Finding the Way to Play

Manufacturers Embrace 'Back-to-Nature' Trend

Playground equipment manufacturers would not stay in business if they didn't address the concerns of educators and programmers, and the needs and desires of children. With childhood obesity at epidemic levels, a primary concern today is that children aren't moving enough—a problem compounded by the amount of time spent indoors.

Many manufacturers are highly active in naturalized playground initiatives. Some offer curriculum suggestions to help educators and programmers maximize playgrounds to promote physical activity, develop wellness habits and meet national standards for physical fitness.

One program, developed in partnership with the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, encourages six essential types of physical activities dependent upon traditional playground equipment like bars, swings and slides:

• Brachiating or overhead climbing: to improve upper-body muscular strength and endurance, and promote hand-eye coordination, kinesthetic awareness and rhythmic body movement.
• Climbing: to enhance spatial awareness and arm and leg coordination; to develop body management skills on stable and unstable apparatuses; and to foster whole-body muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.
• Swinging: to integrate a smooth, synchronized movement pattern; emphasize the importance of timely energy transfer during movement; and promote aerobic fitness, muscular force and whole-body awareness.
• Sliding: to enhance core stability, dynamic balance, and leg and hip flexibility, and to promote body and spatial awareness.
• Spinning: to develop kinesthetic awareness and postural control and to improve comprehension of speed, force and directional movement.
• Balancing: to increase understanding of body positioning and control when stationary or moving; to promote muscular strength and endurance throughout the entire body; and to introduce mechanical principles such as center of gravity, equilibrium, base of support, and counterbalances that are essential in most sports.

Other programs aim to provide help when creating or retrofitting play environments that aim to integrate manufactured equipment with the natural landscape. This type of program offers many benefits:

• Health: exposure to nature has been shown to reduce symptoms of attention deficit disorder and feelings of stress.
• Socialization: naturalized playgrounds provide broader inclusion of people of all abilities and increases social interaction.
• Learning and cognitive abilities: natural elements provide hands-on experiences and opportunities to bring classroom learning outdoors, while stimulating different forms of play.
• Environmental stewardship: increasing children's awareness of the environment at a young age helps them develop into environmentally responsible adults.
• Physical activity: naturalized playgrounds motivate children to move more and engage in play for longer periods of time.