Combination playground structure for small children; slides, climbers (stairs in this case), playhouse
A playground is an area designed for children to play freely. Modern playground often have recreational equipment such as the see-saw, merry-go-round, swingset, slide, climber, walking bridge, jungle gym, chin-up bars, sandbox, parallel bars, overhead ladder, trapeze and trapeze rings, playhouses, and maze, many of which help children develop physical coordination, strength, and flexibility, as well as providing recreation and enjoyment. Common in modern playgrounds are "play structures" that link many different pieces of equipment.
Playgrounds often also have facilities for playing informal games of adult sports, such as a baseball diamond, a skating rink, a basketball court, or a tetherball.
Playground metaphor
"Playground" is also an informal term to describe an area designed for any particular group of people, for example, "the resort spa has become a playground for millionaires".
"Playground" can also simply be the title of a summer program. In many cities, the playgrounds have been turned into free daycare services that merely use the playground as a meeting place for the "playground program" to begin. From there, the childcare providers take their children to additional fun places as field trips, such as to a swimming pool, a miniature golf course, or a laser tag adventure.
About playgrounds
Professionals recognize that the social skills that children develop on the playground become lifelong skill sets that are carried forward into their adulthood. Independent research concludes that playgrounds are among the most important environments for children outside the home. Most forms of play are essential for healthy development, but free, spontaneous play—the kind that occurs on playgrounds—is the most beneficial type of play.
Seesaw with a crowd of children playing
Rope bridge for improving balance
Children have devised many playground games and pastimes. But because playgrounds are usually subject to adult supervision and oversight, young children's street culture often struggles to fully thrive there. Research by Robin Moore (Childhood's Domain: Play and Place, 1986) has clearly shown that playgrounds need to be balanced with marginal areas that (to adults) appear to be derelict or wasteground, which young children can claim for themselves, ideally a wood or field.
Playgrounds can be
A slide, viewed from the top.
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Jacques Laurent Agasse: The Playground, 1830
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Natural playgrounds
"Natural playgrounds" refer to play environments that blend natural materials, features, and indigenous vegetation with creative landforms and structures to create purposely complex interplays of natural, environmental objects in ways that challenge and fascinate children and teach them about the wonders and intricacies of the natural world while they play within it.
Play components may include earth shapes (sculptures), environmental art, indigenous vegetation (trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers, lichens, mosses), boulders or other rock structures, dirt and sand, natural fences (stone, willow, wooden), textured pathways, and natural water features.
Typically, natural play environments are less costly, safer, and have higher play value than manufactured playgrounds.
Playground safety
Sometimes the safety of playgrounds is disputed in school or among regulators. Over at least the last twenty years, the kinds of equipment to be found in playgrounds has changed, often towards safer equipment built with modern materials. For example, an older jungle gym might be constructed entirely from steel bars, while newer ones tend to have a minimal steel framework while providing a web of nylon ropes for children to climb on.
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