Children's Outdoor Play & Learning Environments:
Returning to Nature
By Randy White & Vicki Stoecklin
It is unfortunate that children can't design their outdoor play environments. Research on children's preferences shows that if children had the design skills to do so, their creations would be completely different from the areas called playgrounds that most adults design for them. Outdoor spaces designed by children would not only be fully naturalized with plants, trees, flowers, water, dirt, sand, mud, animals and insects, but also would be rich with a wide variety of play opportunities of every imaginable type. If children could design their outdoor play spaces, they would be rich developmentally appropriate learning environments where children would want to stay all day.

Playground Paradigm Paralysis
We are all creatures of our experience, and our common experiences usually shape the conventional wisdom, or paradigms, by which we operate. When most adults were children, playgrounds were asphalt areas with gross motor play equipment such as swings, jungle gyms and slides where they went for recess. Most adults see this as their model for a children's playground.

So when it comes time to plan and design a playground, the paradigm is to search through the catalogues of playground equipment, pick a piece or two that looks good to the adult and place it in an outdoor space which resembles their childhood memories of playgrounds. This is easy and doesn't take a whole lot of effort. Then once or twice a day, teachers let children go outside for a recess from their classroom activities to play on the equipment.

Today, fortunately, most playground equipment is becoming much safer than when adults grew up. National standards encourage the installation of safety fall surfaces and ADA is making the equipment more accessible. However, limiting outdoor playgrounds to gross motor activities and manufactured equipment falls way short of the potential of outdoor areas to be rich play and learning environments for children. This playground design paradigm paralysis also denies children their birthright to experience the entire natural outdoors which includes vegetation, animals, insects water and sand, not just the sun and air that manufactured playgrounds offer.

It is a well accepted principal in early childhood education that children learn best through free play and discovery. Children's free play is a complex concept that eludes precise definition, but children's play typically is pleasurable, self-motivated, imaginative, non-goal directed, spontaneous, active, and free of adult-imposed rules1,2. Quality play involves the whole child: gross motor, fine motor, senses, emotion, intellect, individual growth and social interaction.3

Childhood of Imprisonment
The world once offered thousands of delights of free play to children. Children used to have access to the world at large, whether it was the sidewalks, streets, alleys, vacant lots and parks of the inner city or the fields, forests, streams and yards of suburbia and the rural countryside. Children could play, explore and interact with the natural world with little or no restriction or supervision.

The lives of children today are much more structured and supervised, with few opportunities for free play. Their physical boundaries have shrunk.4 A number of factors have led to this. Parents are afraid for their children's safety when they leave the house alone; many children are no longer free to roam their neighborhoods or even their own yards unless accompanied by adults. Some working families can't supervise their children after school, giving rise to latchkey children who stay indoors or attend supervised after-school activities. Furthermore, children's lives have become structured and scheduled by adults, who hold the mistaken belief that this sport or that lesson will make their children more successful as adults.

Children have little time for free play any more. And when children do have free time, it's often spent inside in front of the television or computers. For some children, that's because their neighborhood, apartment complex or house has no outdoor play spaces. With budgets for city and state governments slashed, public parks and outdoor playgrounds have deteriorated and been abandoned. Children's opportunities to interact in a naturalized outdoor setting is greatly diminished today.

Childhood and outdoor play are no longer synonymous. Today, many children live what one play authority has referred to as a childhood of imprisonment.5 Child care facility playgrounds are often the only outdoor activities that many young children experience anymore.

Our company first became interested in the opportunities that outdoor play offers children's development when, in 1993, we conducted extensive focus group research with children and parents for a children's center we were designing. We were fascinated when the research consistently showed that children had a strong preference to play outdoors in natural landscapes, and that parents generally supported this kind of play.

Biophilia: The Love of Outdoors
Two new disciplines, eco-psychology6 and evolutionary psychology, are now suggesting that humans are genetically programmed by evolution with an affinity for the natural outdoors. Evolutionary psychologists use the term biophilia7 to refer to this innate, hereditary emotional attraction of humans to nature and other living organisms. Biophilia is the biologically based human need to affiliate with nature and the genetic basis for human's positive responses to nature.8 Why? Researchers say that for more than 99 percent of human history, people lived in hunter-gatherer bands totally and intimately involved in nature. So in relative terms, urban societies have existed for scarcely more than a blink of time.9 Our original nature-based evolutionary genetic coding and instincts are still an essential part of us and continue to shape our behavior and responses to nature.10

