The schoolyard of your dreams invites you to relax and unwind
What does the schoolyard of your dreams look like and what can be found there? Members of the student councils of schools that will be transferring to Lahela School in the future had the opportunity to ponder this question in workshops held on 23 April 2025.
One of the objectives of Tuusula’s Child-Friendly Municipality initiative is to take the views of children and young people into account in environmental planning, such as when designing public spaces. The thoughts of the future users of new school and daycare playgrounds are particularly valuable. Pleasant playgrounds that inspire activity increase energy and well-being.
Functional methods inspired people to share their thoughts
In April workshops, representatives of primary and secondary school student councils from Vaunukangas and Ruotsinkylä schools and Hyrylä secondary school shared their experiences of current schoolyards and their wishes for a dream yard at Lahela school. Participants were from different grades. Before the workshops, all pupils at the schools had the opportunity to respond to a survey. Several hundred responses were received.
Even the youngest users of the daycare centre located next to Lahela School were able to share their thoughts on their dream daycare centre playground. On 25 April 2025, two groups from the Vaunukangas daycare centre visited the playgrounds of the Martta Wendelin and Tuusulanjärvi daycare centres to observe them and share what they thought was fun about them.
The survey, workshops and observation visit were led by service design trainee Noora Heikkinen. The results will be used in the planning of the outdoor areas of the future Lahela school and daycare centre. The Lahela school, daycare centre and youth centre are part of a major service network reform in the municipality of Tuusula. According to current estimates, the project will be completed in 2029.
From the possibilities of today’s gardens to the garden of your dreams
The workshops began with a warm-up session, where participants got to know each other and prepared their thoughts on the topic. The workshops involved writing and drawing about the possibilities and feelings associated with the current school playground. Wishes for the new Lahela school playground were outlined by building dream playgrounds and equipment out of Lego. The participants also exchanged ideas about the results.
Primary school pupils think that school playgrounds are fun places with other pupils, sandpits, nearby woods and plants. Primary school pupils also think that schoolyards could have artificial turf, net goals, benches, more swings, higher fences around the playground, a tube slide, a carousel, a zip line and a skating rink. Secondary school pupils wanted a playground that looked like a nice place to be. The playground would also have more green plants and benches. In their opinion, attention should be paid to congestion in front of the entrances.
The first thing they do when they arrive at school in the morning is look for their friends. In primary school playgrounds, pupils are excited by the company of their friends, the nearby forest as a place to spend their breaks, hanging out on the ramps and playing football with others. They find it boring if they cannot play with their friends or if they have a disagreement with them. Rainy or cold weather can also make break time boring. During break time in secondary schools, pupils like to sit and look at their phones, do their homework or practise for tests.
School playgrounds are filled with noise during break time. According to the pupils, schoolyards are filled with the sounds of talking, laughing, sometimes shouting, as well as the sounds of playing and nearby traffic. During breaks, pupils go to the woods, build huts, play football, go on the ramps and play tag, hide and seek or virus (a variation of tag) with their friends. Queues and congestion occur in primary schools, for example, at swings and climbing frames, and in secondary schools near doors. At
the end of the workshops, the children drew pictures and built their dream school playground out of Lego. The picture below shows the joint creation of the primary school workshop.
According to primary school pupils, the schoolyard of their dreams includes climbing frames, swings, a playhouse where they can run a café, a forest, water and sheltered areas where they can relax.
Secondary school pupils would like the new playground to have a welcome gate, a large climbing frame, an obstacle course, a rotating swing, an equipment lending station with items such as skipping ropes and balls, a carousel, and bars, gym equipment and a ground trampoline suitable for exercise.
Further information about the workshops:
Project Office Manager Jyri Olkkonen, jyri.olkkonen@tuusula.fi, 040 314 3555
Service Design Trainee Noora Heikkinen, noora.heikkinen@tuusula.fi
Follow Tuusula’s journey towards becoming a more child-friendly municipality:
Child-friendly municipality work in Tuusula
This content has been translated using AI