playground equipment

Playground equipment -7 Elements of Play: Swinging How can different elements of play help children be more successful in the classroom? Jami Murdock- In the area of early childhood development or preschool where I am a teacher, we focus on preparing the kids for their upcoming experience at school. Since children in preschool learn through play, playground activities are extremely important in our day. Playground activities not only help a child develop physically, but also help in the areas of cognitive, adaptive, social and emotional development as well. Different elements of play are great for early childhood development, and early development is what shapes a child’s future. So, let’s look a little deeper at one of the seven elements of play on the playground – swinging – and how it very directly affects a child’s growth. How does swinging help kids in the classroom? Swinging can have a large impact on our brains ability to process sensory information. Swinging is a ...

Playground equipment -Playgrounds for the Grown When I write and teach about adult playgrounds, this is not what I mean: This seems more like my friend Christopher Noxon was writing about in his book Rejuvenile. Not that it's a bad thing, building oversized playgrounds so adults can relive their childhood. It's a genuine invitation to play. And it's fun. But, in truth, what I mean when I think about adult playgrounds is something a lot more like this: ...an open field where we can all play together: adults, kids, all of us. Like we did at all those amazing New Games events of yore about which I, apparently, can't stop writing and talking about and teaching and advocating. Of course, when I talk about playgrounds in general, for anybody, and especially for kids, this is what I mean: The Land (Teaser) from Play Free Movie on Vimeo. You know, places where kids can play freely (they call it "free play"), with adults around - not to supervise them, but...

Playground equipment -7 Elements of Play: Sliding We started our 7 Elements of Play series with swinging; this month, we’re focused on sliding. In general, sliding: 1.Promotes leg-hip flexibility 2.Encourages cooperation and following directions 3.Develops spatial awareness 4.Develops critical thinking skills So, exactly how does sliding do all of this? Sliding Helps Prevent W-Sitting Have you ever seen a child W-sit? This is when a child is seated on the floor with one leg on each side of their body in the shape of a “W.” W-sitting can be a precursor to development delays. For a child who has poor flexibility in the legs and hips, W-sitting will aggravate it. W-sitting doesn’t allow a child to rotate their trunk, twisting side-to-side, and discourages them from hand preference. Sliding promotes flexibility of the leg and hip. For those W-sitters, it forces a child’s legs in front of them. How does sliding help kids in the classroom? Sliding promotes spatial awarene...

Playground equipment -Playground Renovation Addresses All Abilities of the Children After 15 years, the aging post and platform playground at Earl M. Lawson Elementary in Leavenworth, KS, had outlived its usefulness. Parts were becoming hard to find and with the school being the home for the district’s Functional Life Skills program, the playground needed to work for children of all abilities. Evaluating Play Equipment Options   One of the challenges the school faced was the size of the playground area. It was a small lot so the new playground equipment had to have a smaller footprint; yet, still accommodate the largest number of children possible.   In addition, the play equipment needed to be accessible for children of all abilities, including those with physical and intellectual disabilities.   Dave Stokka, Grounds Coordinator for the District, made his recommendation for rope play equipment only after extensive research over several years. His resea...

Playground equipment -How much of either Is lowering the Head Injury Criteria (HIC) to 700 the magic number to reduce severity and frequency of fall related injuries? How many children have to be severely injured or die from a fall on the playground before we can justify some enhanced performance measurement for playground surfaces? Why are some questioning the use if the National Highway Transportation Safety Board’s (NHTSB) research as rationale for our surfacing impact thresholds? Some are questioning why we are not following the NHTSB research recommendations for automobile crash protection of 700 HIC for School-age playgrounds and 560 for pre-school age playgrounds. Why use 700 HIC for both? The NHTSB’s action has resulted in a 10% reduction in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) over a 10 year period once the new impact attenuation thresholds were implemented. Is that a significant improvement in cost for residual benefits to society versus the cost to the consumer to implement? T...

Playground equipment -Helping Your Child Develop Through Play Tummy time and play time is, of course, vital to a child’s development. It should also be a lot of fun! While we’re sure any time you spend with your toddler will be positive, we thought it would be a great idea to put together a simple guide to some of the most constructive games you can play with your toddler. The guide is split up into four sections; language, movement, co-ordination and creative skills. Within which are simple games that don’t require buying much of the way in props. Indeed, for many of these games you could improvise and make your own props should you wish. In every case the most crucial component to your child’s development is you. You will be their best, most interactive and most interesting toy; and your involvement in these games is crucial to their development. From games you can play when you’re sitting in a waiting room, to games you play by simply turning your living room into an adven...

Fitness Equipment -Can We Change the Culture of Youth Sports? There’s nothing that feels worse for young athletes than getting hurt and having to sit on the sidelines while their team goes on to victory. That’s why Safe Kids and Johnson & Johnson released a new report, “Changing the Culture of Youth Sports,” to explore how the culture of youth sports may be keeping kids out of the game. But teens like Brie teach athletes that staying out of the game after a serious injury can help make sure injuries don’t get worse and athletes go on to enjoy a lifetime of playing the sports they love. BRIE’S STORY “I wish I knew then, what I know now. A game wasn’t worth risking my life.” Last year, Brie was knocked unconscious during a high school field hockey game. She was diving to prevent a shot on goal when she got hit in the head with a hockey stick and blacked out. After a few minutes on the sideline, she went back onto the field. “There was no reason to go back into the game aft...

Playground equipment -Inclusive Play Survey Results According to a recent survey we conducted, more than half (57 percent) of all parents mistakenly believe that playgrounds are required to have elements designed for children with Down syndrome, sensory disorders, and visual and hearing impairments. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) only requires playgrounds to provide wheelchair access to the play elements. Parents want more than the minimum standards when it comes to playground inclusion and accessibility. They survey also revealed changing perceptions from a community standpoint. Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of parents believe it is important that their children have an opportunity to play with a variety of children, including those with disabilities. There are numerous benefits of inclusive playgrounds such as allowing children of all abilities the opportunity to play together, as well as bringing together parents with disabilities (wounded veterans) ...

Playground equipment -Scientists Say Child's Play Helps Build A Better Brain When it comes to brain development, time in the classroom may be less important than time on the playground. "The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain," says Sergio Pellis, a researcher at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. "And without play experience, those neurons aren't changed," he says. It is those changes in the prefrontal cortex during childhood that help wire up the brain's executive control center, which has a critical role in regulating emotions, making plans and solving problems, Pellis says. So play, he adds, is what prepares a young brain for life, love and even schoolwork. But to produce this sort of brain development, children need to engage in plenty of so-called free play, Pellis says. No coaches, no umpires, no rule books. "Whether it's rough-and-tumble play or two kids de...

Playground equipment -Are Your Kids Safe Alone at the Park? In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, Thursday marks one week since the release of a much talked about magazine cover with a lithe, svelte momma breast-feeding her very big-looking preschool-age son. TIME magazine’s startling cover image was prelude to a cover story about attachment parenting, which espouses baby-wearing and co-sleeping, among other things. In other words, attachment parents are very attached — in terms of proximity, among other things — to their kids. You might call free-range parenting the antithesis of attachment parenting. Or perhaps the antidote. It’s not that free-rangers technically couldn’t be attachment parents, but they believe that once kids get old enough, it’s good — nay, essential — to let them be. (MORE: Growing Up: Free-Range Kids or Smother Mother?) Lenore Skenazy coined the phrase “free-range parenting.” In Free-Range Kids, her bookand blog, she builds a case that children toda...