Playground

A playground is an area designed for children to play freely, without structure, which helps to develop the child's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social well being.

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Modern playgrounds often have recreational equipment such as the see-saw, merry-go-round, swingset, slide, climber, walking bridge, jungle gym, chin-up bars, sandbox, parallel bars, overhead ladder, trapeze and trapeze rings, playhouses, and maze, many of which help children develop physical coordination, strength, and flexibility, as well as providing recreation and enjoyment. Common in modern playgrounds are "play structures" that link many different pieces of equipment.

Related Topics:
See-saw - Merry-go-round - Swingset - Climber - Walking bridge - Jungle gym - Chin-up bar - Sandbox - Parallel bars - Overhead ladder - Trapeze - Trapeze rings - Playhouse - Maze - Recreation - Enjoyment - Play structures

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Professionals recognize that the social skills that children develop on the playground become lifelong skill sets that are carried forward into their adulthood. Independant 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.

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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 tetherball.

Related Topics:
Sport - Baseball - Skating - Basketball - Tetherball

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Sometimes the safety of playgrounds is disputed in school or among regulators. 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.

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Playgrounds can be

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• Public, free of charge
• A business with an entrance fee
• Connected to a business, for customers only, e.g., at McDonald's and IKEA.
• Elaborate indoor mazes, like those at the (now defunct) Discovery Zone and Chuck E. Cheese's

Children have devised many playground games and pastimes. But because playgrounds are usually subject to adult supervision and oversight, young children's street culture often struggles to fully thrive there. 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, which young children can claim for themselves.

Related Topics:
Playground game - Street culture

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Playground: See also: ►