DEVELOPMENTAL BENEFITS OF Playgrounds, THE

Childhood Education, Fall 2004 by Frost, Joe L, Brown, Pei-San, Sutterby, John A, Thornton, Candra D

The most critical factor in preventing serious injuries to preschool children is installing equipment at low heights and maintaining surfacing per ASTM specifications. Several national surveys and our own studies of serious injuries resulting in litigation show that few playground sponsors maintain loose surfacing in proper condition and at proper depths. Large numbers of injuries to preschool children continue to result from their using equipment designed for older children (featuring excessive heights and hard fall surfaces). We believe, although we cannot provide concrete evidence, that properly installed and maintained loose surfacing, especially loose, manufactured wood and rubber chips, are more effective than manufactured mats for preventing fractures in falls.

Given our observations and research over the past quarter century, we believe that many creative designs would be appropriate and valuable for most preschool-age children. For example, we propose chain or cable walks suspended four to six inches above resilient surfacing with support bars to grasp with the hands for balance; low arch climbers made of molded plastic to prevent stepping through and impacting steel rungs; low, freestanding climbing events with flexible climbing components to help absorb shock; parallel bars placed at low heights, some angled and attached to decks, for creative hanging and sliding (not as gymnasts would use them); and overhead apparatus, as seen in this book, installed at low heights and protected by resilient surfacing. All overhead apparatus needs soft, elevated take-off platforms.

We propose that manufactured playground equipment be subjected to observational studies by groups skilled in research and child development before making it widely available for play by the nation's children. We do not advocate violation of national or state playground safety guidelines, standards, or codes. As new knowledge emerges from research, safety standards should be modified to encourage the development and use of creative, developmentally sound play equipment and materials. Research involving children on playgrounds should be carefully approved and monitored by qualified research committees.

Fixed, heavy duty, manufactured playground equipment is only one important component of developmentally sound play environments. Consequently, we extended the content of this publication to address qualities of comprehensive play environments. Chapter 7 focuses on sand and water play, an indispensable element for young children's development. Sand and water are universally available and inexpensive. They are flexible, porous, compelling to touch and manipulate, and offer unlimited opportunities to construct, create, and imagine. The messiness attributed to both indoor and outdoor use is a small inconvenience indeed compared to the benefits derived.

The final chapter complements the preceding chapters by focusing on recommendations for comprehensive playgrounds designed to enhance all forms and levels of children's development. The recommended elements include gardens, special or private places among vegetation, vegetable gardens, butterfly gardens, stimulus shelters, and natural, wild places. A number of previous studies, reported in When Children Play (Frost & Sunderlin, 1985), conclude that loose parts (portable materials), such as blocks and construction materials, tricycles, sand and water play materials, and organized games areas are equally or perhaps more valuable than fixed equipment for promoting broad developmental goals. Making playgrounds developmentally sound means providing ever-growing challenges and variation to match children's developing skills.