Video Games vs. Climbing Frames

My mum used to say to me, along with many others I presume: “You’ll get square eyes watching the TV for that long”.

Fortunately this never happened, although I do remember pondering and worrying about the idea many a time. The effect that this fabricated statement did have on me however, was give me an added incentive to get my wellies on and embark on countless days of fun and adventure.

This doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Modern technology has sabotaged children’s outdoor play schedules, as they opt for the latest video games rather than climbing frames.

A recent study from Play England charity revealed that, out of 2000 children, 1 in 5 youngsters don’t go outside to play. How times have changed!

This staggering figure can be put down to a number of different reasons, ranging from games consoles to parental laziness. But what I struggle to understand is why children are sitting in the confines of their bedrooms playing the latest ‘shoot ‘em up’ (and why parents would be happy for them to do so) when they could be having a great time running around in the park? I absolutely loved playing out when I was younger and it was very rare that you would find me without a football attached to my foot or dangling from the top of a climbing frame like a possessed chimpanzee.

Obviously I understand, and have on many occasions been attracted to the lure of the PlayStation and Xbox; but the playground equipment that is available to children nowadays is phenomenal and constantly developing. Products like the Aero Tilt, Rota Glide and Air Glider are fantastic, exciting and dynamic products that weren’t available when I was younger. Not to mention the ground-breaking i-play that has completely revolutionised children’s outdoor play.

It isn’t right that some children are missing out on so much fun, and with the growing concerns about childhood obesity we need to be embracing the great outdoors.

So to all of the parents who think that their children are truly happy sat by themselves playing on the computer; put your boots on, take them to the park and let them loose on some cracking playground equipment!


For more information about our products click here, or to request a brochure click here

Hey Hey we're the Monkeys!

Many products tend to have an expiry date nowadays, with new fads, updates, gadgets and advances in technology constantly changing what’s hot and what’s not. So how do timeless classics brush off the impending force of advancement and still manage to not only hold their own in the market, but thrive under the pressures of ‘shelf-life’?

Monkey bars are a piece of playground equipment that has stood the test of time. Playgrounds, along with many things in society, have changed and developed over the years. There have been ground-breaking advancements in electronic play and cutting edge designs; however monkey bars are still one of the most used pieces of playground equipment. Tarzan wannabes can be seen swinging from playgrounds all over the country and will remain to do so for years to come.

Health and fitness has been at the forefront of playground design in recent years, and with child obesity issues being a hot topic, it is more important than ever for children to get themselves outdoors and exercising. Monkey bars provide excellent physical and technical challenges that promote upper body strength, balance and coordination.

Check out Playdale’s Adventure Trail range on our website for more information and the many different ways that you can fit a brand new set of monkey bars into your playground.

Go on, get out there and monkey around!

http://www.playdale.co.uk/

Electronic playgrounds measure energy expenditure

In a ground-breaking development, new technology in electronic playground equipment can now measure the amount of calories burned by users.

The latest addition to the i.play unit, from Playdale, has made the electronic play system even more covetable among communities and health professionals, as it is now able to provide evidence-based feedback. Purchasers can access an online users’ area, linked to their own unit, that displays invaluable usage data including the number of games played, the total number of calories burned and the distance covered by players running between switches during the fast-paced game.

The i.play was developed in response to growing concerns over childhood obesity and brings a technological edge to the traditional playground, in a bid to appeal to today’s computer-obsessed children. With more than 60 units installed throughout the UK and Ireland, the innovative play equipment is already proving effective in improving children's health, but this new advance will enable purchasers to measure its success even more accurately.

Presenting these statistics to the local community could prove hugely beneficial in communicating efforts to engage youngsters in stimulating activities that improve their fitness levels, and the health of the whole community - if the popularity of i.play is anything to go by!

The importance of playground designs in creating successful play spaces…

The success of play areas that attract hundreds of children can often be closely linked to effective playground designs. While it may seem unlikely that there is such a thought process behind the layout of playground equipment, this is far from the truth.

Many play objectives can be met through effective playground design such as providing areas for different age groups, accommodating risk and challenge and encouraging social development among children.

The introduction of the Playbuilder scheme in 2008 generated much interest in playground designs; with Play England publishing ‘10 principles for designing successful play spaces’. This guidance provided the basis for many of the new play areas created by the government initiative and suggested that successful play spaces:

§  Are ‘bespoke’ and/or designed to enhance their setting

§  Are well located

§  Make use of natural elements

§  Provide a wide range of play experiences

§  Are accessible to both disabled and non-disabled children

§  Meet community needs and are loved by the community

§  Allow children of different ages to play together

§  Build in opportunities to experience risk and challenge

§  Are sustainable and appropriately maintained for play value

§  Allow for change and evolution

These principles have certainly had an impact on playground designs, but also closely replicate what many good playground designers already factored into their designs. 




