Learning Landscapes
July 2024
What's Happening Now?
Seattle’s first Learning Landscapes were installed in June 2024 at James Baldwin Elementary! Please come and try them out. You can find them on the sidewalks around the school along N 120th St and Corliss Ave N. We hope to install more at schools throughout Seattle. Stay tuned!
What are Learning Landscapes?
Learning Landscapes were developed as a concept by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek at Temple University to address educational inequities in urban areas. The aim is to transform public spaces into interactive playscapes that foster learning and engagement outside of the classroom. Spaces are specifically designed to promote playful learning and facilitate interactions between young children and their caretakers. Learning Landscape designs provide additional opportunities to develop language, spatial awareness, and gross motor functioning that help build a foundation for success in school.
In Seattle, designs will be installed on school sidewalks to create a cognitively stimulating environment for students and their families to engage with on their way to and from school.
Left: A rendering of the design to be installed, with shapes like circles, triangles, and squares.
Right: Kids playing on the finished and installed design.
James Baldwin Elementary's Learning Landscapes Project
Graphic showing the design of the installations: There are four sidewalk installations: Design A looks like a ruler, Design B has shapes like triangles, circles, and triangles, Design C shows footsteps in a circle and Design D shows a number group from 1-100. Design E is a letter scramble design for a bus stop installation.
Installation of Design A.
Installation of Design B.
Installation of Design D.