Amsterdam play spot bell tells parents children are outside
A pilot with a "SpelBel" in Amsterdam-West sends registered parents an app message when children press the button, so their own children know someone is out to play.
A blue sign with a bell has hung on a lamppost on the Hertspieghelplein in Bos en Lommer, Amsterdam-West, since Thursday. When children press it, parents who have signed up get an app message: "Children are playing outside in the playground on the Hertspieghelplein!" The SpelBel is an initiative of Jantje Beton and ScrollScrollScroll.
Parents can then tell their children that someone is outside to play with. Children do not have to go from door to door. Parents sign up through a QR code on the sign.
The Amsterdam pilot will run for at least three months. The organisers chose the square because it lies in an area with many children and has a school nearby. The municipality of Breda and two locations in Enschede are also testing the bell, which hangs at five play spots in the Netherlands.
Mascha van Werven, director of Jantje Beton, said the pilot started in autumn on purpose. "Children stay indoors even faster when it rains," she said. "A shame, because you don't learn to play outside by staying clean and dry, but by going on adventures together."
Carolien de Heer, chair of the Amsterdam-West district, said children learn more from playing outside than from play alone. "This also leads to more connection in the neighbourhood," she said.
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Jantje Beton
Jantje Beton is a Dutch non-profit organisation that works for children's right to play. It supports play spaces and playgrounds across the Netherlands, so that children can play outside safely and often. It matters here because play outdoors is a common part of growing up in Dutch towns and neighbourhoods, and the organisation campaigns for more and better places where children can do so.