Well over 100 studies of outdoor experiences in the wilderness and natural areas show that natural outdoor environments produce positive physiological and psychological responses in humans, including reduced stress and a general feeling of well-being.11,12 It is also a clear-cut finding that people, and especially young children who have not yet adapted to the man-made world, consistently prefer the natural landscape to built environments. Children's instinctive feelings of continuity with nature are demonstrated by the attraction children have for fairy tales set in nature and populated with animal characters.13 Additional anecdotal evidence is that more children and adults visit zoos and aquariums than attend all major professional sports combined.14

Biophobia: The Aversion to Nature
However, if this human natural attraction to nature is not given opportunities to be exercised and flourish during the early years of life, the opposite, biophobia, an aversion to nature, may develop. Biophobia ranges from discomfort in natural places to active scorn for whatever is not man-made, managed or air conditioned. Biophobia is also manifest in the tendency to regard nature as nothing more than a disposable resource.15

Environmental Education
Environmental education needs to start at any early age with hands-on experience with nature.16 There is considerable evidence that concern for the environment is based on an affection for nature that only develops with autonomous, unmediated contact with it. In their early years, children's developmental tendency towards empathy with the natural world needs to be supported with free access to an area of limited size over an extended period of time. It is only by intimately knowing the wonder of nature's complexity in a particular place that leads to a full appreciation of the immense beauty of the planet as a whole. In todays society, environmental education requires that in schools, children have regular personal interaction with as diverse a natural setting as possible.17,18

The Importance of Nature to Children
Studies have provided convincing evidence that the way people feel in pleasing natural environments improves recall of information, creative problem solving, and creativity.19 Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with the development of imagination and the sense of wonder.20 Wonder is important as it a motivator for life long learning.21 There is also strong evidence that young children respond more positively to experiences in the outdoors than adults as they have not yet adapted to unnatural, man-made, indoor environments.

The natural world is essential to the emotional health of children.22 Just as children need positive adult contact and a sense of connection to the wider human community, they also need positive contact with nature and the chance for solitude and the sense of wonder that nature offers.23 When children play in nature they are more likely to have positive feelings about each other and their surroundings.24

Outdoor environments are also important to children's development of independence and autonomy. Outdoor space allows children to gradually experiment with increasing distance from their caretaker. While the development of greater independence from toddlerhood to middle childhood can happen within the confines of indoor spaces, safe space outdoors greatly adds to the ability of children to naturally experiment with independence and separation, and the adult's willingness to trust the child's competence which is essential for separation to happen. This is particularly important for children who live in small and crowded homes.25

Children's Experience with the Natural World
Children's outdoor play is different from time spent indoors. The sensory experiences are different, and different standards of play apply. Activities which may be frowned on indoors can be safely tolerated outdoors. Children have greater freedom not only to run and shout, but also to interact with and manipulate the environment. Children are free to do 'messy' activities outdoors that won't be tolerated indoors.

Natural outdoor environments have three qualities that are unique and appealing to children as play environments - their unending diversity; the fact that they are not created by adults; and their feeling of timelessness - the landscapes, trees, rivers described in fairy tales and myths still exist today.26

Children experience the natural environment differently than adults. Adults typically see nature as background for what they are doing. Children experience nature, not as background for events, but rather as a stimulator and experiential component of their activities.27 The world of nature is not a scene or even a landscape. Nature for the child is sheer sensory experience.28 Children judge the natural setting not by its aesthetics, but rather by how they can interact with the environment.

Children have a unique, direct and experiential way of knowing the natural world as a place of beauty, mystery and wonder. Children's special affinity for the natural environment is connected to the child's development and his or her way of knowing.29

Plants, together with soil, sand, and water, provide settings that can be manipulated. You can build a trench in the sand and dirt or a rock dam over a stream, but there's not much you can do to a jungle gym except climb, hang, or fall off. Natural elements provide for open-ended play that emphasize unstructured creative exploration with diverse materials. The high levels of complexity and variety nature offers invites longer and more complex play. Because of their interactive properties, plants stimulate discovery, dramatic pretend play, and imagination. Plants speak to all of the senses, so it's not surprising that children are closely attuned to environments with vegetation. Plants, in a pleasant environment with a mix of sun, shade, color, texture, fragrance, and softness of enclosure also encourage a sense of peacefulness.30 Natural settings offer qualities of openness, diversity, manipulation, exploration, anonymity and wildness.31

