How Can We Compare These Playground Designs?
Comparing your playground designs
Be sure your playground incorporates as many play experiences as possible. Remember, it isn’t always the number of play events that are on a play structure that make it a good value, but the value of the play itself.
As an example, let’s compare Playground A vs. Playground B
Playground Planning: Include These “7 Zones” To Create a Balanced Playground Environment
Before choosing the actual layout for your playground, it’s helpful to have an overall plan or design for the placement of furnishings. You will want to organize the space in a way that will promote physical and social play while minimizing conflicts. The following is called the zoned approach and was outlined in Esbenson in his book “The Early Childhood Playground: An Outdoor Classroom”. Similar to the way a classroom is arranged into specific areas or centers, small groupings of functionally separate outdoor play areas called zones can enrich children’s interaction with the equipment, nature, adults, and one another. Instead of having one large, central structure that attempts to provide a variety of experiences and activities for children, each zone includes several smaller, related activities and pieces of equipment. This allows more active play areas to be separated from areas that involve less noisy creative of manipulative activities and can help minimize the tendency for louder, bigger boys to dominate a play structure.
Esbenson outlines seven distinct zones:
1. Transition zone: The area between your building and the playground or between different play zones. This area allows children time and space to decide where they want to go as they enter the playground. This can include open space, or seating areas. Items to consider: picnic tables and benches, Shade Structures, Picnic Shelters, Bleachers. Read more
The Sensory Rich Playground is For Children of All Abilities
Young children learn by using all of their senses, so your playground should offer as many experiences as possible. The more sensory experiences, the more is learned and gained during development. The playground should include the following sensory areas:
Visual:top Adults tend to look at the functional aspect of playgrounds that includes the natural coloration and a traditional theme. Oft times, the natural looking playground is aesthetic for the adult rather than the child. It’s rare that the typical child-oriented environment consists of typical natural coloration, i.e. beige, green, brown. More likely, a playground with a variety of shapes, colors, and forms will offer the most stimulation and improve spatial perception.
Vestibular:top
The vestibular system consists of small, liquid-filled tubes in the inner ear and is important in maintaining a child’s sense of balance. The movement of liquid through these canals produces stimulation of the nervous system. Sensory experiences change every time the head moves in a different direction or at a different speed; this explains children’s great enjoyment of whirling, spinning, swing, or being tossed in the air. During the first years, children’s vestibular systems are very receptive to even small amount s of stimulation, and slight variations in speed and direction have a substantial effect on balance. The vestibular system works with the senses of touch and vision as well as sensations from the joints and muscles to help children orient themselves in space. When children go down a slide, for example, they both feel and see themselves moving downward through space. by about the age of 8, the sensory-motor development of children is well established.
14 Layout Considerations for your Playground Design
1. Organize zones to facilitate play and minimize conflicts, e.g. locate quiet play areas away from active spaces
2. Provide areas that encourage group interaction as well as places from solitary and partner play
3. Avoid putting high-activity zones close to transitional zones
4. Locate compatible play zones close together, e.g. creative play and social play can be placed adjacent
5. Design all play zones for child-initiated activity
6. Locate play areas for toddler and areas involving quiet, creative activities near the entry to building
7. Use low, natural partitions and different surfacing materials to define zones, i.e. EWF hardwood fibers around swings, and pour-in-place rubber surfacing around the playsystem
8. Use space wisely, leaving some areas open. Cluttered playground detracts from children’s explorations and cause injuries
9. Plan zones to take advantage of any prominent or unusual elements, e.g. physical area around a sloped designed for running
10. Be sure that equipment landscaping do not interfere with visual supervision. Adults must have a clear line-of-sight
11. Retain as many existing trees, shrubs, and other landscaping as possible.
12. Locate equipment away from dumpsters, heavy traffic and loud noises. Plant trees or build fences and visual barriers to block nuisances.
13. Make sure site is accessible for maintenance and emergency equipment
14. Use your imagination. Paint stones, create a mural, make hand prints in cement. Cue children through the color, shape and type of materials that this is their place to play.
The following was adapted from Tracy Theemes’ “Let’s Go Outside! Designing the Early Childhood Playground”
If you’re looking for a fundraising partner or program, don’t forget to review the Fundraising Resources pages on the top right tab. If you are located in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, or North Carolina and would like assistance with designing your playground, please contact us at www.korkat.com
8 Important Planning Considerations for your Playground Design
Good playground design involves balancing your children’s needs, volume, age distribution, developmental aspects, and site conditions. Assess your present space by drawing a rough diagram. Include the seasonal aspects of your layout including sunlight, wind direction, snow/ice/rain. Observe the following:
- type and amount of natural materials
- small vs. large space
- topographical features, e.g. steep slopes, trees, rocks
- shared spaces with other age groups
- shaded area–either hard shelter or shade structure
You’ll need assess the following site conditions:
1. Measure your site and scale to your drawing. Triangulate your area be placing flags that will act as your measuring points, e.g. pt A, pt B, pt C. You’ll then be able to take effective measurements as triangles. Once you have all sides to a triangle, e.g. A to B to C, you’ll be able to calculate your area. The site can be split into rectangles, triangles and circles as you place your flags.
2. Identify all existing elements on the site: paths, trees, shrubs, fencing, buildings, large rocks, drainage, and swales.
3. Identify the plants and trees present and check that are all nontoxic
4. Note any areas affected by the sun, shade, wind, rain, and snow
5. Locate any underground services, such as sewer, water and gas. Any overhead power or phone lines? Any overhanging roof or tree branches?
6. Indicate any natural slopes or valleys
7. Identify any drainage problems
8. Determine if there’s a connection to water for play activities
Operational aspects:
In addition to overall environment, address the folloiwing:
* How will it be financed?
* What are the zoning requirements? What permits are needed?
* Determine the best source for evaluating, and ordering equipment and materials. KorKat can assist with the initial design and specifications for obtaining quotations.
* Consider your installation method–self-install, community build, turn-key installation
* Who will do landscaping and initial site preparation?
The following was adapted from Tracy Theemes’ “Let’s Go Outside! Designing the Early Childhood Playground”
Don’t forget to reference the Fundraising Resources page on the top right tab, for products and resource to help you with your playground fundraiser. If you are planning a playground in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, or North Carolina and would like additional advice as to making the most of an existing budget, please contact us at www.korkat.com
