Today we went to Trafiklegepladsen park to meet with someone who works for the parks department here in Copenhagen. This park is one of 27 staffed parks here in Copenhagen that have been around since 1939 and are all paid for with tax money. These parks are something that are unique not only to Denmark, but around the world. Each one is staffed with 2-4 people and there is an office at each one. At a lot of the parks there is equipment like bikes and other toys that they provide for the kids. They run based on 4 principles which are: play movement, communication, providing a meeting place, and safety in the community. The job for the staff isn’t just to monitor the park, they provide a wide range of services to the kids and parents who use the parks. Through games and other activities they want to help educate the children about things like conflict resolution, farming and gardening, and community building, all while staying active. The staff is also there to be adult role models for children, especially in disadvantaged communities. There is even more parks in areas that are lower income and the parks there usually have 4 staff members instead of 2. The parks provide so many things for these children and really reflect the culture here in Denmark. They even have children, age 13-18, who can work at the parks and get paid to do it. Children are even allowed to come to the park by themselves as long as they are  at least 6 years old. Once we were done with a little Q&A session we were free to go roam Trafiklegepladsen, which has a mini road system that looks just like the roads here. It is used to teach children, and even adults, how to ride bikes in the city and teaches them the different road signs and right-of-ways. It was really awesome to watch parents and their kids walk around and bike this area simulating real traffic. It looked just like the streets here in Copenhagen, the sidewalks even looked the same with cobblestones. We were then tasked to visit to 5 other staffed parks around the city. I paired up with Sean and we decided 5 parks to visit all around Copenhagen and to not use google maps while doing it (well at least as little as possible). Once, we got to the first park, we met up with Tenley and Finley. Finley wasn’t feeling well so Tenley teamed up with us for the rest of the day. The first park we went to was called Tarnlegepladsen. It had different features that all represented different famous historical buildings here in the city like the Church of Our Savior. There was a ton of kids and there parents there in the park and it had little garden plots for the kids to garden in. We then headed to the next park which is the oldest staffed park in the city, but we ended up at the one right down the street from it. Here we met Lise Lunderskov, a staff member at this park. She told us some information about what her job is like. She said she more a social worker than anything and said it is really about being a trusted adult for the children to talk with when they don’t feel like they have anyone to talk to. She said she even helps adults with the behavior and parenting. She also talked more about the children who work there. When they get a job at the park they have to behave like it is a real job. If they can’t make it to park they need to call and let them know. It is really meant to teach them how to be responsible and what having a job is. They even had to fire one of the children because they weren’t responsible enough, which could be a very valuable lesson for them. We also learned from her that Norway is trying to learn from Copenhagen so they can implement staffed parks there too. Going to these parks and seeing how full they were with children and parents was an amazing site. I think the way children are raised here is a huge contributor to the culture of this city. Below I’ll put some pictures of the parks we went to and a map showing where we went. Oh and I also learned a new term for a very hands on parenting, like helicopter parenting, called curling parenting, which I thought was funny.

Here is the map we used that has the parks in Copenhagen. The triangles are staffed parks and the circles are regular parks. The stars on the map indicate that we went to that park!

 

This photo is at Trafiklegepladsen park and as you can see it looks just like the street here in Copenhagen. (8 pink triangle on map)

This photo is in Trafiklegepladsen park as well and Wally here is 6’2 so that helps scale the size of the mini road system. (8 pink triangle on map)

This was the next park we went to where we were met by Tenley and Finley. This park’s name is Tarnlegepladsen and it had features that looked like historical places here in Copenhagen like the Church of Our Saviors and The Round Tower. (13 pink triangle on map)

This is the third park we went to, Hans Tavsens Park ost. In the picture above you can see some of the garden bed plots that the children can use to garden. (14 Orange triangle on map)

This is another photo of Hans Tavsens Park ost where we met Lise Lunderskov. (14 Orange triangle on map)

This is a chicken coop at Hans Tavsens Park ost ost. The chicken were on vacation at another park because of a problem with rats according to Lise. (14 Orange triangle on map)

This is the oldest staffed park in Copenhagen called Hans Tavsens Park ost vest. (11 Orange triangle on map)

This was at my favorite park, Valbyparkens naturlegeplads. In the photo you can see families making some pancake or crepes over the fire. (11 red triangle on map)

 

This is another photo of Valbyparkens naturlegeplads. (11 red triangle on map)

This photo is at Remiseparken which was farm based and had all sorts of animals for the children to help take care of. Here is this photo is the large chicken coop. (18 grey triangle on map)

 

Here is one of the goats at Remiseparken. (18 grey triangle on map)