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Play Area ‘Must-Haves’, According to the Experts… (The children)
As a playground designer I’ve spent years applying the theory and experience of playspace design to my projects here at Morti Sport and Play, but here’s a thought, what do the children see as the ‘absolute musts’ in a playground?
We know the underlying benefits of various play features such as those that develop co-ordination, team work and problem solving etc,but when it comes back to that most essential element, fun, what are the playground fundamentals?
We asked a large group of children what their favourite thing to do at a playground is. The recurring themes were swinging, climbing and football, here a just a few quotes from our expert panel:
A frequently mentioned item was the swings, including basket or nest seat swings:
“I like swinging as it’s fun, and you can do it on your own or with friends. It’s relaxing!” Max. age 7
“As a kid I liked the swings. Now it’s the football cage.” Ben. Age 14
“I still like the swings!” Emily. Age 12
“My favourite thing is the swing and the blue and red thing (seesaw)” Rosie. Age 4
Climbing frames and structures featuring climbing were often said excitedly:
“Climbing. Because I love climbing, I climb on big bricks, I like climbing on steps and wood and stuff” Oscar. Age 5
“My favourite thing is climbing on things.” Alexander. Age 6
“I like climbing like gladiators- I want to climb to get to a slide at the end” Jack. Age 5
“The climbing frame!” Lucy. Age 8
“Monkey bars. I like to practice hanging upside down, swinging from them. And the slide,yellow twirly slide.” Ruby.Age 7
“I like the bridge between two things (towers) so I can play princesses” Charlotte. Age 6
“Really really big slides” Harvey. Age 5
Many children talked about playing informal football at the park:
“Play football, because I like to do skills, try and go that way and trick them, then go the other way and score a goal”. George. Age 7
“In the school playground, all I do is play football” M. Age8
‘My favourite thing to do is play football in the park because it’s fun” Joshua. Age 5.
Aerial runway are also a hit, surely one of the most dynamic single pieces of equipment:
“I love the zipwire because you go whoosh.” E. age 5
“My favourite thing to do at the park is the zip wire because you zoom across really fast, and get to have a swing at the end!” C. Age 7
Roundabouts, ball shoots, bridges, playhouse, musical instruments and trampolines received mentions too.
And the winner is…
Swings came up time and again directly from the children from the youngest child we ask to the oldest. Many parents observed that the swings were where children spend most of their time. It may be a classic item, but it would seem that swings are genuinely the essential playground staple!
