Hi-tech Western Sydney takes digital natives into great outdoors

An award winning playground at Plough and Harrow Park in Western Sydney has combined technology and playtime to get children exploring the Australian bush.

Located at Cecil Hills in the Western Sydney Parklands, the playground has included QR codes throughout its site that children use their mobile phones to scan and learn about the sights, smells and sounds of the bush.

Josh French, a Recreation Officer with the Western Sydney Parklands Trust which operates the playground, says the aim was to create a safe way for children to start exploring the bush and learning about the plants and animals that call it home.

French told the ABC "play is not just about running around, play is an opportunity to learn and be educated.

"The idea here was to create an amazing nature-based experience that would get kids off the couch and into the playground."

Inspired by technology and computer games, the playground’s coded information is specific to the native Cumberland Plain woodland which surrounds the park.

French says children are encouraged to leave the beaten track to discover the plants and animals that live within the woodlands, adding "they're able to get information about those plants and animals.

"The noises they make, where they're located and they can then spot them in the park and see what they're like."

Playground designer Ric McConaghy says the park's centrepiece is a digitised black and blue jungle gym which allows kids to test their speed and agility in multi-player games.

McConaghy explains "I think probably computer games are getting a bit slagged off at the moment.

"They are in actual fact engaging the kids, giving them the opportunity for discovery and journey and exploration."

Ric McConaghy won the Parks and Leisure Australia 2013 Play Space Award of Excellence for his design of the Bonyathon Park Playspace in Adelaide.

Plough and Harrow Park
Designer: Ric McConaghy and Pod
Documentation: Pod and Ric McConaghy
Contract administration: Pod and Ric McConaghy
Client: Western Sydney Parklands Trust
Location: Elizabeth Drive, Abbotsbury, NSW
Construction: Design Landscapes
Suppliers: Kompan, Playrope

Click here to visit Ric McConaghy's website. 

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