Sensation paths -- loose materials

Design Guide for Barefoot Parks

Sensation paths -- loose materials

	Every barefoot walk should provide the opportunity to feel different materials with the soles. Tough materials like gravel or coarse wood chips may only be used for short stretches, otherwise a pleasant ground should prevail.	enlargeable thumbnails:
Sand and gravel	Everyone likes to go barefoot on sand. This helps us get familiar with unshod walking at the beginning of the walk.
	Rounded gravel is available in gradings of e.g. 4-8 mm, 8-16 mm 16-32 mm. The latter grade is somewhat painful and only recommended for a stretch up to 5 m (6 yards).	4/8 8/16 16/32 To convert gradings to US metric system follow this link.
	Sharp-edged chippings are only recommended in the finest gradings, e.g. 2-5 mm or 4-8 mm.
	Coarse-grained and sharp-edged gravel is not suited for going barefoot. Dutiful daddies may like this as a dare to demonstrate true manliness..... Brick chips Granite Coarse gravel	Basalt Limestone
Natural materials	Mulch from fir bark should be placed in shadowy areas, because it gets prickly on drying. At sunny places, pine mulch is somewhat more suited.	Pine mulch Fir mulch
	Fir cones give an excellent foot massage, whereas pine cones are too prickly. In dryness and heat both tend to fluff up and to disintegrate. Therefore the cones shall be placed in shadowy and somewhat moist areas. A group of children might help collect a lot of cones, preferably those freshly fallen from the trees.
	The soft needles of the larch fall in autumn and form an exceptionally soft carpet on the forest soil. Some ten thousand visitors will compact them, but they continue to be an enjoyable ground. From hard ground below larches, the needles can be collected with a snow push in late autumn.
	The diversity of nature yields numerous materials for sensory experience. Corks Nutshells Grape seeds	Hop branches Barley husk Sticks and more .....
And above all: broken glass!	Sufficiently blunted glass chippings from recycled material can be purchased in different gradings and colors. Choice of an uncommon color is recommended to discourage potential bad jokes and vandalism with freshly broken glass.
	Glass tends to adhere a bit to the soles and to be carried forward by the feet. Therefore it is recommended to place a grid at the end of the broken glass field.

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