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At first glance these technicoloured creations look
like they've leaped from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book.
But the spectacular structures are the brainchild of Danish playground
designers Ole B. Nielsen and Christian Jensen.
The pair's company Monstrum are responsible for a collection of amazing
playscapes that have popped up across Scandinavia.
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The pair honed their creative skills as theatre and set designers,
before deciding to revolutionise children's playgrounds after noticing
how boring and uninspiring most playscapes had become.
They explain on their website: 'We see the world as a place full of
colour. We meet boys that like pink and girls that likes trees, so why
only play on a monkey frame and a sandbox, when you can play in a moon
crater or a submarine or a giant spider or an enormous snail or a
Trojans horse or a rocket or an ant or a princess castle. The fantasy is
infinite.'
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They haven't totally killed off all the traditional games you'd expect
to find in a playground - they still build slides, climbing frames and
carousels - instead they've incorporated them into their wacky designs,
creating a whole new experience for kids.
And there's thought given to different age groups too. They reveal: 'The
most successful playgrounds have a clearly defined age group.
'Nursery children need comfort, presence of adults and smaller
challenges. Whereas kindergarten children need more speed and difficult
challenges, contex and elements like tree houses, where nursery kids
can’t play.
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'Younger kids are driven and inspired by watching the skills of the
older kids (mentors), and the older kids are driven by the small
victories in which they can measure there own advancement with heighs,
length and speed.'
On Monstrum's website, Mr Nielsen reveals the ultimate inspiration
behind his creations comes from his 13-year-old son Sixten Gustav.
When Sixten was five, his dad filmed him for 24 hours to get an insight
into the mind of a small child.
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He explained: 'We followed Sixten Gustav through an entire workday. He
wakes up, brushes his teeth, eats, attend kindergarten, meeting his
friends, playing, trying, succeeding, fails and try again.
'When you are 5 years old, nothing is really in solid frames. Everything
is a little new. Everything is fun.'
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At the moment Monstrum's playscapes can only be found across Denmark and
Sweden, but parents are campaigning for the company to take their
creations further afield.
They've already agreed a deal with a company in the far east to create
specially designed playgrounds in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the
Philippines.
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