In Australia, 1 in 4 children and half of all adults are obese or overweight.

One of the root causes of this epidemic is a lack of healthy role modelling by parents. As an organisation whose purpose is to get people together to get active, the YMCA wanted to take a role in solving the problem using design and in doing so raise wider awareness of their services and brand philosophy.

The YMCA believes in ‘health through happiness’, so we created a manifestation of this brand purpose: a new type of exercise equipment that uses a child’s weight as exercise weight, allowing a parent’s workout to power their child’s play.

The 3 machines include the Pec-A-Boo; a machine fly that works as a baby bouncer, the Row-Row-Row-Machine; a row machine that powers a child’s ride-on dolphin, and the Pull-Upsy-Daisy; a pull-up platform that works as a seesaw for the child.

Installing these branded machines in public playgrounds allowed time poor parents to get exercise and role model healthy behaviour in front of their child.

Placing the Playnasium as branded outdoor advertising in targeted communities raised awareness of the YMCA’s commitment to building healthier, happier communities whilst driving increased registrations to their services in that area.

Cultural/Context information for the jury Please explain any cultural terms, references or viewing context which would be known

Installed in public parks across the state, the YMCA Playnasium uses a child’s weight as exercise weight, allowing a parent’s workout to power their child’s play. Each piece of equipment is designed for different age groups and muscle groups – but all help parents get fit, spend quality time with their children and model good behaviour.

By placing these innovative exercise machines in parks we directly targeted our audience when they were most open to our message – playing with their children.

Activations using the equipment allowed the YMCA to drive people to a campaign site where they could sign up directly for YMCA services.