Combination playground structure for small children; slides, climbers (stairs in this case), playhouse

A playground or play area is an area designed for children to play freely. CHILD syndrome (or congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects) is a genetic disorder Modern playgrounds often have recreational equipment such as the see-saw, merry-go-round, swingset, slide, jungle gym, chin-up bars, sandbox, spring rider, monkey bars, overhead ladder, trapeze rings, playhouses, and mazes, many of which help children develop physical coordination, strength, and flexibility, as well as providing recreation and enjoyment. A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter) is a long narrow board suspended in the middle so that as one end goes up the other goes down A carousel ( carrousel in French) is an Amusement ride consisting of a rotating platform with seats for passengers A swing is a hanging seat usually found in a Playground for children a Circus for Acrobats or on a Porch for relaxing Playground slides are found in parks schools Playgrounds and backyards The jungle gym, also known as monkey bars or climbing frame, is a piece of Playground equipment made of many pieces of thin material such as metal Chin-up bars are Playground equipment that were once ubiquitous on children's playgrounds The jungle gym, also known as monkey bars or climbing frame, is a piece of Playground equipment made of many pieces of thin material such as metal The jungle gym, also known as monkey bars or climbing frame, is a piece of Playground equipment made of many pieces of thin material such as metal A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by two cords from a support to form a Trapezoid. A maze is a complex Tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's Body or Mind. Happiness is an Emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to Bliss and intense Joy. Common in modern playgrounds are "play structures" that link many different pieces of equipment.

Playgrounds often also have facilities for playing informal games of adult sports, such as a baseball diamond, a skating rink, a basketball court, or a tether ball. Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Tetherball is a game for two opposing players The equipment consists of a 10 ft (3 m stationary metal pole from which is hung a Ball from a rope or tether

"Public" playground equipment refers to equipment intended for use in the play areas of parks, schools, child care facilities, institutions, multiple family dwellings, restaurants, resorts, and recreational developments, and other areas of public use. A park is a protected area of Land and Water, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped state and set aside for some purpose often to do with human A school (from Greek σχολεῖον - scholeion) is an Institution designed to allow and encourage Students (or "pupils"

A type of playground called a playscape is designed to provide a safe environment for play in a natural setting. Playscape is term used by Landscape architects and designers who specialize in designing and building playspaces that look and feel like a natural environment

About playgrounds

Professionals recognize that the social skills that children develop on the playground become lifelong skill sets that are carried forward into their adulthood. Social Skills are a group of skills which people need to interact and communicate with others Independent research concludes that playgrounds are among the most important environments for children outside the home. Most forms of play are essential for healthy development, but free, spontaneous play—the kind that occurs on playgrounds—is the most beneficial type of play.

Seesaw with a crowd of children playing

Rope bridge for improving balance

Children have devised many playground games and pastimes. Some children's games include Apple core Aki 123 Bad Egg Ball Tag Blind Man's Bluff But because playgrounds are usually subject to adult supervision and oversight, young children's street culture often struggles to fully thrive there. Children's street culture refers to the cumulative Culture created by young Children. Research by Robin Moore (Childhood's Domain: Play and Place, 1986) has clearly shown that playgrounds need to be balanced with marginal areas that (to adults) appear to be derelict or wasteground but to children they are area's that they can claim for themselves, ideally a wooded area or field.

A type of playground called a playscape can provide children with the necessary feeling of ownership that Moore describes above. Playscape is term used by Landscape architects and designers who specialize in designing and building playspaces that look and feel like a natural environment Playscapes can also provide parents with the assurance of their child's safety and wellbeing, which may not be prevalent in an open field or wooded area.

Playgrounds can be

• Built by collaborative support of corporate and community resources to achieve an immediate and visible "win" for their neighborhood.
• Public, free of charge, like at most rural elementary schools
• A business with an entrance fee
• Connected to a business, for customers only, e. See also Primary education An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of Compulsory education known as elementary g. , at McDonald's and IKEA. IKEA is a privately-held international home products retailer that sells flat pack Furniture, accessories bathrooms and kitchens at retail stores around the world
• Elaborate indoor mazes, like those at the (now defunct) Discovery Zone and Chuck E. Cheese's

Playground safety

Sometimes the safety of playgrounds is disputed in school or among regulators. Discovery Zone (or DZ for short was a chain of entertainment facilities featuring games and elaborate indoor mazes designed for young children including Slides climbing Chuck E Cheese's is a chain of family entertainment centers The concept centers around a basic sit-down Pizza restaurant complemented by Arcade games Over at least the last twenty years, the kinds of equipment to be found in playgrounds has changed, often towards safer equipment built with modern materials. For example, an older jungle gym might be constructed entirely from steel bars, while newer ones tend to have a minimal steel framework while providing a web of nylon ropes for children to climb on. Overview Nylon is a Thermoplastic silky material first used commercially in a nylon- Bristled Toothbrush (1938 followed more famously by Often, playgrounds with equipment that children may fall off of has mulch on the ground to help break children's falls. In Agriculture and Gardening, '''mulch''' is a protective cover placed over the Soil, primarily to modify the effects of the local Climate. Rubber mulch is gaining popularity due to its added ability to break falls. Rubber mulch is a type of Mulch that is made from 100% Recycled rubber