All the manufactured equipment and all the indoor instructional materials produced by the best educators in the world cannot substitute for the primary experience of hands-on engagement with nature. They cannot replace the sensory moment where a child's attention is captured by the phenomena and materials of nature: the dappled sparkle of sunlight through leaves, the sound and motion of plants in the wind, the sight of butterflies or a colony of ants, the imaginative worlds of a square yard of dirt or sand, the endless sensory experience of water, the infinite space in an iris flower.32

Designing Outdoor Spaces for Children
The goal of designing children's outdoor environments is to use the landscape and vegetation as the play setting and nature as much as possible as the play materials.33 The natural environment needs to read as a children's place; as a world separate from adults that responds to a child's own sense of place and time.

Our company calls well designed outdoor children's play spaces discovery play gardens to differential them from the current design paradigm for children's playgrounds. Some authorities call them naturalized outdoor classrooms or naturalized playgrounds.

There is a sense of wildness about an discovery play garden. Conventional play design focuses on manufactured and tightly designed play equipment. Conversely in a discovery play garden, although there may be some conventional play equipment, many of the spaces are informal and naturalistic so they will stimulate high quality free play and discovery learning.

Children's idea of beauty is wild rather than ordered.34 A discovery play garden that plans for wildness, and provides openness, diversity, and opportunities for manipulation, exploration and experimentation, allows children to become totally immersed in play.35 Children's discovery play gardens are very different than landscaped areas designed for adults, who prefer manicured lawns and tidy, neat, orderly uncluttered landscapes. Discovery play gardens are much looser in design because children value unmanicured places and the adventure and mystery of hiding places and wild, spacious, uneven areas broken by clusters of plants.36

Physical attractiveness and innovativeness are not what is important for quality outdoor play space design. Children need tools, open space, challenge and opportunities to control and manipulate the environment. Suransky calls this "history making power"37 - the power for the child to imprint themselves upon the landscape, endow the landscape with significance and experience their own actions as transforming the environment.38

Outdoor play requires a lot of gear to make a go of it. Loose parts, sand, water, manipulatives, props and naturally found objects are essential tools for children's play. Loose parts have infinite play possibilities, and their total lack of structure and script allows children to make of them whatever their imaginations desire. Simon Nicholson first offered the theory of loose parts in children's play when he wrote in 1971, "In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity and the possibilities of discovery are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it."39

Yhrough children's handling, manipulation and physical interaction with materials and the natural environment, they learn the rules and principles that make the world operate.

Outdoor play areas should flow from one area to the next, be as open-ended and simple as possible, encourage children to use their imaginations, have continuity and be perceived by the children as children's, not adult, spaces. They should be designed to stimulate children's senses and to nurture the child's curiosity, allow for interaction with other children, with adults and with the resources in the play space.

It is also desirable to integrate the outdoors with the indoor classroom with one sense of place and identity, so the transition between the two will be almost seamless. Design that allows children to go freely back and forth between inside and outside encourages children to experiment with autonomy from adults, both physically and symbolically.40 It also allows the outdoor space to become part of the classroom, rather than just a retreat from it.

Things children like in their outdoor environments include:

water
vegetation, including trees, bushes, flowers and long grasses,
animals, creatures in ponds, and other living things
sand, best if it can be mixed with water
natural color, diversity and change
places and features to sit in, on, under, lean against, and provide shelter and shade
different levels and nooks and crannies, places that offer privacy and views
structures, equipment and materials that can be changed, actually or in their imaginations, including plentiful loose parts.
The structures and equipment do not all need to be manufactured. As much as possible, they should be made of natural materials such as logs, stumps and boulders and use the landscape in natural ways with berms and mounds.

Outdoor areas lend themselves to meeting children's individual needs. Natural environments allow for investigation and discovery by children with different learning styles.41 Using universal design principals, play areas and events can be designed as accessible to children with special needs without accessibility features being obvious.

Plants are vital. In fact, the identity of many of the play areas can be created through ecological theming with vegetation. For example, an interactive water play can be set in a bog or stream habitat. It is also important to incorporate ecological areas that utilize indigenous vegetation and settings so children can experience, learn about and develop an appreciation of their local environment.

Naturalized outdoor play spaces are rich learning environments for all age children. They contain a hidden curriculum that speaks to children through their special way of knowing nature. Every learning center and activity that can be created in the indoor classroom can be created in the outdoors. Specialized areas can even be designed to meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers.

