Photos: Playgrounds of the past and future
An early "sand garden" in Boston.
Globe archive photo
| March 28, 2014
Children played at a new playground on Boston Common in 1948.
joe runci/Globe staff
| March 28, 2014
A woman waved to her son as he played in the Boston Common playground in 1948.
Globe archive photo
| March 28, 2014
"Playland" was an enclosed outdoor playground sponsored by the Boston Park Department, first dedicated in 1948.
Globe archive photo
| March 28, 2014
Children played at the Columbia Point playground in 1968.
thomas landers
| March 28, 2014
Mark Deegan and James Thomas at a playground in 1971.
ed jenner
| March 28, 2014
There was a line for the slide at a playground on Mass. Ave. in 1977.
Joseph Runci/Globe staff
| March 28, 2014
Paul McFarland, 7, and his shadow, at the new playground at Billings Field in West Roxbury in 1987.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
| March 28, 2014
Young children rode the swings at the Nelson Street Memorial Playground in Plymouth in 1993.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
| March 28, 2014
Playgrounds grew to embrace flights of artistic fancy such as sculptor Isamu Noguchi's "playscape" in Atlanta.
Clare Mullins, Piedmont Park Conservancy
| March 28, 2014
Some child development experts now advocate for playgrounds incorporating “loose parts,” like those at the Alexander W. Kemp Playground at Cambridge Common.
Cambridge Community Development
| March 28, 2014
Cutting-edge playgrounds such as Denmark's Pulse Park integrate natural features with more typical "play" elements.
Mikkel Frost/CEBRA
| March 28, 2014
A play structure in Pueblo, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A playground in Hudson, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A slide in Blanca, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A slide in Cokedale, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A structure in Avondale, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A structure in Boulder, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014
A playground in Burlington, Colo.
Brenda Biondo
| March 28, 2014