We Speak Playground

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?

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. 

Are today's children (and their millennial parents) starved for risk taking? The popularity of reality shows like Survivor and Wipeout would suggest this is true as would their penchant for video games like Minecraft and Fortnite. All offer vicarious risk-taking from the safety and comfort of their homes.

Many Americans live, work, and play in areas prone to flooding with some estimates that 41 million people are exposed to flood risks on a yearly basis.

According to the Columbia Climate School, “In the past 20 years, flood-related disasters have cost the United States more than $845 billion in damages to homes, offices, and other infrastructure.”

Some of that infrastructure which can be flooded includes local parks and playgrounds.

If your school has designed and built an amazing playground, accessible to all ages and abilities, then the reward is the smiling faces of students as they play on it.

With all our lives semi-permanently adjusted due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and its risk of infection, everyone needs to do their part to maintain personal health protection and social distancing. Per the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), hand sanitizer and hand-washing are key activities that should be performed frequently to cut down on the chance of contact transfer of the virus along with masks. In this regard, May Recreation makes available an entire line of playground-specific hand sanitizer stands that can accommodate playground equipment and locations, complementing the regular cleaning of playground equipment and making sanitizing resources readily available for children.

Playgrounds and outdoor learning activities provide a wealth of benefits to children. They learn to socialize, enhance their hand and motor skills, practice sharing and learn other positive benefits. Recess time also keeps children engaged in an active lifestyle, as this activity promotes both good physical and mental wellbeing.

Kids of all ages enjoy having a place to play and commune with others, and playgrounds should be designed to meet those needs safely. Long gone are the days of rusty swings, unforgiving ground surfaces and hard equipment that youngsters can get hurt on easily. Today, a modern playground will feature equipment with safety surfacing materials, ample shade and appropriate ground cover that helps prevent injuries. Here are some safety aspects that should be considered when developing, constructing or renovating a playground.

Summer is here and the heat is unrelenting. It's important for kids to spend time outdoors playing, but it's also challenging when the heat index is so high. 

According to the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS), more than 200,000 children are admitted to various emergency departments across the United States annually as a result of injuries sustained at playgrounds. At least 15 percent of the reported cases are classified as severe. Although these structures are meant to offer the children a carefree break in their daily education routine, they have turned out to be dangerous to the kids.