Cost
Discovery play gardens do not cost more to build than conventional playgrounds. Rather than spend most of the budget on conventional manufactured playground equipment, moneys are shifted to landscaping and creating play areas using natural materials. Discovery play gardens do, however, require specialized design skills to create a holistic and integrated child's world. To accomplish this, a much higher percentage of the budget must be allocated for professional design services than with a dominantly equipment-based playground.

Participatory Design
Participatory design - having children, teachers, parents and maintenance staff participate in the design process - is essential to the success of any discovery play garden. Children's input assures that they will feel it is a special place for them. Teachers input is needed so they will take ownership of the discovery play garden as an outdoor classroom and utilize it to support their curriculum goals. Parents need to be involved so they will be supportive of the concept and learn how the naturalized space and often messy play greatly supports their children's development. Maintenance staff need to participate to assure that they will support the space and provide the maintenance required. User participation in the design process also helps to assure that the design will be culturally respectful.

Discovery play gardens offer children chances to manipulate the environment and explore, to wonder and experiment, to pretend, to understand themselves, and to interact with nature, animals and interesting insects and with other children. They are environments that encourage children's rich and complex play and greatly expand the learning opportunities of just conventional playgrounds. Children's discovery play gardens are places where children can reclaim the magic that is their birthright - the ability to learn in a natural environment through exploration, discovery and the power of their own imaginations.

Play With Your Kids

By Mac Bledsoe

During summertime, family life becomes more chaotic and less routine. However, summer presents a wonderful new opportunity for parents who choose to grasp it! As I travel the nation putting on parenting events there is one very common question that keeps being asked… "How do you talk to kids, especially to teenagers?"

Well, let me tell you, I do not believe that there is a simple answer to that question because there are just about as many answers as there are kids! There is one thing that I do know to be the truth about being able to carry on a conversation with a young person; it is almost impossible to talk with a child with whom you do not already have a relationship! It is virtually impossible to discuss important issues with a child who views you as a stranger. Summer gives us an opportunity to build relationships with our kids.

Along those lines, I am convinced that the best way to build a relationship with a child is through the medium of play. A wonderful side effect of playing with kids is that playing is fun for adults too… it is an excuse to extend childhood! Like my grandfather used to say, "You can only be young once but you can make immaturity last a lifetime!"

Play does not have to be complicated nor organized. Look for opportunities to play with your kids daily. On a hot day, pick up some water balloons on the way home from work and start a water balloon fight. Get squirt guns to cool a hot summer evening. Start the barbeque and create your own gourmet burgers. While the barbeque is warming up and the burgers are cooking, start a neighborhood game of baseball in the street using a homemade ball made with a wadded up wet sock (that way no windows get broken.)

Stop by the local Good Will or used sporting goods shop and pick up an old set of used golf clubs. Pick up some Whiffle Balls and then when you get home set up a golf course around your yard or around the neighborhood by stapling or taping paper plates to various trees, light poles, fence posts, corners of buildings, and other usable landmarks. Write the numbers one through nine on the paper plates. You now have a new golf course. To play you start at plate #9 and hit your ball toward the landmark labeled #1. To score on a hole your ball must be hit to within a club length of the object. Count your "strokes" just like in golf. The person with the lowest total strokes after 9 holes is the winner. This game can be a blast when played in a forest, in a yard or it six or seven back yards that join. Enlist the neighbors to play with you. Set "tee times" and develop handicaps. The possibilities are endless. Post scores, make up impromptu leader boards and develop your course ground rules. Follow the lead of the kids.

Create a neighborhood newspaper on your computer. Put kids in charge of publishing it and have them interview neighbors about upcoming events in their respective families.

Get out the video camera and make a music video. Pick a song to use as the theme and then shoot footage to make a statement that matches what the song says. Let your hair down and get into it with your kids. Let them shoot you in everyday life and put music to what they have shot. You might really learn something about the way that the kids see you and your family life.

Get the ingredients for making ice cream sundaes and break them out as an evening family activity. Set the ingredients up in the garage or on the porch and let your kids invite a bunch of their friends over to join in. Sit around in lawn chairs and enjoy the company as you eat the treats.

Set up a Badminton court in the back yard and leave it set up throughout the summer. In free moments challenge your kids to a game. Create new games and set up courts and fields. Take some chalk and create a shuffle board game on the sidewalk using sticks as your implements and slide plastic coffee can lids as your pucks.

