We Speak Playground

Celebrate May as National Physical Fitness & Sports Month! Outdoor play and exercise used to be a natural part of every childhood. But with the temptations of electronics and video games, loving parents are challenged with getting kids outdoors, according to 39% of adults polled. It’s crucial to keep kids physically active and playing outside. With proper exercise, kids can have improved muscular fitness, better bone health and protection from heart disease.

Here are some of the proven benefits from studies around the world. 

Shade structures protect both your playground equipment and your guests from the sizzling summer sun. And if you make the right choices, they look as cool as they feel.

For many, springtime in Texas conjures up images of bluebonnets, rodeos, festivals, picnics and BBQ! Children love to explore outside, and playgrounds provide the perfect opportunity for friends and families to enjoy the spring weather.

April is World Autism Month. Now is the best time to increase awareness of this condition that affects so many children. The Centers for Disease Control reports that one in every 59 children is diagnosed with some form of autism. Autism can affect children from all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but males are four times more likely to be diagnosed than females. Awareness of the prevalence of autism is the first step toward helping children and their families who suffer from this issue. One place that everyone can help kids with autism is on the playground.

It seems like the pressure on children to produce perfect test scores in school only gets stronger every year. The pressure is equally strong on teachers and education administrators since performance is typically tied to state or federal funding for schools. The STAAR test in Texas is one such example of test performance determining how much money each school receives in state funding.

When it comes to child development, play goes far beyond simple entertainment by acting as a building block to learning. Regular playtime allows the brain neurons of children to change and grow, which aids in their ability to pick up new skills rather quickly. Through free-play sessions, children can increase their knowledge about how the world works and build skills that will help them through every stage of life. Parents and caregivers can aid this process by better understanding the role of play in learning and child development — and offering their kids ample opportunities for growth through play.

In the words of Charlie Chaplin, "A day without laughter is a day wasted." Fortunately for children and the adults who take care of them, laughter is one of the primary sounds heard on a well-designed playground. Thanks to the help of Computer-Aided Design (CAD), playgrounds can now be more readily designed to meet the specific needs of schools, parks and recreation areas. 

Adding a fantastic play structure to your Texas church, school or park is easy thanks to our wonderful May Recreation team. However, one of the biggest hurdles most of our clients have to overcome is funding. Thankfully, there are many options out there. Here are five amazing resources for finding funding for your playground project.

Today’s children are growing up with screens at their fingertips. They have never had to live without smartphones, tablets or the internet. But studies show that too much screen time can have a negative impact on children. Their brains can actually change, according to The American Academy of Pediatrics. While smart devices can help improve your child’s education, too much time can be damaging.

Play has always been an innate part of the childhood experience. Long before there were playgrounds of any kind, children were creating their own using little more than their imaginations. Play is important for the cultivation of motor skills as well as physical strength and stamina. Children also learn social skills from playing together in groups. Country children had it best in this respect — a crooked stick became a lightning-fast steed, while a small stream became a vast and mysterious ocean. Play occurs in all cultures and is an essential part of healthy childhood development, even though playgrounds themselves are a relatively recent addition. The first public playground was built in San Francisco in the year 1887, and playgrounds as we know them gradually came into existence as cities grew larger and outdoor play in the streets and in vacant lots became increasingly dangerous. However, it took over a century for the idea of inclusive playgrounds to even begin to make a dent in America's cultural landscape.