From conception to ongoing iteration, the playground has been shaped by the ideas and efforts of the community’s children. It is sustainably managed by local residents, collectively fostering an intergenerational-friendly space where children can play freely, autonomously, and socially, right on the doorstep of the Xinhua community.

At the Orange Playground, adult residents are responsible for designing and adjusting the play environment, repairing structures, procuring materials, and making signage. They also discuss operational issues such as activity initiation, community maintenance and funding allocation. Meanwhile, tasks like assembling loose parts, designing visual symbols, creating self-portrait murals and cleaning the site are led primarily by the children. This process of intergenerational co-creation has made the Orange Playground a celebrated example of community building in mainland China, earning multiple awards in the field.

Throughout this process, the development and operation of the Orange Playground has benefited from the guidance of the PARS Playwork Practice Mainland China Hub. PARS training for parents and residents has equipped them with the principles, theories, methods, and techniques of PARS playwork practice. This has enabled community members – especially those with an interest in child-friendly spaces and community engagement – to gain professional knowledge and tools to support the physical and mental growth of children and adolescents. After PARS training, a number of community parents became certified PARS Playworkers. Integrating theory with practice, they channelled their passion into professional support, helping children break free from over-structured childhoods and reclaim their right to play. Through free play, children learn to create their own fun, regulate their minds and bodies, express themselves, and engage socially.

Becoming PARS playwork practitioners transformed these adults’ understanding of play. Where they once believed that making children happy meant buying them toys, they now understand the value of ‘loose parts’ – how providing low-cost, high-play-value materials and components enables children to play in endlessly inventive ways. As a result, the corners of the Orange Playground are often filled with ‘treasures’ collected by playworkers from around the community: left-over eco-bricks from construction sites, tyres removed during clean-ups of abandoned bicycles, bamboo cuttings from neighboring yards. Each new loose part introduces countless new possibilities for play.

Even a slide can be used in over a hundred different ways: children bring skateboards without wheels or break down large cardboard boxes into thick mats to slide on. Some slide headfirst on their stomachs, others challenge themselves to slide standing up, and younger ones may even slide down in a washbasin. Should they climb the tyre stack to reach the platform? Take the stairs? Or use the small slide made from two steel pipes to access the second floor? The children decide for themselves. In the mud kitchen on the first floor, they use natural materials like mud, stones, grass and leaves as ingredients for their culinary creations. Sometimes the second floor becomes a battlefield for group games; at other times, a child may come there simply to be alone quietly.

PARS playwork practitioners in China respect children’s innate curiosity and needs, offering ample space for exploration and choice within safe boundaries. Therefore, although the Orange Playground draws inspiration from the adventure playground model, it prefers to be known as a ‘free playground.’ This emphasises its commitment to countering the trend of excessive adult supervision and the institutionalisation of childhood, advocating instead for children’s right to control their own time and space – to do what they want to do and play as they wish to play, rather than do what adults think they should do or play.

Two other playgrounds similar to the Orange Playground currently exist in Shanghai: one in Chuangzhi Community Garden in Yangpu District, and another in Sanlin Yuan in Pudong New Area. The children named them ‘Happy Playground’ and ‘Pika Playground’ respectively.

Both were established with support from PARS Playwork Practice Mainland China Hub, local district governments and non-profit community-building organisations and are maintained daily by local volunteer parents and playworkers.

‘Happy Playground’ was first built in the winter of 2021. Every six months, during winter and summer camps, the children redesign and rebuild it. They dreamed of treehouses, pirate ships, secret bases – and under the guidance of carpenters, they measure, saw and nail to bring their ideas to life. PARS playworkers at the camps encourage the use of real tools like hammers, saws and hand drills for woodworking. The crafting materials are rich and varied: fabrics, beads, decorative pieces, clay, glue guns, graffiti materials – all meant to inspire bold imagination and design. Children are also supported to cook for themselves: lighting fires, preparing ingredients, stir-frying and safely extinguishing flames. When naming this playground, the children said: “We don’t need a fancy name. We just want something as simple as happiness.” 

The ‘Pika Playground’ is named for its centrepiece—a repurposed pickup truck. When children in Sanlin Yuan were asked what kind of playground they wanted, many said they wanted one with cars. So the PARS playworker team specially purchased a decommissioned pickup truck from a scrapyard in the Shanghai suburbs and transformed it into the foundation of the playground. Its daily maintenance and continued iterations are now entirely managed by parents and children from the community.

In these playgrounds, children invent their own games and rules. There are no mandatory ‘tasks’ or external judgments – only the freedom to follow their own ideas and rhythms. In fact, play here not only offers children autonomy, but also introduces them to tools and activities often considered off-limits, yet vital for engaging with the real world. Through these experiences, the children find joy and a sense of mastery, growing more confident in facing real-world challenges. The diversity of materials available encourages creative combinations, stimulating inventiveness. Moreover, because the children help build and modify the playgrounds, they develop a strong sense of ownership and belonging. They don’t just come to play; they also invest time in maintaining and cleaning the space.

In late 2024, the Orange Playground initiative began expanding beyond Lane 345. Led by ‘Longleg Daddy,’ a member of the action group and a PARS playworker, free play pop-up activities were launched multiple times at Fanyu Green Space in Xuhui District. Each event drew over 30 family groups, with participants ranging from infants to seniors in their seventies. Bringing their own tools, they used leaves, branches, bushes, pinecones and other natural materials found throughout the park for creative play. Children chased, climbed and tumbled; parents played alongside them; grandparents joined in. One elderly grandfather even taught a group of children games from the 1950s. Community free play brings joy to children, replenishes parents and offers older generations a chance to reconnect with their own childhoods.

Inspired by these pop-up events, the PARS Playwork Practice Mainland China Hub applied for funding from the Shanghai Women’s Federation to launch free play pop-up activities in communities throughout Shanghai, starting in 2025. On weekend afternoons, playworkers temporarily transform communities, shopping malls, parks, bookstores and even ancient water towns into improvised playgrounds. As more communities and parents witness the value and significance of free play through these activities, they are beginning to explore how to gather resources and build free playgrounds near their own homes.

Because of the Orange Playground, Happy Playground and Pika Playground, many parents have become playworkers and connected with like-minded neighbours. Their interactions now extend beyond the playgrounds to include neighbourhood walks, morning runs, family dinners, trips to museums and even supporting the construction of free playgrounds in other communities. The relationships formed around these community playgrounds have transcended physical space, fostering deeper life connections that enrich both children and adults alike. It is expected that Shanghai and other cities across China will see more and more such spaces in the future.