Set up a Horseshoe game in the back yard. Get a dartboard and set it up on the back porch or in the kitchen. Start building a big puzzle and leave it set up in the living room; work on it during spare time. Play Cribbage, Gin Rummy, Chess or Checkers. Play tennis, swim, hike, ride bikes, take a walk in a park, go fishing, get creative and find ways to play with your kids.

What will happen when you establish a spirit of play with your kids is that you will find that it will become easier and easier to talk with them. When people are in the act of playing it is almost impossible to be silent. The natural talk that surrounds play will break the ice. Once the talk becomes natural it becomes much easier to talk about important topics. When play becomes a regular part of life in your family then, when feel you have something that you really need to talk to your kids about it will not seem so odd or forced. You will have established a communication channel via the interaction of playing with your kids! In the meantime you will have had a delightful time laughing and playing with someone you love… your kids!

Whether your baby has just mastered sitting up, crawling, or walking, the Fisher-Price Go Baby Go Crawl and Cruise Musical Jungle provides access to a wide variety of fun, stimulating activities. As long as your baby is three to 36 months old, he or she is set to enjoy finding, grasping, and rolling six brightly colored balls with the singing monkey at the center of this sturdy, jungle-themed play set.

What We Think

Fun Factor:

Durability:

(what this means)

The Good: Jungle-themed play station designed to benefit children as they grow and develop

The Bad: Large footprint; may not keep the interest of older children

In a Nutshell: With flashing lights, jungle songs, and colorful characters, this set inspires interactive play
At a Glance
Ages: 6 to 36 months
Requires: Phillips screwdriver for assembly


Children will be delighted by the songs and flashing lights of the Musical Jungle. View larger.


The Musical Jungle features sturdy construction that won't easily break. View larger.
Innovative Jungle Encourages Active Play
This durable, plastic play station is set up as an arc, with a slide for balls wrapping around the center support and a bright orange monkey sitting above the slide. The monkey's hands are cupped so that kids can practice balancing balls in them, and his arms move. Each time your child uses a ball or their hand to move one of his arms, he breaks out in song and stimulating, colored lights on the front of the jungle flash.

One song with a fun beat begins, "Walk like an elephant, stomp, stomp, stomp." Another says it's "time to move, fast or slow." Kids ability to clap with these tunes or sing along really makes playtime in the jungle more fun. Best of all, there's several different songs, so parents and kids don't have to keep listening to the same tune over and over again.

In addition to the music and the slide for balls at the center of the jungle, there's a spinning hippo at one end of the arc and a big blue elephant at the other. The hollow elephant has openings in his ears, and when baby drops a ball into them, it comes shooting out his mouth, often eliciting a bout of laughter. If your baby is crawling or walking, he's sure to tire himself right out chasing after run-away balls. There's another set of fun features to help keep the jungle interesting for younger children, especially those who are not yet cruising around on their own. There's also a hanging rattle ball, an alligator on a swing that moves back and forth, and a safe, plastic mirror shaped like the sun so that baby can contemplate her reflection. All these different toys mean that the Musical Jungle stays interesting as children develop new skills.

Durable, Dependable Construction for Safety
We really appreciated how strong the top arch is. Despite being made of plastic, our adult tester was able to lean on this arch without feeling like it was about to break. This is good news for parents of children who are learning to pull themselves up or still need to hold onto an object while standing, since there's no need to worry about the sturdy, stable Musical Jungle coming apart and hurting or disappointing a child.

All in all, we found lots of ways to have fun with the Musical Jungle. Despite the fact that this set is recommended for children up to 36 months old, we found the activities it offers and the infant-friendly look more suited to younger children. There are many great reviews of this jungle set out there, and it seems like most often they come from parents with a child who has not yet turned two.

This toy requires adult assembly. You'll need a Phillips screwdriver and a little bit of patience. While the included instructions do an excellent job of illustrating each step in the assembly process, snapping the pieces together and getting the screws secured takes a bit of effort. Despite the time involved, we really appreciated the fact that this activity set uses real hardware to provide a very solid structure.

The Musical Jungle is much stronger than plastic toys assembled solely from snap-together pieces, and the parts can be unscrewed by an adult if you want to disassemble the jungle for storage, another feature that similar products often overlook. Three AA batteries are included to power the lights and sounds.

What's in the Box
Six balls, monkey, elephant, hippo, center arch, sun mirror, rattle ball, base, two arch ends, two tube pieces, two ramp pieces, two legs, 16 screws, three "AA" batteries, and instructions.


