All-Weather Playgrounds: Fostering Connections - "Parks with Roofs" 04

Protecting Lives: "Parks with Roofs"

◇ Indoor Playgrounds Needed for "Scorching Summers"

In summers with long stretches of intense heat, outdoor play for infants and toddlers in parks with little shade is becoming increasingly difficult. While water play can be fun, it is hard to stay for long without shaded areas for parents to watch over them. When did the Japanese archipelago become so hot? It is not just that the maximum summer temperatures are rising; the duration of summer is also extending.

Now, an increasing number of municipalities across the country are planning all-weather playgrounds. I believe they are gaining attention as places for infants and toddlers to play and for parents and children to spend time during the hot season. I first began researching all-weather playgrounds about 20 years ago, when I realized their benefits for playing during the harsh winter in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, where I was stationed. With December to March being extremely cold and snowy, and including November and April when snow can also fall, it is difficult to play outside for more than five months of the year, so all-weather playgrounds were truly a blessing. It was a precious place where young children could move their bodies and play to their heart's content even in winter. However, they have now conversely gained attention as places where infants and toddlers can play while avoiding the life-threatening heat. Traditional children's centers are also important spaces where people can spend time avoiding the intense heat in their local neighborhoods. Securing places to play and cool down is becoming a pressing issue for many children.

◇ Indoor Playgrounds as "Child-Friendly Disaster Prevention Hubs"

All-weather playgrounds also have great potential as child-friendly disaster prevention hubs. Large, open-plan indoor playgrounds where children can play freely possess the necessary requirements to serve as evacuation shelters for parents with infants and toddlers, who face significant restrictions during disasters. They are equipped with facilities such as children's showers and nursing rooms. Japan is a country prone to earthquakes. Many evacuation centers are struggling just to secure space for large numbers of adults, leaving no room for infants, toddlers, or elementary school students to stay or play. It has been pointed out that free play is important for children to recover from various mental and physical ailments caused by disasters.

Recently, I visited the Kitamoto City Children's Center in Kitamoto City, Saitama Prefecture. It is a new type of children's center (on the 1st and 2nd floors) connected to the city hall and a disaster prevention plaza, and the interior is designed to be connected without being divided into small rooms. Local children and various parents were finding their favorite spots and spending time as they pleased. The entrance hall is equipped with a large ball pool and play equipment, making it very popular with many parents and children visiting from outside the city. There is also a children's library on the first floor. Furthermore, the disaster prevention plaza with a lawn surrounded by greenery in front can also be used for outdoor play and children's festivals. There is much to learn from this model where the hub for civic life and municipal administration, the disaster prevention hub during emergencies, and a place for children and parents to spend time are all connected in one location. Perhaps we should consider spacious children's centers and all-weather playgrounds as one of the hubs for protecting lives during disasters.

◇ A Place for "Life-Saving Encounters" to Prevent Isolation

While all-weather playgrounds are very meaningful during scorching heat and disasters, they also play a role as places that support daily child-rearing and the concerns of parents and children. In about 40% of public all-weather playgrounds across the country, child-rearing consultations by nursery teachers, as well as seminars and interaction programs related to child-rearing, are conducted.

For example, some municipalities use them as hubs for social work that supports child-rearing in society. At the "Emifuru" Children and Child-rearing Plaza in the center of Iwamizawa City, Hokkaido, on the same floor as the spacious indoor playground, there is a Comprehensive Child-rearing Support Center (staffed by nursery teachers, clinical psychologists, family counselors, etc.), a Health Center (staffed by public health nurses, nurses, nutritionists, dental hygienists, etc.), and a classroom for infant speech (speech-language-hearing therapists), with the Board of Education also located in the same building. Close relationships are being built where each professional coordinates with hospitals, child development support facilities, and schools. It is a system that can support everyone from infants and toddlers to elementary and junior high school students. "Emifuru" is a very popular playground for elementary school students and parents with infants and toddlers, and at the same time, it plays the role of a safety net where people feel that "if I go to Emifuru, things will work out."

　　　◆ Iwamizawa City Children and Child-rearing Plaza "Emifuru"

The "Parent-Child Exchange Center Sukutto" in Tahara City, Aichi Prefecture, is located in a corner of LaLaGran in front of Tahara Station, which also has stylish restaurants and cafes. It is structured like a Finnish Neuvola, surrounding a moderately scaled playground. Warm, accompaniment-style support is provided, closely and kindly supporting parents from the time they find out they are pregnant. The lounge is also a gathering place for junior and senior high school students. Outside, there is a large plaza that becomes a water play area in the summer, and it has become a place of relaxation for citizens where multiple generations gather, with concerts also being held. I also heard from the former director, "I was truly happy when a child who had been playing at the Parent-Child Exchange Center since they were small became a high school student and let me know that they had successfully passed their university entrance exam."

　　◆ Tahara City Parent-Child Exchange Center "Sukutto"

Neyagawa City's "Child-rearing Refresh Center Riratto" has a stylish indoor playground with a large ball pool on the first floor, and a comprehensive child-rearing support hub and a kitchen that can be used by parents and children on the second and third floors. Child-rearing concierges provide detailed support, such as visiting nursery schools to be close to parents and children, and fostering and connecting mothers' circles within the city. There is also substantial support to ensure that newcomers do not become isolated. As the name "Child-rearing Refresh Center Riratto" suggests, the website contains the following words: "Come on! Why don't you start a 'child-rearing break habit' too?"

　　◆ Neyagawa City Child-rearing Refresh Center "Riratto"

◇ The Importance of Warm "Relationship Building"

All-weather playgrounds are not just places for fun. They are places where anyone—single-parent families, fathers and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or groups of friends—can easily come, feeling just as they would when taking their children to play in a park.
While utilizing that fun and spaciousness, they can be useful in times of need or when there are problems. They can also fulfill the role of protecting lives, such as by dealing with scorching heat, disasters, and the resolution of daily child-rearing worries and feelings of isolation. For this, the atmosphere of the place and building relationships where people can talk easily—such as between play leaders and children, or mothers and nursery staff—is very important. I hope that such all-weather playgrounds will spread to more regions across the country.