Tech park tempts kids to go online outside
Planners in Sydney have taken a high-tech approach to getting kids off the internet and back outside.
The reasoning is simple: If kids are avoiding the park because technology is too distracting, make the technology at the park even better.
A futuristic playground has been opened in the centre of the Western Sydney Parklands which is bringing education, playtime and exploration into the digital age with a set of innovative equipment.
Josh French, a recreation officer with park operator Western Sydney Parklands Trust, says they want children to explore their local bushland and learn about its flora and fauna.
“The idea here was to create an amazing nature-based experience that would get kids off the couch and into the playground,” he told the ABC.
The Parklands Trust has set up a playground where children can use their mobile phones to scan QR codes around grounds to connect with the sights, smells and sounds of the bush.
The space is also full of small steel replicas of different kinds of local wildlife, encouraging visitors to trek around the area and find them all.
Mr French says kids are encouraged to head off the path, armed with information on native animals, “the noises they make, where they're located... they can then spot them in the park and see what they're like”.
The coded information is all specifically related to the Cumberland Plain woodlands, which surround the park.
Some of the park’s high-tech enhancements are just about fun.
Playground designer Ric McConaghy says one of the main attractions so far has been the digitised black and blue jungle gym. It allows kids to test their speed and agility in multi-player games.