We Speak Playground

All months have their charm but at May Recreation we are naturally partial towards our namesake … the merry, merry month of May!

May is not only a chance to enjoy those blooming Texas wildflowers after April showers, and a springboard into summer months of fun, but May is also National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

The holidays are a magical time for kids from family get-togethers and festive meals to the joys of opening presents.

It’s a time of year for hot cocoa, throwing an extra comforter on the bed, and snuggling up by a warm fire, but when it’s cold outside, it can be hard to keep kids physically active.

Participation in team sports is not just about the joys of running around outside, scoring goals, smacking baseballs, and making game-saving tackles – it’s a powerful tool for the development of physical, mental, and social skills in children.

Climbing is an instinct that traverses the animal and human kingdoms and for good reasons. While animals may climb for food and basic survival, humans find climbing to be a fun and thrilling experience that helps their mental development. Let’s leap into the benefits of climbing for youngsters.

Today’s children have fewer siblings and better connections to their grandparents. Fostering intergenerational play, then, may be one of the best ways for families to find themselves connecting those links. In many instances, both parents work, and households are single-parent-led.

It is understood that exercise goes hand-in-hand with a healthy lifestyle overall. Therefore, one way to get more out of your park investment is to incorporate fitness equipment either designed for adults, kids, or both to use when visiting.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that for overall health or to maintain healthy levels, adults should do between 150 and 300 minutes of physical activity (moderate) weekly along with between 75 and 150 minutes of physical activity (aerobic) in the same time span.

Designing a playground structure can be overwhelming. There are so many types of equipment out there, that you may find yourself wondering what you need on your playground and why.

If you're asking if you need artificial turf, the easy answer is yes. However, the question you should be asking is what type of artificial turf do you need?

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.

Kids spend most of their time during the school year inside of a classroom, doing school work. Most schools allow at least thirty minutes of free time outside to play with their classmates. To improve their playtime, schools should implement playgrounds because they are great tools in the development of kids' social and mental skills.