December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 36

TRAFFIC GARDEN
Traffic gardens (also known as
safety towns/villages/cities or
traffic parks) are miniature city
streetscapes with a network of
reduced-sized streets, scaled
traffic elements...
vulnerable. Further, they
can
behave impulsively, have difficulty
self-regulating, be distracted from
tasks, and are challenged with
spatial discrimination. Many lack
reading ability, English proficiency,
or warning
directives/symbol
recognition.
While streets and public places
should be a right and accessible
to
all,
issues
there are inherent safety
in the built environment.
Yet, children have great capacity
for curiosity and learning through
experience. It is, therefore, imperative
that children engage in transportation
activities in a safe space
that will enhance their knowledge,
awareness, access to opportunities,
independence and well-being
across their lifespan. Key to student
learning is
involvement in
appropriately challenging play in
settings that imitate real situations
and are personally relevant.
Traffic Gardens as Safe
Spaces for Learning and Play
Traffic gardens (also known as
safety towns/villages/cities or
traffic parks) are miniature city
streetscapes with a network of
reduced-sized streets, scaled traffic
elements (e.g., roundabouts, directional
traffic patterns, intersections,
parking spaces, food truck
spaces) and appropriate signage.
As community
amenities,
these
often are constructed on underutilized
parking lots, community
spaces, recreational facilities and
park grounds, and school playgrounds.
Traffic gardens provide
small worlds in which children
can learn about traffic rules, safe
navigation of cities, resolution of
conflicts, and how to appropriately
handle interactions with other
travelers on the roadway. Children
are able to walk, maneuver motorized
wheelchairs, ride bikes, steer
scooters, drive pedal cars and negotiate
a community of their own
in these spaces.
Sheila
Hensley,
a prekindergarten
(pre-K) teacher at Aiton
Elementary School in Washington,
D.C., says: " Children in
D.C. are cognizant as 3-year-olds
about traffic. Some 4- and 5-yearolds
ride the bus alone; they are
already navigating the streets at a
very early age, so the traffic garden
is very important to start at
a young age. " In addition, traffic
gardens serve as safe, realitybased
spaces for imaginative, creative,
dramatic and risky play,
and provide opportunities for enhanced
risk competence, resilience,
well-being and a more complete
understanding of the environment.
The focus on traffic safety education
for children emerged in the
United States in the 1920s, with
school-based road safety essay contests
and the formation of school
safety patrols. These school-based
models became insufficient in a
period of rapid adoption of motor
vehicle use and an increase in child
roadway fatalities, and precipitated
Neval Thomas Elementary School in
Washington, D.C., features a traffic
garden.
36 Parks & Recreation | DECEMBER 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF FIONNUALA QUINN/DISCOVER TRAFFIC GARDENS

December 2022 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2022 - Parks & Recreation

December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 1
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 2
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 3
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 4
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 5
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 6
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 7
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 8
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 9
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 10
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 11
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 12
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 13
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 14
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 15
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 16
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 17
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 18
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 19
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 20
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 21
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 22
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 23
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 24
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 25
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 26
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 27
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 28
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 29
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 30
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 31
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 32
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 33
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 34
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 35
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 36
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 37
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 38
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 39
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 40
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 41
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 42
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 43
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 44
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 45
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 46
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 47
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 48
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 49
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 50
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 51
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 52
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 53
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 54
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 55
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 56
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
December 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
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https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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