Children's playground design: how to pull together a sense of storytelling atmosphere in the space?

Part.01

Stories add imagination to the park

In the design of children's playground, the expression of space is always limited, but the imagination of the story is infinite. Adding elements of storytelling to a children's playground creates a sense of storytelling atmosphere, which can bring more space for imagination to the playground.

By providing a creative environment and design, it promotes the development of children's creative thinking and fosters their innovation and problem solving skills.

What is the creation of a sense of story atmosphere?

Storytelling, or narrative experience, is a design philosophy that creates an engaging storytelling environment by integrating multiple sensory elements and emotional triggers.

In the context of an indoor children's playground, storytelling is not just about telling a story, but about bringing a story to life through design, so that children can feel and understand the story through personal experience, and imagine more about the storyline.

What is the purpose of creating a sense of storytelling?

Emotional resonance between brands and children

Stories touch children's hearts, allowing them to experience joys and sorrows during play, enhancing their affection and loyalty to the park. A park full of stories and characters will leave a lasting impression on children and increase the likelihood of them revisiting.

Give meaning to fun and education

Conveying knowledge and values through stories allows children to learn while having fun and realise edutainment. Through role-playing and teamwork, children can learn how to communicate and collaborate with others, which is beneficial to their social skills development.

So how do you create a children's playground with a storytelling atmosphere? In this issue, we'll take a look.

Part.02

How to design a sense of story atmosphere in the park?

A children's playground with a sense of storytelling atmosphere generally possesses the ability to make participants feel the mood and emotion of the story. This is how we incorporate storytelling into our interior design environments:

Curate an engaging story theme

Planning needs to precede any design, and during the planning stage, a clear story line is constructed that will run throughout the park and provide a consistent experience for the children. A story line can be based on classic fairy tales, myths, science fiction stories, etc.

It's important to note that according to the Psychology of Child Development, age-appropriate themes increase children's engagement, so the story is set out to ensure that it is engaging for the target age group.

Take the recently shared case 『Nanjing BIONOVA Family Entertainment Centre』 as an example, the designer adapted the classic story ‘The Tortoise and the Hare Race’, which tells the story of a grand Tortoise and Hare Race on the future planet BIONOVA.

Designing children's favourite Intellectual Property

Characters, as one of the most important elements of a story and an important figure in driving the development of a storyline, are Intellectual Property in the context of park design, and designing a children's  Intellectual Property is a multi-dimensional creative process, which needs to be combined with children's psychological characteristics, market demand, and branding strategy, etc. In designing the main  Intellectual Property, it is important to combine the psychological characteristics of children, market demand, and branding strategy.

When designing key Intellectual Property, make sure they are recognisable and relatable. Characters should have positive images and character traits that can serve as role models for children.

These Intellectual Property can be based on animals, characters or fictional creatures. The design should be recognisable, easy for children to understand and remember, positively guiding and also in line with the theme of the park.

The three-act structure completes the rise and fall of the story

In cinema, we are often attracted by the ups and downs of a film, so a compelling story must also have a sense of rhythm. I would like to share with you a classic drama structure called ‘Three Acts’, which I prefer to call the universal formula of storytelling.

The three-act structure can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's Poetics, a book of playwriting theory that provides critical insights into the fundamentals of narrative. That is, all stories must be constructed with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Act I: The Beginning. The first act is the beginning of the story, its primary task is to introduce the background of the story, explain the tone and type of the work, make clear the existence of the protagonist, depict the character traits of the main characters, foretell the conflict before the dilemma is revealed, provide hints for the ‘big event’ that is going to take place next, and attract the audience's attention through the suspense to let the audience have expectations for the subsequent development of the story. The suspense attracts the audience's attention and gives them something to look forward to in the subsequent development of the story.

Act II: The Middle. It is the main body of the story. In this act, the protagonist will face a series of escalating conflicts and be caught in a continuous dilemma. The plot is interlocking and the dramatic tension is rising. All the small conflicts will be linked together as a whole, giving the audience the feeling that the protagonist is one step closer to the final chapter with each dilemma he or she gets out of.

Act III:Conclusion: In Act III, the protagonist reaches his ‘darkest hour,’ where all the tension and conflict culminate, all the ambiguities are revealed, and all the mysteries are explained. The protagonist's goals in the story may or may not be achieved, but the original conflict is over and the story is over.

To briefly summarise the three-act structure: an attractive beginning, a gripping plot and a happy ending make a complete story.

Incorporating story elements into the scene

In the design of the space, story elements can be integrated into the spatial layout and amusement facilities through narrative design, so that the story can unfold naturally in the space. Ensure that all design elements, including colours, materials and decorations, are consistent with the theme and story line to enhance the sense of storytelling.

For example, the ‘Shenzhen Beaver Dream Castle’ project is based on the picture book ‘Adventures in the Sky and the Sea’, and the characters from the book have been designed into the space with scenes from the sky and the sea.

Focus on the reasonable combination of colour and light

Child psychology believes that the impact of colour on children is multifaceted, it is not only related to children's visual perception, but also closely related to children's psychological development, emotional regulation and behavioural performance.

Children's visual system develops gradually after birth, and objects with bright colours and high contrast can attract children's attention and promote the development of visual perception. Different colours can stimulate or inhibit children's behaviour. For example, bright colours can stimulate a child's desire to be active, whereas soft colours can help to calm a child down.

In the children's park environment design, it is reasonable to pay attention to the reasonable collocation of colour and light. With different colours and light intensity to create a colourful space atmosphere.

According to the needs of the story situation, lighting can be used to create the atmosphere of the storyline. Soft lighting, such as light blue, light yellow and pink, can create a feeling of warmth and security, while dramatic lighting can add a sense of mystery and adventure.

Sound Design

Sound design is an often overlooked but extremely important aspect of indoor children's playground design. It can enhance the sense of storytelling, improve children's experience, and play a key role in emotional resonance and contextual immersion.

The sound effects are divided into environmental sound effects, character sound effects, interactive sound effects, guiding sound effects, etc. The application of multiple sound effects can also avoid the single or repetitive sound effects that cause auditory fatigue, and bring a richer sensory experience.

Interactive media equipment

Interactive media design is a key element used to enhance the sense of storytelling and participation in indoor children's playgrounds. It allows children to interact with the play equipment through technical means, thus enhancing the fun and educational nature of the experience. Generally common are touch screens, projection interactions, virtual reality VR, motion capture, and so on.

Combined with role-playing experience

A study in the journal Social Behaviour and Personality shows that role-play helps children develop social skills and self-identity. Role-playing is a valuable component of children's playgrounds that not only provides a fun and imaginative play experience for children, but also promotes their overall development. Providing costumes and props and encouraging children to take on the role of characters in a story enhances their sense of participation and experience, and develops social skills

Children in the growth and development stage of the exercise of imagination has a variety of needs, as a children's park, should encourage children to imagine the game and creative activities, in order to promote their overall development.