Fun and Games in the USSR.

The Pripyat Ferris Wheel (photograph by Alexandra Jade Flintoff)

Children’s playgrounds were prolific in the USSR.

They formed an integral part of the urban landscape, and by the 1970s and 80s these basic metal affairs appeared in almost every park across many of the larger Soviet cities.

They were built outside schools, beneath church towers, and on the side of roads.

As with many of the other fittings associated with the USSR, playground accessories were usually produced en masse at large manufacturing plants.

As a result, there was a tendency for these to follow repetitive patterns and designs: with playgrounds and parks from Eastern Europe to Russia’s Pacific Coast often featuring identical sets of swings and seesaws, rockets and roundabouts, bridges and monkey bars.

An abandoned Young Pioneer Camp in a forest in Russia (photograph by Darmon Richter)

Read the full fascinating article via The Essential Guide to Soviet Playgrounds: Fun & Games in the USSR | Atlas Obscura.