Bringing the bush back into inner city suburban parks is the concept behind a $300,000 spend on play area development green-lighted by the ACT Government.
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Three Canberra parks, Telopea Park in Barton, Finn Street in O'Connor and Tuggeranong Town Park in Greenway, will be transformed into a nature play co-design project where design teams work with the community to realise their ideas in each $100,000 revamp.
Space Labs director Geoff Bunnett said he was thrilled his team was one of three selected from the Australian Institute of Landscape architects (ALIA) 'Craft Your Park' competition.
And his first stop was to brainstorm bold ideas with some experts in play - kindergarten to Year Two students at O'Connor Cooperative School.
"Talking to the school their imagination is endless, collecting up all those amazing ideas from them is really going to guide us on what the outcomes will be for the space," he said.
"It's an opportunity to delve a bit deeper and think about what kids like to do if there is not that fixed bit of play equipment."
Nature play is a departure from traditional swing sets and fixed equipment and taps into the idea of less prescriptive and more practical play in the outdoors.
Nature play has ben linked to psychological benefits such as longer attention span, creativity, physical fitness and mental resilience.
Competition jury member and ACT City Services director Fleur Flanery said four design teams submitted entries and of the winners, two were Canberra-based firms, with the third being affiliated with a Sydney based company.
She said the jury were seeking designers with a firm grasp of nature play to lead the community through a process of thinking more laterally about play areas in the capital.
Access to parks, green spaces, and recreation areas is essential to the wellbeing of urban communities," she said. "What we are trying to do is get the community engaged for the very fist time in what they want their kids to do and share those creative ideas with the rest of the community."
Mr Bunnett and his team will strive to use natural materials to create areas which encouraged imaginative and exploratory play.
Tunnels, mounds, areas for hopping, skipping and collecting things were all suggested during the school's hands-on session but several Year One students were giggling as they requested the designers build a walking edible banana.
Principal Jenny Loudon said Finn Street park which backed onto the school gates was a fabulous resource but integrating areas to really engage children and put them in touch with their environment would make it even more of an asset.
"We are really pleased the process is including the community, the school and the local Ngunnawal people," she said.
Mr Bunnett said designers had a short timeframe to absorb the communities ideas before they presented a preliminary design at the end of November.
Launching the three co-design project Minister for Transport and City Services, Meegan Fitzharris, urged the community to come forward and get involved.
"It's very exciting to see our local community of landscape architects getting involved in this project and exploring nature play spaces, which are such a great way for kids to get outdoors, explore the natural environment and have fun," she said.
Members of the public interested in participating can visit www.aila.org.au/craftyourpark or get involved in the Facebook conversation for Tuggeranong or O'Connor for the site near them.
Construction of the parks is due to be complete by July 2017 and the public will get to vote on which they feel was the best outcome.