3D playground designs help to visualise how your playground might look

  

Every playground is different, serving different audiences, age groups and visitor numbers – some communities may have an idea of how they want their playground to look, while others may be open to guidance and inspiration from specialised playground designers.

What’s important is that the design of your playground is carefully considered; it’s a good idea to hold a public consultation and get the local children and their parents involved to see what they want from the play area – at Playdale, we produce 3D playground designs that can help people visualise how their playground could look. This can prove an effective tool in generating interest for your playground project and to give credibility to any funding applications you may be preparing.

To find out how we can help you devise the perfect playground design for your play project, get in touch or visit our website.  

National Fitness Day celebrates free fitness facilities!

How did you spend the ‘empower half hour’?! Playing sport in a multi use games area? Working out with Training Buddies? Completing a trim trail?

Training Buddies

Last Friday, 30^th September, saw the launch of the UK’s first ever National Fitness Day, guaranteed to get everyone thinking about what they can do to improve their health and wellbeing. From 12pm midday, everyone was encouraged to take part in the ‘empower half hour’ – 30 minutes of physical activity of their choice, sure to lift their mood.

With recent research revealing that just 15 minutes of exercise a day can improve life expectancy the empower half hour is an easy, convenient way to vastly improve your lifestyle.

Whether you want to tone up, try new sports or improve your fitness levels, the chances are there’ll be loads of free facilities available right on your doorstep. With the increasing popularity of outdoor fitness equipment, many communities have multi use games areas, trim trails and other training equipment installed for use by local residents. These can be used in countless different ways to fit in with an exercise routine tailored to your needs.



Multi use games areas provide fun for the whole community



Multi use games areas are great for helping the whole family get into shape, many offer purpose-built goals, markings and baskets to facilitate a range of sports matches, while their specialised surfacing provides a favourable alternative to muddy fields or hard ground.

Trim trails and equipment such as Training Buddies encourage more active users to challenge themselves with a balance of cardio and strength-building exercises – they can be used alone, or as a great basis for a group circuit training session.

For more ideas about multi use games areas and outdoor training equipment, read about the Playdale Wellness Park

Natural play equipment remains popular



Natural play equipment fuels children's imaginations



When the government launched the Playbuilder/Pathfinder scheme three years ago, the introduction of Play England’s ten design principles for play saw the emergence of a new trend for playgrounds across the country – natural play equipment.



After years of installations of large steel structures, increasingly abstract playground equipment and the developing trend of electronic outdoor play, communities and local authorities across the UK began to move away from these trends to appreciate the aesthetics of natural play. Blending seamlessly into the natural environment, and encouraging children to use their imaginations; a whole new genre of play equipment was born.

Logs and boulders became makeshift seats and clambering obstacles, while climbing frames took on a new, more natural appearance. The development of the Jungle Climbers range identified a huge gap in the market for attractive, abstract climbing structures that encouraged children to develop long-forgotten adventurous skills such as climbing trees. 



Natural play equipment remains popular today, and also works well alongside some traditional items of playground equipment too. For example, stainless steel slides can sit on top of natural embankments to create a new dimension in the playground, while natural-looking mounds can also be created, with tunnels stretching through them, to create a fun ‘underground’ appearance that children love.



Other dynamic items that sit well within a natural environment include the much loved aerial runway and timber adventure trail equipment such as canyon bridges and webnets. For inspiration, you can view a gallery of sites influenced by natural play equipment, and start planning your new play area.

Risk-taking in the playground

Thank heavens for the prevalence of common sense, at last! Coverage in several newspapers this week tells of playgrounds being encouraged to ‘revive potential dangers’. 

Monkey bars encourage challenges

In plain terms, this simply means a return to traditional playground equipment, such as climbing frames, monkey bars and sand and water play, that our compensation culture has previously deemed undesirable to leisure operators and local authorities alike.

With the risk of litigation too great, play providers have gradually opted for low-risk equipment that offers children little opportunity for adventure, or to calculate risk or overcome fears. Our children have been wrapped in the proverbial ‘cotton wool’ and kept close at hand, probably encouraged to seek entertainment and risk within the constraints of their four walls, on a games console or similar.

The Sunday Times quoted Ellen Sandseter, a professor of psychology at Queen Maud University in Norway, on the perceived benefits of overcoming fears about risk in the playground. Writing in the scientific journal Evolutionary Psychology, she said: “Children must encounter risks and overcome playground fears – monkey bars and tall slides are great. They approach thrills and risks in a progressive manner, let them encounter these challenges from an early age and they will master them through play over the years.”

Of course, rigorous safety requirements demand that all playground equipment is safe anyway – the risk offered by any respected supplier’s equipment will only be within the boundaries of the appropriate safety assessor’s recommendations, and all playgrounds should be subject to regular maintenance checks to ensure their continued safety too - but a little adventure never hurt anyone…