The University’s Child Care Center is searching for funding to build a $165,000 playground for its children, said Director Mary Sciaraffa.
Sciaraffa said the Center plans to build an outdoor playground but has yet to acquire the funding.
Former Landscape Architecture manager Ted Jack designed the playground.
“Ted Jack sought the advice of his young children when he developed the design of the playground,” Sciaraffa said.
The playground design consists of a city area with a road map and speed bumps, a farm area with a garden and a farm house shed used to store tricycles and other materials.
Sciaraffa said children will be able to use their imaginations when playing on a pier which will extend over a pretend pond.
The playground also will be used as an educational center where children will be able to gather for reading and group activities, Sciaraffa said.
A music center with bamboo sticks also will be part of the playground, Sciaraffa said.
Sciaraffa said a child would learn more touching the bamboo sticks of the music center rather than coloring a picture of bamboo sticks.
“Children need to experience the different sounds, smells and textures,” Sciaraffa said.
Jason Soileau, assistant director of campus planning in Facility Services, said the planned playground is expensive to build because of the equipment.
It is unclear whether the cost of the playground will affect the Center’s tuition – which the Chancellor’s office is still considering.
The playground has to be accessible to children with disabilities according to the Americans with Disabilites Act, Soileau said.
Soileau said if funds could not be raised at once, the park could be built in phases according to what was most important.
Jack incorporated aspects of creative playgrounds with equipment that encourages coordinate play instead of disjointed play, Sciaraffa said.
Disjointed play involves unrelated pieces of commercial equipment such as a jungle-gym and slide.
Coordinate play enables children to use their imagination because it requires them to build and move items.
The Center employees also hope the playground will encourage children to exercise.
Sciaraffa said the playground would benefit children who eat a lot of fast food or children on the verge of obesity.
A Michigan State University study released this year found 11 percent of preschool children are considered obese.
The study also found nearly 20 percent of children diagnosed are under 5 years old.
“Children need exercise,” Sciaraffa said. “There are a lot of kids who have to stay inside after school because their parents work.”
Despite being a department on campus, the University does not sponsor the Center, Sciaraffa said.
“We are an auxiliary group, so we have to raise our own money” Sciaraffa said.
Sciaraffa said the Center aggressively is fund raising and hopes to have the money by fall 2004.
The Center accepts General Mills box tops and Campbell’s soup labels to exchange for money with the companies that produce them, Sciaraffa said. The Center also is collecting old printer cartridges because they can be used to make playground equipment, Sciaraffa said.
Sciaraffa said she has not approached larger companies such as Exxon and Dow Chemical for funds because they are committed to other projects at the University.
The Center has contacted Campus Federal Credit Union for funds and is considering asking professional sports alumni for contributions.
Residental life donated $1,000 in the spring of 2003, Sciaraffa said. This is the only donation received so far.
Sciaraffa said the money for the playground program would not come out of the students’ pockets.
Though she has considered petitioning Student Government, Saciaraffa said she feels students will argue that it is unfair for them to pay because some students do not have children.
Despite the lack of funds, Sciaraffa said she would like to collaborate with different departments and colleges on campus to help children at the Center.
Kenneth Koonce, dean of the College of Agriculture, said the college would be excited to participate in the children’s learning.
The College of Agriculture would consider providing free seeds to the center for the vegetable garden, Knooce said. They also have considered bringing in animals for the children to see.
Soileau also is interested in collaborating with the School of Music to help students learn about music and instruments.