We Speak Playground

Making a school playground inclusive is an all-in intentional effort. It’s more than building a ramp. While providing universal access is a major part, it's only a head start. The structures and equipment within the area need to encourage and challenge every child no matter what his or her abilities.

As adults going through a typical day, we often take our senses for granted. But remember back to when you were a child, and you never knew what wondrous sight, smell, or sound was awaiting you. You formed your opinions of foods by how they tasted, or in some cases how they smelled or felt.

Children deserve to play in a beautiful, safe environment that is free from excess dirt and debris. Artificial turf creates a soft and hygienic foundation for play areas.

Inclusive playgrounds have started popping up all over the nation, and for good reason. Their innovative designs elevate the community space by providing every kid with a safe and inviting place to play.

Once upon a time the school day, like a sentence, was punctuated by class periods. Children's thinking was confined to one area at a time. Learning was compartmentalized. One class period ended, and they put their math books away and opened their readers, and so the day went, with science textbooks following, readers, math workbooks, and perhaps a trip to the gym, And so it went until the dismissal bell put an end to their day of disjointed learning.

If you are responsible for purchasing equipment for a school playground or city park, you may be researching different types of park equipment. One of the types of equipment that is gaining in popularity is obstacle courses for kids.

In addition to typical play equipment, such as climbing structures, slides and swings;  playgrounds and parks are opting for obstacle courses. These courses may include things such as climbing towers, breakaway footwork equipment, sprawl walls and crossway climbers. The reason these items are gaining in popularity is because there are numerous benefits to kids who play on this type of equipment. Here are some of those benefits. 

Ground coverings play an important role at playgrounds. The ground coverings help to provide cushioning on the asphalt or concrete surface that playground equipment sits on. This helps to cushion and protect children's joints as they jump to the ground from playground equipment and helps to provide a bit of cushioning should they fall from the equipment.

There are many different options that are available for playground ground coverings, including mulch, sand, grass, rubber and artificial turf. If you are changing the ground covering at a playground, you may have many questions about different ground coverings, including artificial turf. Read on to learn more about artificial turf. 

Never underestimate the power of a kid’s imagination. The more we do to help children develop their creativity and to explore the world of make-believe, the easier it is for them to socialize with one another, learn to cooperate and have plenty of fun in the process.

Kids are getting ready to head back to school, and as they do, schools may be realizing that their current playgrounds are dated or no longer meet the needs of their students. If you are designing a new playground area for your school, or you are looking to enhance an existing play area, you may be looking for new ideas. Here are five awesome ideas that you may wish to incorporate into your school playground. 

Today, we are able to give our youngsters a bit more of an advantage than we might have had. As adults, our era involved a bit of climbing, but we mostly only had trees to satisfy our urges to get higher in life. Thankfully, we have access to playground equipment that lets our kiddos (and playful adults) get as high as they need. Let’s explore some of the benefits that climbing offers the mind and body.