The monkey's cupped hands will hold a ball.
View larger.

The hippos large mouth holds many balls.
View larger.

Putting a ball in the elephant's ears will cause it to shoot out of its mouth.
View larger.



Product Description
This jungle of fun includes a rocking croc, an elephant with a ball-drop trunk, and a 360-degree spinning hippo with an appetite for ball-dropping fun. Animals feature fun lights and sounds to reward baby. As baby grows and is ready to stand and cruise, this inviting jungle provides a sturdy place for her to hang on to for support. Once she reaches the top jungle rail, your little explorer can spin the sun mirror, swat the wiggly-jiggly tree frog, flip the click-clack butterfly wings and bat the colorful rollerball with rattle beads. Baby can place the balls into the monkey's hands and watch as the monkey sends them down the spiraling ball shoot, and surprise! The balls will pop out of one of two ball ramps. Features music, lights, songs and sound effects, plus six colored balls. Requires three "AA" batteries, included. Some assembly required. Measures 36"L x 24"W x 22"H.

Publish your own book with the Illustory Make Your Own Book Kit! This award-winning activity kit allows future authors to write and illustrate their very own story on special book pages provided. Once the story is complete, it is sent to be published, and in a few short weeks the budding writer receives a color-copied, professionally type set hardbound book. Ideal for ages five and up, this innovative kit nurtures enthusiasm for reading, writing, and illustrating.

Let the Fun Begin
Illustory Make Your Own Book Kit is not only fun, it also helps your child build self-esteem. You'll never forget the look in your budding writer's eyes as you proudly display his or her first book on your coffee table or bookshelf. This kit even includes an "About the Author" biography page, title, and dedication, just like a real published book. Your child will also enjoy creating the cover and will be able to select from seven cover colors. Families can have fun too as they create their own story together. Extra books with alternate dedication pages can be ordered to make the child's story a gift or keepsake for family, friends, or teachers.

Once your child is finished with the writing, sending the manuscript to publishing is easy, with the included paid postage envelope. Production time is about three to four weeks, plus delivery time. The finished hardcover book measures 7 by 9 inches with 12 pages, and features a permanent hardback binding, a laminated cover drawing, and book title. For techno-savy young authors, the book can be created entirely online by using the Creations By You bookmaking Web site. The entire Illustory kit includes 18 special book pages, 2 cover pages, 10 washable markers, story web planner, instructions, order form, and a prepaid envelope. The correct spelling option allows a choice between leaving spelling errors in or having the words printed correctly.

Award-Winning Features
This kit was a winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award, as well as multiple awards from other organizations. It helps builds self-esteem and sparks an interest in reading and writing. Youngsters learn to see a project through to completion, and their final printed story rewards their effort. There are many optional upgrades available (for a charge) to enhance the book. Extra books can be printed and separately dedicated as gifts for family and friends. In addition, the author's photo can appear on the bio page, and rush delivery is also available. The Make Your Own Book kit beautifully captures a child's creativity and turns it into a keepsake that will be treasured for years to come.

What's in the Box
18 book pages, 2 cover pages, 10 washable markers, story web planner, instructions, order form, and prepaid envelope.

Publish your very own book with the Illustory Make Your Own Book Kit.

The Illustory Kit comes complete with markers, special book pages, story planners, and more.

Awards
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award
Parents' Choice Classic Award
Dr. Toy Best Toy Award
Family Life's Best Learning Toy Award
Creative Child's Toy of the Year Award

Hyper Dash is an award-winning fast-paced race course game from Wild Planet that encourages kids to be active and think on their feet. Designed to improve listening, coordination and math skills, this exciting game is easy to set up and is an ideal way to help kids aged six and above to practice addition and subtraction while exercising and having fun.

The Hyper Dash helps kids develop basic math and color and number recognition skills. View larger.

The Hyper Dash uses RFID to wirelessly recognize targets. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Award-winning way to stay active; improves listening, memory and math skills The Bad: Plastic unit may not hold up to lots and lots of rough play In a Nutshell: Hyper Dash is a fun way for kids to exercise their bodies and their minds At a Glance Ages: 6 and up Requires: 3 AA batteries

Fast, Easy Set-Up
The only set-up required is to install three AA batteries. Opening the battery compartment requires a small Phillips head screw driver, which means an adult needs to change the batteries. This keeps batteries in the right place during active play, but it also means that changing batteries on the fly requires you to have a screwdriver with you.

