The benefits of a playground

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As a parent or carer of young children, you’ve no doubt spent many hours sitting or standing in a playground watching your child play or pushing them on a swing. While playgrounds are great to get kids playing outside they actually have a range of benefits for their development – not just physical and social, but their cognitive and emotional development too.

The social and educational benefits of playgrounds
When your child is new to a setting, or you’re on holiday and want your kids to make new friends quickly, you encourage them to visit the playground, right? This is because they are designed to encourage engagement and collaboration and to facilitate independent play.

For example, the castle and climbing frames result in kids making up games together, competition often breaks out on the swings to see who can go the highest, and they also take turns on the slide and wait patiently for the next go – before they know it, they have a new friend.

As for the educational benefits of playgrounds, it’s all about learning to be brave and patient and experiencing things like excitement, fear, and nervousness for the first time. There are also pieces of kit specifically designed for educational purposes like big magnifiers, storybook corners and sensory play kits.

What equipment is best for learning?
When deciding what kit is the best for learning, it all depends on what you want the child to learn. Some need social development, and others need physicality, so here are some options:

For improved physicality

Consider pieces like climbing frames, rope bridges and trim trails which are often adventure or obstacle-course themed to get them moving their underused body parts.

2. For improved education
Check out the activity panels at the playground such as noughts and crosses, chalkboards, map boards and more. They’re created to make learning fun and encourage learning outside the classroom. Outdoor classrooms and reading corners are an option for this kind of learning.

3. For improved creativity
Pieces like castles, forts and multiplay kits are ideal for this as the children have to come up with the scenarios to make these pieces more exciting and come to life. They also help boost co-operation and communication between the kids.

At the end of the day, every piece of playground equipment can help a child develop and learn something in some way. It’s up to them to get excited and involved if they want to.