Kids & education

Designing inclusive and climate-ready play spaces for our children

An interview with Andrew Harvey, landscape and playground designer and inspector at Harvey & Kells.

Published on June 23, 2025 by Coralie Pinhal, Bilingual Marketing & Communications Coordinator

aire de jeux de la cours d'école Pas de géant à Montréal
Photo credit : Giant Steps

This story was translated from French. You can read the original here.

 

Jumping in puddles, climbing trees or playing in the dirt—most children love to play outside, and for good reason! 

 

Outdoor play is essential to children’s development, whether it’s the development of motor skills, flexibility and balance, or forming social bonds. 

 

Designing an outdoor play area is a fine balance between encouraging challenges for the child while ensuring that the space is as safe as it needs to be. Dr. Marianna Brussoni, UBC professor and director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, has said that our own worries and desire to protect our kids can result in setting too many limits, which can interfere with healthy development. She likes to remind parents that children should be kept as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible.

 

Indeed, research shows that challenges (or risk-taking) for children are an important part of their development, as they build confidence, motor skills and problem-solving abilities. 

 

These challenges or “risky play” include activities ranging from climbing and high jumping to simply leaving an adult’s gaze. So how can we make risky play accessible to all children, with the necessary safety? 

 

We spoke to Andrew Harvey, landscape and playground designer and inspector at Harvey & Kells. 

 

Portrait of Andrew Harvey, landscape and playground designer and inspector at Harvey & Kells.

 

Coralie Pinhal: How does playground design affect all types of child development? 

 

Andrew Harvey: As a landscape and playground designer, I must consider different groups, different ages and different abilities. It’s all about facilitating the development of children’s bodies and finding ways to enhance their play opportunities.  

 

So, I look for play elements that offers opportunities for reflection, experimentation, sensory or vestibular activities. Our vestibular system is in the inner ear and helps us develop stability and balance. I also look for equipment and natural features that strengthens muscles, but in an inclusive context.  

 

I think of all users, not just physically and mentally healthy children. I take all children into account to make the space accessible to all. 

As safe as necessary, as fun as possible, with play value.

Andrew Harvey, landscape and playground designer and inspector - Harvey & Kells

CP: What advice would you give to someone looking to redesign their schoolyard, daycare centre or children’s playground? 

 

AH: First, listen to the students! Observe how they play. Participatory design is very important. You don’t want to build a playground that won’t be used by children. 

 

In our experience, many people, both children and adults, tend not to really think about their needs and desires. They get carried away by Instagram images and want what they see, without really thinking about their real needs and what’s really important for their community.I think the role of designers in the consultation process is to dig deep, to have thoughtful conversations about what kids want to do. 

 

So I always ask the kids: what do you want to do? Do you want to jump? Do you want to run? Do you want to play in the mud? You have to think about what they want to do, stick to actions, before developing the design too much, and before choosing equipment. 

 

I consider children to be my main client, but I always want to talk to parents or guardians to explain this participatory design process. There’s a phrase I use a lot: as safe as necessary, as fun as possible, with play value. I try to motivate parents to get involved in the project on the substantive side, in the landscaping work and in watering the plants during the summer, which is very important. 

 

inclusive and climate-ready schoolyard

Photo credit : Giant Steps

 

CP: How do you prioritize accessibility when designing playgrounds? Is participatory design essential in this respect, or do you also have a set of principles related to accessibility and safety? 

 

AH: While I’m convinced that participatory design should play an important role in making spaces accessible, the reality is that regulations and standards are the driving force. Standards can be a good framework, but they’re not necessarily specific. 

 

For example, if I’m working for a daycare centre with an existing courtyard, I first ask to observe the children in the courtyard to see how they use the space. I also identify the negative elements of the playground. Often, regulations can limit what changes are permitted, there isn’t enough shade and the surface is asphalt. When you’re on asphalt, it’s at least 15 to 20 degrees warmer than on grass. Occasionally I take a thermometer with me to show my clients how hot it is on an asphalt surface. In my projects, I try to introduce shade with trees or play equipment that also offer shade, such as shade sails. Shade is an important element of inclusion, because some people aren’t able to regulate their internal temperature, and children will continue to play even in 45-degree weather. There are many resources out there that provide recommendations, but typically standards and regulations do not address safety and accessibility as it relates to environmental and climatic conditions.

 

I’m convinced that it’s important to offer children challenges, opportunities for play, even risks in play. I’m not talking about dangers when I talk about risks. There are dangers like heat that children are not aware of. We have a duty to children to provide safe spaces, so we have to prevent these heat islands. 

 

aire de jeux de la garderie Dalhousie

Photo credit : Andrew Harvey

 

CP: As we’re talking about heat islands, can you tell us to what extent your work focuses on the climate resilience of playgrounds? 

 

AH: I always encourage my clients to mitigate the effects of heat islands, create shade with trees, have permeable surfaces and take advantage of existing site conditions that are ecologically beneficial. 

 

School and daycare yards are usually 40% asphalt and the rest is grass. Here in Eastern Ontario, we have a lot of clay in our soils. Twice a day, at recess, hundreds of students—I’d say more like hundreds of little elephants—trample the yard, compacting the clay surface and contributing to drainage and pooling problems. 

 

Pooling is a challenge that requires a lot of aeration, grading and drainage to be added to existing yards. When a landscape designer can intervene before the school is built, it’s simpler, but most of the time, we’re called upon to intervene after the school has been open for ten years or more. So flooding problems have to be taken into account before the playground is built. 

 

To improve drainage, you can add plants and trees that will absorb water. We need to choose plants that will thrive in places that get too much or too little sun, and that are far from where snow will be dumped in winter, so that they do not get damaged by plows and buried in snow banks. When choosing vegetation, we also have to pay close attention to the toxicity of plants for children. We want to choose vegetation that offers opportunities for play, experimentation and learning, but without danger. We have to consider both the safety of the children and the ecological value of the site. 

 

CP: What would you like to see in the future when designing outdoor spaces for our children? 

 

AH: I don’t think we should assist children’s play; for example, we should let them climb on their own. Children should be encouraged to judge for themselves whether there’s a risk or not, and whether they’re capable of taking that risk or not. I think it’s essential to let children experiment and learn. That’s why I’d like to see users [children] involved in all aspects of the project. 

 

I’d like to see more water, even fire, wildlife where possible, in our playgrounds to offer more challenges, more experimentation and more play opportunities for children. 

 

Learn more 

 

Incorporating natural elements into a playground not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of the area but also offers sensory experiences and can help children develop a deeper connection with their environment. If we can build a bond between children and their local environment, they will be more involved in their communities and in protecting the environment. Visit us at the Children’s Garden at Evergreen Brick Works to see how we’re putting these ideas into action

 

This idea applies to climate ready schools. Thanks to participatory design and innovations in design and construction, climate-ready schools offer a range of benefits for students, communities and the environment. Find out more about Canada’s first climate ready school and how student involvement influenced its design. 

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