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International Journal of the Whole Child                                         
2020, VOL. 5, NO. 2           

                             
Pictures for Reflection 

Bubbles and Balls in Belize: A New Perspective on Play 

Rebecca Gilesa, James Hoot (Photographs)b 

aUniversity of South Alabama, bUniversity of Buffalo, Professor Emeritus 

Rebecca M. Giles, Ph.D., is a Professor at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL, 
where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in Early Childhood and Elementary 
Education. She has spoken and published widely in the areas of early education, literacy, and 
teacher preparation and is the author of A Young Writer's World: Creating Classrooms Where 
Authors Abound (2020, Exchange Press). 

Dr. James Hoot, professor emeritus, University of Buffalo, provided photos of an adventure 
playground. He was responsible for building an adventure playground in Tanzania, shown in the 
photographs. This adventure playground was developed to support the first comprehensive 
school for girls in rural Kitanga, Tanzania. Wooden structures were formed from eucalyptus 
trees harvested by the local community and brought to the site via water buffalos.  

Margaret Mead, a pioneering American cultural anthropologist of the 20th century and recipient 
of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, once said, “If a fish were an anthropologist, the last thing 
it would discover would be water.” Her tongue-in-cheek reference to the study of human 
behavior is a reminder that the familiar aspects of life are often overlooked because they seem 
unremarkable. In contrast, when placed in a new and unfamiliar environment, we become keenly 
aware of the behavior, habits, and customs different from our own. 

This was the case when I traveled to Belize City, 
Belize where I had the opportunity to interact with 
young children during a local church’s summer 
program. With twenty-five years of experience as an 
early childhood educator, I felt well-equipped to assist 
with all facets of planning and implementing the 
program including organizing groups, preparing the 
environment, and providing developmentally 
appropriate materials. Not knowing exactly what to 
expect, I included various craft supplies and some 
simple gross motor toys along with the personal    
belongings I packed in my luggage. Children explore in both natural and manmade spaces

in this Tanzania playground. (Photo by James Hoot) 



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Within the first few minutes of arriving at the facility, I realized that I was in unfamiliar territory. 
The small, rectangular area designated for outdoor play was situated between the main building 
and another building so that there were walls on three sides and a chain link fence across the far, 
narrow end. You stepped out the door of the main building onto a narrow patch of uneven, 
broken cement that ran the length of the area opposite the fence and this place was also covered 
with an assortment of construction materials and tools currently being used to replace a well-
worn tin roof during hours when the children were not present. Nearby was a fruit-bearing tree, 
which offered very little shade in the scorching July heat. Fallen fruit resembling greenish-white 
grenades littered the ground in various stages of decay. Many had been trampled creating a 
squishy mess that filled the still air with a pungent odor. The hard ground had a thin, patchy layer 
of grass over packed dirt strewn with broken cinder blocks, trash, and other debris. Broken 
wooden pallets and plastic garbage bags lined the periphery. A discarded metal desk and chair 
set in one corner.  

I immediately focused on the hazards and 
began to imagine the many possible scenarios 
of children playing in this space that could 
result in injury. I was nervous and anxious as 
20+ children ages two to six years entered the 
space later that day, but no one tripped or fell. 
The rotten fruit was not used to bomb others, 
and the building materials did not become 
climbing apparatus. The children simply 
enjoyed being together with the blue sky 
overhead. In the absence of any toys or the 
desire to offer organized games, several adults 
began blowing bubbles within the children’s 
reach. There were excited squeals and much 
laughter as the children ran around chasing the 
floating bubbles and jumped wildly in attempts 
to pop them between clapping hands. Soon, the children were taking turns blowing the bubbles 
and the fun continued with no one fighting for a turn, crying over spills, or complaining of soap 
in their eyes.  

The next day, about 50 colorful, crushproof plastic balls (the kind found in some fast food 
restaurant ball pits) were distributed among the children for their use in the play space. While 
there was a lot of carrying, some were tossed about, and others were rolled around. I noticed a 
boy about four years old placing his ball at the end of a discarded piece of gutter about three feet 
long and using his hand to push it to the other end. I joined him in this activity and demonstrated 
how lifting one end of the gutter off the ground would result in the ball rolling down the gutter 
without being propelled. He quickly located part of a brick nearby and used it to support one end 
of the gutter. As I walked away, he was joined by others who each placed their ball in the top of 
the now slanted gutter and thrilled at its journey to the other end. Before long, the children were 

Play Experiences become open‐ended dramatic play. (Photo by 
James Hoot) 



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racing the rolling balls alongside their improvised track and, then, releasing multiple balls at one 
time to create a parade of moving color. 

As the days progressed and my fearful imagining of worse case scenarios failed to occur, I began 
to consider the space and children playing there from a new perspective. Upon closer 
examination, I started to see that this space I previously deemed so lacking actually possessed the 
core qualities of an adventure playground. It was fenced and filled with loose parts. It challenged 
children’s imagination and physical skills in support of constructive and manipulative play with 
adult oversight that never reached the point of controlling the children’s play. The children 
asserted independence and were keenly aware of other’s needs. Limited access to elaborate 
materials resulted in an appreciation for the simplistic and fostered creativity in an environment 
where nothing was wasted. I was repeatedly reminded of children’s ability to produce enjoyable 
and inspired ways to play with everyday items by repurposing something often viewed as 
worthless into a thing of awe that could occupy their attention for an extended period of time.  

As the author of many articles suggesting 
how teachers can appropriate space and 
materials to create the best possible 
learning environments for young children, 
I had to stop and wonder if the typical 
housekeeping centers and outdoor 
playgrounds found in American child care 
and preschool facilities were not too 
prepared resulting in an over sanitized and, 
possibly, restrictive place to play. Stories 
of children’s preference for the cardboard 
box over the elaborate toy it contained are 
legendary. Similarly, children may 
abandon the commercial playscapes found 
in many parks and school playgrounds to 
make their own fun by playing with rocks, 

sticks, and sand, when permitted to do so. The many benefits of outdoor play are well-
documented, as is our understanding that many of today’s children are spending much less time 
outside than previous generations. While the reasons for children being inside vary and include 
such factors as increased exposure to electronics and involvement in numerous scheduled 
activities, access to adult designed playgrounds with traditional gross motor equipment should 
not be one of them. As I recently discovered, all children really need to play outdoors is access to 
it. 

[Note: Pictures of Belize were not available.] 

 
 
 
 

Children move in and out, swing, and climb in the adventure 
playground. (Photo by James Hoot) 



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Related Resources: 
Berry, E. (2018, March). In Britain’s Playgrounds, ‘Bringing in Risk’ to Build Resilience. The  

New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/europe/britain-
playgrounds-risk.html 

Keeler, R. (2015). The Recess Renaissance. The Phi Delta Kappan, 96(8), 14-21. 
Keeler, R. (2020). Adventures in Risky Play: What is your yes? Exchange Press.  
Kinard, Timothy A. (2015). Our Proud Heritage-Playground: A Historical Context. Young  
 Children, 7(4), 92-95. 
Wallace, E. (2018, May). Inside the Rise of ‘Risky’ Playground Design. Architectural Digest.  
 https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/risky-play-design 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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