two playgrounds being established per city block throughout Addis Ababa.
The step-by-step guide for planning, designing, and implementing these playgrounds has been developed by Superpool, the Addis Ababa Early Childhood Development program, and the Van Leer Foundation. This guide offers a clear, practical roadmap tailored for Addis Ababa’s unique urban and cultural environment, helping to systematically develop playgrounds for young children.
The guide, titled "Resource," follows a circular design process and caters to various perspectives and institutional backgrounds, including engineers, social workers, municipal departments, and NGOs. It provides a tailored list of tools to meet specific needs for each role, helping to create safe and joyful playgrounds.
Key elements of this guide include planning, designing, and implementation. The planning stage involves assessing the needs of the community and the specific site, involving local stakeholders, and ensuring alignment with early childhood development goals. The designing stage creates inclusive, safe, and engaging play environments that encourage physical, cognitive, and social development appropriate for young children in Addis Ababa’s context. The implementation stage follows practical steps for community engagement, sourcing materials, construction, and maintenance to ensure sustainable playgrounds.
The guide aims to contribute to more vibrant, child-friendly cities by creating playgrounds. With a city-wide goal of building 12,000 playgrounds, these outdoor spaces will offer children opportunities for play, discovery, and growth, fostering a sense of community and promoting the overall well-being of young children in Addis Ababa.
As the plan for playground construction is being implemented in Addis Ababa, the city is set to become a beacon of child-friendly urban development, offering a model for other cities to follow in creating safe, engaging, and inclusive spaces for young children.
[1] Superpool, A. A. E. C. D. Program, & Van Leer Foundation. (2022). Playgrounds for Early Years: Addis Ababa Guidebook. Retrieved from https://www.addisababaecd.org/playgrounds-guidebook
[2] Addis Ababa City Administration. (2022). Mayor Adanech Abebe announces plans for 12,000 playgrounds in Addis Ababa. Retrieved from https://www.addisababa.gov.et/en/news/mayor-adanech-abebe-announces-plans-for-12000-playgrounds-in-addis-ababa/
- The guide, developed by Superpool, the Addis Ababa Early Childhood Development program, and the Van Leer Foundation, offers a practical roadmap for creating playgrounds in early childhood, including elements of outdoor-living and home-and-garden, tailored to Addis Ababa's unique urban and cultural environment.
- As the playgrounds are implemented throughout Addis Ababa, the lifestyle of the city will evolve, embracing the values of community, safety, and joy, making it a vibrant, child-friendly city, promoting the well-being of young children and serving as a model for other cities to follow in creating inclusive and engaging spaces.
