LITTLE GEMS
Yerkes Observatory announces new Space and Astronomy-themed play area.
An astronomy and science-inspired, fully accessible playground is in the beginning phases and a crowdfunding campaign to construct the playground has been launched. Staff worked with Monstrum, based in Denmark, to design a unique 7,000-square-foot, 26′ tall playground inspired by a supernova (a luminous explosion of a massive star or white dwarf triggered by runaway nuclear fusion). The playground has been created for play during all four seasons.
It will include three different slides, a hidden multi-level maze, climbing walls, accessibility ramps, big orbit swings, planets, waveforms, balance boards, and a stage with seating. Graphics and fun facts throughout and around Play/Space will connect core concepts of astronomy and space to the play experience. Swings demonstrate models of gravitational arcs. Tube slides demonstrate how acoustic waves travel. A planetary play hut includes a built-in, low-fi planetarium. Play/Space will be one of only fifteen Monstrum-designed playgrounds in the United States.
An elevated, accessible stage with seating for 25 will be used by children and by Yerkes educators working with the thousands of K-12 students, scout troops, and families visiting Yerkes. The stage will also be activated by Yerkes guides and trained volunteers sharing pop-up “lightning talks” about science, recent discoveries, astronomy, ecology, science, and space… in five minutes or less. The project has also been designed to support the needs of children with vision, hearing, and other sensory processing and mobility challenges, as well as those on the neurodiversity spectrum.
For example, Play/Space includes dark, semi-enclosed spaces to help children with Autism or sensory processing needs take a break and self-regulate. All donations in any amount will be doubled, thanks to a generous challenge grant made by the Blair Family Foundation. A $25 or $100 donation can become $50 or $200 for Play/Space. They have some fun awards for crowdfunding donors, too.
If Yerkes reaches $50,000, a Kickstarter goal, the matching grant will double it and provide $100,000 to help build Play/Space. Every dollar over the goal will be doubled too, up to a total of a half million dollars. Thanks to the Blair family’s generosity, Yerkes has already raised nearly half of the total project budget of $1.2 million. The Yerkes staff is hoping the global community of astronomy and space enthusiasts will help reach the online goal of $50,000.
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