Playgrounds that communicate heritage : applying museological practices to playgrounds

Sammanfattning: Since the communication of an area’s local heritage to children not only offers intangible benefits to children, but also ensures the continued preservation of the heritage itself, it is important to develop ways in which such communication can be undertaken. Through taking inspiration from current museological practices, this paper discusses how playgrounds can be developed as a tool to communicate an area’s local heritage to children. After a theoretical foundation regarding heritage, children, place, play, and museology is laid out, this paper presents a design project meant to exemplify how a heritage based playground could be designed. To conclude, this paper highlights three potential ways in which current museological practices can be implemented into the design of playgrounds in order to communicate cultural heritage to children.