Play Team Success for Wicksteed Playscapes
Wicksteed Playscapes has taken an innovative and unique approach
to its product design process with the creation of Wicksteed Play
Teams. Direct consultation with children on playground design and
equipment has been an incredible success in terms of gaining an
insight into what children want from a play area and how design is
important in creating an exciting and challenging play
environment.
Each Play Team, selected from pro-active schools nationwide, work
closely with Wicksteed’s in-house and external designers. The
Play Teams are consulted on new designs of play equipment, colour
schemes and layout and the feedback from these enthusiastic young
designers has been invaluable in selecting new design
concepts.
Phil Holden, Wicksteed’s Managing Director said,
“We’re talking directly with the kids and their input
to design and producer development is fantastic. The Monsta range
was 75% their design and throughout the new product book, all the
colour schemes are their choice”.
Stuart Wetherell from Wicksteed The Play Team from Northampton
Academy, discusses design ideas with the students another group
involved with Wicksteed projects.
Stuart
from Wicksteed
discussing Northampton
Acadamy Play Team
design
ideas with students
Brambleside Community Primary School is the latest great example of
the benefits of forming Play Teams. A group of 33 children with
ages ranging from 9-11 have been given the task of designing a
piece of playground equipment.
Following a visit to Wicksteed’s factory in Kettering, the
children will present their ‘concepts’ in a
Dragon’s Den style presentation to a panel of judges. The
winning entry will then be made into a real piece of play
equipment!
Andrew Wood, teacher at Brambleside, commented, “This is a
really exciting venture for us and encourages the children to bring
together a number of skills from design to maths and physics in
order to produce their finished creation”.
Not only do Wicksteed talk directly to youngsters to find out how
they like to play, but the company has also enrolled the expertise
of Wendy Russell, Graduate Lecturer in Play. She has provided
extensive training on the psychology of play for the design team at
Wicksteed, which now forms an integral part of the initial design
process.
Schools can enrol onto Wicksteed’s Play Team scheme by
visiting www.wicksteed.co.uk Check out the website for
yourself, or speak to a member of the sales team on 01536
517028.