A playground of science-themed fun was launched on Saturday and continued yesterday, attracting hundreds of children (and some curious adults) from across the city.
The Kia Rapua (Go Explore) Science Playground was designed to encourage the natural curiosity and sense of exploration of children aged between 3 and 7, and introduce the concepts of sound, colour, textures, ramps and building — all through hands-on play.
Project leader Nathalie Wierdak said it was created with $15,000 from the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment’s Unlocking Curious Minds fund, and was developed by the team at Otago Museum alongside local Dunedin company Playgear, and with input from early childhood educators.
Unfortunately, the mobile pop-up playground was only open to the public on the weekend.
She said it would now become a travelling educational playground and would be stationed at Little Citizens, Green Street Early Learning Centre, Roslyn Maori Hill and Wakari Kindergartens for a month at a time.
Educators would be able to enjoy and get involved in the fun science activities with the children in their care, she hoped.