A study done by the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that playground injuries were responsible for 23 visits a day to emergency rooms in Ontario, Canada. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI is an independent not-for-profit organization in Canada, primarily funded by the provincial and federal governments Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The largest proportion of these visits were for orthopedic and head injuries (51% and 22% respectively. Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (also spelled orthopaedics) is the branch of Surgery concerned with injuries to or conditions involving the Traumatic brain injury. THIS PAGE IS FOR INFORMATION ON HEAD INJURY (NOT SPECIFICALLY THE BRAIN--> Head injury is )

In the United States the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American National Standards Institute have created a Standardized Document and Training System for certification of Playground Safety Inspectors. These regulations are nation wide and provide a basis for safe playground installation and maintenance practices. A. S. T. M. 1487-05 deals with specific guidelines regarding issues such as play ground layout, use zones, and various test criteria for determining play ground safety. This information can be applied effectively only by a trained C. P. S. I. A National Listing of Trained Playground Safety Inspectors is available for many states. A Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) is a career that was developed by the National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI) and is recognized nationally by the National Recreation and Park Association or N. R. P. A.

European Standards EN 1177 specifies the requirements for surfaces used in playgrounds. European Committee for Standardization or Comité Européen de Normalisation ( CEN) is a private non-profit organisation whose mission is to foster the European economy For each material type and height of equipment it specifies a minimum depth of material rquired. ^[1] EN 1176 covers playground equipment standards. ^[2][3]

Playgrounds in the Soviet Union

Playgrounds were an integral part of urban culture in the USSR. Urban culture is the Culture of cities. Cities all over the world past and present have behaviors and cultural elements that separate them from otherwise comparable The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In the 1970s and 1980s there were playgrounds in almost every park in many Soviet cities. Playground apparatus was reasonably standard all over the country; most of them consisted of metallic bars with relatively few wooden parts, and were manufactured in state-owned factories. Some of the most common constructions were the carousel, sphere, seesaw, rocket, bridge, etc. A carousel ( carrousel in French) is an Amusement ride consisting of a rotating platform with seats for passengers A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter) is a long narrow board suspended in the middle so that as one end goes up the other goes down A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the

In the 1990s, after the breakup of the USSR, many items of playground apparatus in post-Soviet states were stolen by metal-thieves, while relatively few new playgrounds were built. However, there were so many Soviet playgrounds that many of them still exist and are in a relatively good state, especially those which were repainted.

Standard carousel	Sphere	Another playground construction	A playground in a garden
Rocket	Bridge

Natural Playground

Main article: Playscape

"Natural playgrounds" are play environments that blend natural materials, features, and indigenous vegetation with creative landforms to create purposely complex interplays of natural, environmental objects in ways that challenge and fascinate children and teach them about the wonders and intricacies of the natural world while they play within it. Playscape is term used by Landscape architects and designers who specialize in designing and building playspaces that look and feel like a natural environment

Play components may include earth shapes (sculptures), environmental art, indigenous vegetation (trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers, lichens, mosses), boulders or other rock structures, dirt and sand, natural fences (stone, willow, wooden), textured pathways, and natural water features.

A natural playground for a child care centre.	A natural playground sandbox using creative landforms provides a place for Passive / Creative Play	Jacques Laurent Agasse: The Playground, 1830	A water-based playground in Germany
Accessible public playground in the USA, 2007

See also

• Playscape
• Obstacle course
• Playground game
• Ropes course
• Friendship bench
• Empower playgrounds

References

External links

• IPEMA International Playground Equipment Manufacturer's Association
• NPCAI International Playground Contractors Association — a non-profit trade association of commercial playground builders and associated organizations
• National Program for Playground Safety — serves as a recognized national U. Playscape is term used by Landscape architects and designers who specialize in designing and building playspaces that look and feel like a natural environment An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual or team must navigate usually while being timed Some children's games include Apple core Aki 123 Bad Egg Ball Tag Blind Man's Bluff A ropes course is a challenging outdoor Personal development and Team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements A friendship bench is a special place in a School Playground where a child can go when they want someone to talk to Empower Playgrounds Incorporated is a US Registered 501(c(3 company that designs builds installs and maintains Playground systems designed to extract a fraction of the S. clearinghouse for playground safety information
• KaBOOM! Playspace Finder — a searchable database of playgrounds in the U. S.