The manual is clear and concise, with descriptions of how to play and a list of all the special commands the Hyper Voice issues, so any child can be up and running in just a few minutes. There's no button to turn the unit off, but it quickly shuts itself off when not in use to save battery life.

Getting Moving Quickly
The electronic tagger plays upbeat music and calls out voice commands to control the game, while players following the commands race against the clock to tag targets identified by color and number. Kids can play solo, up to four players can compete head-to-head, or up to eight players can work cooperatively in teams of two. There's even a level where kids need to solve addition and subtraction problems to figure out which target to strike next.

With no complex set-up and no complicated directions to follow, younger children get started playing Hyper Dash quickly. Since players control where the five targets are positioned, there are infinite ways to play Hyper Dash. Combined with the fact that Hyper Dash offers four games to choose from with increasingly difficult levels to master, and it's easy to see why even older, more experienced players (including parents!) stay excited about this game.

Four-Games-in-One
The original game, Hyper Dash, features the Hyper Voice calling out commands. Four different levels allow the players' skills to progress. Level one includes only colors in the calls. The calls on level two are a little faster and include both colors and numbers, while level three adds special commands like "Double Strike," "Triple Strike," and "Reverse. " Level four features the "CompuStrike" call, which require kids to solve basic math problems, such as "four plus one" or "three minus two. "

In Team Dash, a special command indicates when the Hyper Dash unit should be handed off, turning the race against the clock into a relay. The games Micro Dash and Team Micro Dash set out sequences that get progressively longer and trickier, providing a challenging test of memory.

The Hyper Dash unit keeps track of times and scores, and the Hyper Voice announces the winner at the end of the game, cutting down on arguments. With only one Hyper Dash tagger, kids will have to wait their turn to play in multiple player games. This can be both a lesson in patience and an opportunity to cheer others on.

RFID Technology for a Flexible, Durable Game
Hyper Dash uses radio frequency identification (RFID) to recognize the targets. The same technology is used to track packages and to identify books and DVDs in many libraries. This means that a wireless signal connects the Hyper Dash unit and the targets, so there's no need to strike targets with force.

While the Hyper Dash tagger unit seems incredibly durable, it is made of plastic. Just because RFID technology means kids can tag targets lightly, it doesn't mean they will. Our one concern about the game is the possibility that hard play will damage the tagger over time.

With RFID, there's no limit to how far apart you set the targets. You can set them up at opposite ends of a football field for a serious test of endurance, or close together requiring fancy footwork. You can even them up next to each other to see who has the quickest hands. This flexibility makes Hyper Dash appropriate for both indoor and outdoor spaces.

Award-Winning Educational Fun
Kids have so much fun playing Hyper Dash that they don't realize how much they're learning. Parents will love the way Hyper Dash combines active play with lessons that support color and number recognition, basic math skills. The game's format also inspires better listening and improves kids' coordination. It's no wonder that Hyper Dash has won an iParenting Award and a Seal of Excellence Award from Creative Child Magazine, along with several other honors recognizing it as an innovative, educational toy.

What's in the Box
Hyper Dash unit and five plastic targets.


Product Description
It's the electronic game that's as fast as you are. Test your speed and agility in a race against time using five targets and an electronic handheld unit. To start, set up your targets on the table, around the room, around the house or throughout the yard. Then, follow the announcer's commands as you zip around your racecourse to tag your targets with the handheld unit. The fastest time wins. Features four game modes that challenge your speed, skill, memory, coordination and teamwork. Includes ergonomically designed Hyper Dash unit and five labelled targets. Requires 3 "AAA" batteries, not included. Measures 4.5"L x 12"W x 10"H.

Product Description

Amazon.com Review
Just because it's raining, snowing or otherwise blustery outside, that doesn't mean that your child can't get the exercise she needs. The Fisher Price Smart Cycle combines the fun indoor activity of video game playing with the physical activity the great outdoors will give you. Designed for kids ages three to six, the Smart Cycle "physical learning arcade system" is an all-in-one stationary bike, video game console, and educational tool. Your little one will exercise her brain and her body -- and have loads of fun in the process.

The Smart Cycle combines the fun indoor activity of video game playing with the physical activity of the great outdoors. View larger. View product demo (requires Flash).

By using the bike's joy stick and buttons, your child can navigate through many other games and adventures. View larger.

Pedal and steer your way through different environments. View larger.

