The recent news in the Helsinki Times about the opening of the first computer-themed playground reminds us of how digital technologies and media are increasingly permeating our daily lives. It also provides us insights into how Finland is responding to technological and cultural change. This news, particularly since it involves children and their play spaces, is likely to elicit various responses, ranging from excitement to horror and concern. For www.parenting.digital, Kristiina Kumpulainen takes a closer look at this controversial news. Why build computer-themed playgrounds? How can these playgrounds support children’s play, learning, and wellbeing? Shouldn’t playgrounds be about more than just computers?

The upcoming opening of a computer-themed playground in Helsinki is not entirely surprising considering the historical evolution of playgrounds and their functions within the cultural context of Finland. This is coupled with a commitment to children’s rights, play and wellbeing. There is also an emphasis on educating children to be multiliterate and developing digital literacies, including programming, already early on. In this light, this news appears quite logical.

In Finland, public playgrounds and organised playground activities have a long-standing tradition, intending to support the health and wellbeing of children and their families who are increasingly living in urban areas and representing diverse socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. For example, in Helsinki, there have been playgrounds and professionally organised play activities for over 110 years. In addition to supporting children’s play, including physical activity and social learning, public playgrounds have also served lunches and snacks to children since the summer of 1942.

Today, Helsinki has a city-wide network of public play parks and family houses that are available to everyone free of charge and offer a wide range of services, including Early Childhood Education and Care services, playground club activities, after-school activities, and parent-child activities. Over the years, playgrounds have evolved from children’s playgrounds to play parks for all age groups intending to encourage intergenerational play, learning and collective joy.

Finland introduced the first digitally enhanced playgrounds for children and their families nearly twenty years ago. There are playgrounds, and playground equipment and service providers that utilise digital technologies such as recognition and sensor technology in creative, interactive, and playful ways, combining gaming and movement with children’s playground activities. These “smart” playgrounds are designed to expand play through technology by fostering children’s physical activity through computerised feedback, among others. These playground innovations have also travelled to a number of other areas, such as Copenhagen in Denmark and Staffordshire in the UK with the motivation to improve children’s physical fitness, interact socially and learn in a fun and creative way.

The computer-themed playground which is set to open soon in Helsinki continues the Finnish tradition of developing and experimenting with novel playgrounds to support children’s play, learning and wellbeing. Through computer-themed playground equipment and design, children and their families are introduced to computers and programming through play and exploration. A computer-themed playground may not necessarily use any digital technology but the equipment and design of the playground are computer-themed.

In some regards, a computer-themed playground reflects a post-digital era where digital technologies and their literacies are seen as commonplace and accepted rather than exciting or new. The post-digital world recognises the interconnectedness of digital and physical spaces, moving our attention beyond screen-based interactions. It directs our attention away from technology itself to its broader effects on society, (childhood) cultures, and politics. A computer-themed playground equally joins a movement towards pedagogising children’s informal and unstructured (play) spaces with a hidden curriculum – in this case, to learn about computers and computing through play.

Playgrounds in Finland reflect ongoing and ambitious cross-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder development efforts to provide all children with opportunities to play, thrive and develop in an era where digital technologies and media are woven into our everyday practices. These development efforts require creative thinking and collaboration from diverse professionals including urban designers, city planners, education professionals, health and safety professionals, playground developers, policymakers, and most importantly, children and their families.

However, just like any intentionally designed play space, there are also risks, such as the risks of exclusion and alienation. For example, a narrowly themed playground may attract only certain families and children and single out others. A playground may end up being too adult-designed and directed, more like a formal school with a curriculum, losing children’s agency in their play activities. After all, children do not play for the purpose of learning; they simply play for the inherent joy of play itself.

A digitally enhanced playground may also invade rather than support children’s play, turning children in a metaphorical sense into “playing cyborgs” where technology and children merge into one, with the danger of technology taking over the children and their play activities. For example, rather than enjoying playtime and happiness stemming from spontaneity and creativity, children might become more fixated on monitoring and measuring their own or their peers’ physical activity using feedback from digitally-enhanced playground equipment. In the worst case, this could promote serious competition and comparisons among children – something that children’s play is not typically about.

In all, playgrounds and their ongoing evolvement in Finland and other parts of the world can be viewed as utopian projects that embody the pursuit of a better and fairer world for children, their families, and communities at large. Playground utopias are shaped by cultural values and beliefs about childhood, children’s learning and development, and wellbeing in their life worlds. Playground utopias and making them a reality spark a discussion about what contributes to human flourishing. These utopias prompt us to consider our own values and ideas about childhood and children, play, technology, education, and the purpose and function of playgrounds in a constantly evolving world.

First published at www.parenting.digital, this post represents the views of the authors and not the position of the Parenting for a Digital Future blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

You are free to republish the text of this article under Creative Commons licence crediting www.parenting.digital and the author of the piece. Please note that images are not included in this blanket licence.

Featured image: photo by Inspired Images on Pexels. In-text image: photo by City of Helsinki