1. Med shot, children’s drawings on the wall
2. Wide shot, children lining up for playtime
3. Wide shot, children putting down a UNICEF tarp in preparation for playtime with the Imagination playground
4. Med shot, children carrying blocks from the ‘Imagination Playground’
5. Wide shot, Children carrying placing blocks from Imagination Playground on UNICEF tarp
6. Wide shot, children playing with Imagination Playground in group setting.
7. Wide shot, children playing with interesting creations from the Imagination Playground
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Cassie Landers, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University:
“Play is a way children learn. They develop their thinking skills, their motor skills their social and emotional skills, so, we have tried, through this project, to bring some concrete materials that stimulates children’s imagination and creativity in a way that fosters learning, development and freedom.”
9. Wide shot, students take out blocks from Imagination playground box
9. Med shot, students take out blocks from Imagination playground box
10. Wide shot, students create various things in yard of school using the Imagination playground
11. Tilt down, from Cassie Landers, and Evelyne Margron to child during role-play with the blocks
12. Close up, children’s hands with stuffed animals and blocks
13. Wide shot, children creating living room setting with the Imagination Playground
14. Med shot, young girl and boy playing with a slide creation
15. Wide shot, Cassie Landers and Ganddey Milorme, education officer, UNICEF Haiti observing and filming children during free play
16. Close up, video camera screen of children during free play
17. Tilt down, girls constructing a latrine with the blocks
18. Wide shot, Cassie Landers and Ganddey Milorme sitting with a group of children after playtime
19. Close up, hand of Evelyne Margron writing notes during interview with school administrator
20. Wide shot, Evelyne Margron interviewing school administrator
21. Close up, Evelyne Margron listenening
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Evelyne Margron, educator and PLAY project coordinator: “Teaching and learning here is very often very authoritarian, very vertical, you know, the teachers teach, and you learn. You come with an empty head and teachers put things in your head. And actually, this is how a lot of the teachers saw it at the beginning, and they said that they thought that is how children learn. But, now they have learned that if you leave children free to play, they learn by themselves.”
23. Med shot, group of children playing with truck constructed with the Imagination playground.”
24. Med shot, feet of children during playtime using truck
25. Tilt up, from feet to face of children during playtime
26. Close up, Angelo, 6-year-old student
27. Wide shot, Angelo and friends during playtime
28. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Angelo, 6 year old Student:
“I give to them, then I go get another one.”
29. SOUNDBITE (English-Creole) Jony Pierre, teacher, Tapion Public School / Ganddey Milorme, education officer, UNICEF Haiti:
“That creates a one-on-one activity, a struggle, where they have to learn to negotiation and resolution.”
30. Wide shot, students remove blocks from Imagination Playground box.
31. Wide shot, Young girls giggle as teacher participates in playtime activity with blocks
32. Med shot, Cassie Landers listening to teacher.
33. Med shot, hands drawings of geometrical shapes
34. Med shot, teacher pointing with a ruler to a chalkboard with geometrical shapes
35. Med shot, children in classroom reciting names of geometrical shapes in French
36. Med shot, teacher reciting names of geometrical shapes
37. Med shot, Evelyne Margron interviewing a group of children after playtime
38. Close up, Evelyne Margron interviewing a group of children after playtime
39. Wide shot, children engaging in free play with Imagination playground
40. Med shot, feet of children during free play
41. Wide shot, teacher participating with children during playtime with Imagination playground
42. Close up, teacher singing during playtime
43. Wide shot, children playing with creations
44. Close up, young boy smiling while playing

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Storyline

With a one million dollar founding grant from Disney, UNICEF launched a pilot program that uses playgrounds to help foster creativity and healthy development for children affected by disasters and emergencies. The PLAY initiative featured portable playgrounds designed by architect David Rockwell. These playgrounds were placed in schools in Haiti and child friendly spaced in Bangladesh at the start of the 2012 school year.

As the school year in Haiti came to a close at the end of June, evaluators are now assessing the impact of this playground on the community.

SOUNDBITE (English) Cassie Landers, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University:
“Play is a way children learn. They develop their thinking skills, their motor skills their social and emotional skills, so, we have tried, through this project, to bring some concrete materials that stimulates children’s imagination and creativity in a way that fosters learning, development and freedom.”

P.L.A.Y. stands for play and learning activities for youth.
It is very much a playground in a box concept, similar to the other types of activities that UNICEF supports in a box.

We’re looking at what could be some innovative responses to looking at the impact of natural or conflict disasters on children’s development.

There’s a lot resting on this monitoring process, because when you have a brand new idea, it has to be looked at closely to see whether it will be an idea that can expand beyond these two pilot countries.

A very important component of the evaluation has been documenting the children on video, in order to get a close look at their play patterns.

The evaluation process also included interviewing school directors, teachers as well as children and compiling their feedback on the playground.

SOUNDBITE (English) Evelyne Margron, educator and PLAY project coordinator: “Teaching and learning here is very often very authoritarian, very vertical, you know, the teachers teach, and you learn. You come with an empty head and teachers put things in your head. And actually, this is how a lot of the teachers saw it at the beginning, and they said that they thought that is how children learn. But, now they have learned that if you leave children free to play, they learn by themselves.”

Playing with the blocks also offers a therapeutic aspect for Haitian children, still living in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010. Children are excited about the playground and there has been an increase in attendance at these schools. Meet Angelo.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Angelo, 6 year old Student:
“I give to them, then I go get another one.”

SOUNDBITE (English-Creole) Jony Pierre, teacher, Tapion Public School / Ganddey Milorme, education officer, UNICEF Haiti:
“That creates a one-on-one activity, a struggle, where they have to learn to negotiation and resolution.”

Teachers went through extensive training with the playground and are exploring how to create the important link between free play and classroom learning.

Preliminary results of the evaluation show that teachers have learned to observe unique qualities in children and how to plan for these differences by adjusting their teaching styles according to the needs of the child.

With what is learned from this evaluation, UNICEF with help from partners like Disney and Tipa-Tipa can continue developing innovative playtime resources for children living in very difficult situations…and can share research material showing the value of using playtime as a fun and important part of learning.

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HAITI / SAFE PLAYGROUNDS

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Unifeed

HAITI / SAFE PLAYGROUNDS

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