The Smart Cycle games provide different levels for growing kids. View larger.

Turn on your TV and Start your Engines!
The Smart Cycle plugs directly into your VCR or TV and requires no need for a separate game system. Simply connect the Smart Cycle to your television's input jacks, insert the included game cartridge "key," and your child can start riding -- and learning -- right away! Your child pedals the bike to keep the game going and "steers" with the movable handlebars. A large, easy-to-use and conveniently placed joy stick and bright buttons control the games and educational tools.

The Smart Cycle comes with a "learning adventure," in which your child drives a car by pedaling the bike and turning the handlebars. She can splash through mud puddles and take treacherous corners as she tries to catch letters of the alphabet along the road. She'll learn to keep pedaling to keep moving, while at the same time learning her alphabet!

Versatility Adds to the Fun
The Smart Cycle includes a game cartridge that features several fun and educational adventures that will keep your child happily entertained. A trip to "Math Mountain" will help her practice her numbers, while an adventure-filled trek to "Shape Lake" will introduce her to a wide array of different shapes. The Smart Cycle also includes an exciting car racing game that two children can play at the same time, while a "creative journal" lets your child create pictures and snapshots of her "worldwide" travels.

The fun doesn't have to stop when your child gets her fill of exercise: she can stop and rest, and continue the fun and learning by using the bike's joy stick and buttons to navigate through many other games and adventures. And best of all, several optional game cartridges that can be used with the Smart Cycle (sold separately) will keep your child continually entertained, including games that feature favorite characters such as Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Barbie, and Hot Wheels cars.

With its wide array of games and height-adjustable seat, the Smart Cycle is designed to grow with your child. So as your child grows both physically and intellectually, the Smart Cycle will grow with her.

The Ultimate Test Drive
We found the Smart Cycle easy to assemble and very simple to install with our television set. All we needed for assembly was a Phillips screwdriver and four "D" batteries (not included). As long as your television or VCR is equipped with the red, white, and yellow RCA jacks to connect the Smart Cycle, you're set to go. We simply connected the included plugs to the television's jacks, turned the television on, and we were ready for hours of fun. Once the game started, the cycle seemed easy enough to operate, making it not too much of a challenge to result in frustrating a child, but not so easy that it would soon become boring. With the additional optional game cartridges, we believe the Smart Cycle promises to be a long-lasting source of entertainment.

The Smart Cycle comes with an easy-to-follow instruction manual, and the set-up only took a few minutes. However, one minor set-back we experience was that we needed the paper instruction manual on hand to understand how to play the video game; we found some elements of the games to be nearly impossible to understand without the instructions. An intuitive set of online instructions designed for children to follow, without the need to consult a paper manual, would make for a near-ideal gaming experience for any child (and parent). Also, although the seat offers four height levels, the handlebars are not height adjustable, which may present a problem for some smaller children.

Pros:

• Provides a source of indoor exercise for young children
• Designed to grow with your child's physical and intellectual development
• Helps develop your child's motor skills
• Easy to install and use
• Includes several fun and entertaining educational games

Cons:

• The instructions to some of the games are difficult to understand
• The cycle's handlebars are not height adjustable

Product Description
Smart Cycle plugs right into your TV, ready to take kids on learning adventures like no other. As they pedal, favorite character friends guide them through learning discoveries, games and even exciting races. Other activities don't require pedaling at all. Includes Learning Adventure game cartridge with 3 ways to play:

1) Drive, steer and learn at your own pace--visit Math Mountain, Shape Lake, Number Fields, Letter Creek and other stops along the way.

2) Learn, stop and rest, but don't stop learning! Use the joystick to reinforce important learning skills with plenty of games and activities with different levels for growing kids.

3) Race--put the pedal to the metal as you race with cars on-screen, against the clock, or with another player.

Includes Learning Journey software and the other themes sold separately include: Nick Jr.Dora the Explorer Friendship Adventure, Nick Jr.Go Diego Go! Diego's Animal Rescue, Discover the Dinosaurs, Nickelodeon SpongeBob Squarepants Ocean Adventure, Hot Wheels Barbie Fairytopia.

Developmental Benefits: Teaches: upper & lowercase letters, numbers & counting, spelling, problem-solving, shapes, matching, creativity, spatial reasoning, motor skills & lots more! Requires 4 "D" batteries, not included. Measures 26.7"L x 18.5"W x 25.1"H. Weight Capacity 200 lbs.

Amazon.com Product Description