My interest in Savage Park by Amy Fusselman comes from the fact that I’m in the middle of a very large project to redevelop the schoolyard at my daughter’s school. This has lead me to learn a lot about different theories of play, child development, and how to manage risk in play situations.
Lucky for you none of this is necessary to appreciate Fusselman’s meditation on space and play as presented in Savage Park. Savage Park, as you soon discover, is Fusselman’s name for Hanegi play park in Tokyo. It breaks the norms of what most North American’s consider a park to be. It is rustic, creative and perhaps a little dangerous. Children are given free-reign with tools in hand, to construct whatever they feel like. There are no formal play structures, there are no special constructed surfaces to fall upon, there are (almost) no rules.
Hanegi Park makes Fusselman question traditional North American conception of space and play, and in particular our need to try to protect our children at every turn. From the research I’ve done, this can actually be almost detrimental. Children need to learn how to manage risk in their daily lives to live in a world that isn’t child-proofed. As a child one of my favorite places to play was down by the railroad tracks. Safe? probably not, but fun it was.
Who would like this book? Even though I am naturally drawn to some of the topics Fusselman explores in her book, I think Savage Park can appeal to a wider audience. As I’ve said, it really is a mediation of space and makes one question many of the conceptions that shape the world around us. I also think it would be of particular interest to parents or those who work with children. But beyond this, it is also a beautifully written, poetic read.
52 books or bust 
This sounds fascinating!
It really was. One of the things that shocked me the most is that the park is in Japan, a place where I perceive things to be highly structured and regulated.
Oh, this is interesting! I’m working on a research project in pre-K right now, so I find stuff like this pretty fascinating…especially when it compares US to other countries. It really does seem like Americans take safety to the extreme sometimes, especially when it comes to kids and schools.
You may be interested in this then. The author talks a lot about her kids and how their experience of Savage Park is so much different from what they experience in NYC.
This would be so interesting. I have thought for years that most of us go way too far in the name of protecting our children. And, although I get that we don’t want them to get hurt, keeping things too safe takes away their opportunity to learn what is safe for them and what isn’t. Being over-protective can also lead to keeping them inside, rather than letting them out to explore and get some much needed activity. I will have to check this one out!
In march I’m going to a workshop on how to safely explore risk with children. It’s kind of a contradiction, but i think it will be really interesting. Kids are so protected these days and more often than not it isn’t even about the kids, but about litigation and insurance matters.
Oh, this sounds interesting! I definitely think we treat children like they’re less able to learn than they really are, babying them a bit in terms of when we present academic concepts and I would believe that the same is true about the play spaces we allow them access to.
This sounds reaaaaally interesting. Nervous, distracted, and afraid to die pretty much covers all the bases in who I am, so I should probably check this out haha.