If you are having a playground built, you’ll want to make sure the playground equipment, playground surfacing and playground furnishings are well suited for the age of the kids who will use it. Toddlers have quite different play preferences and needs from pre-teens after all. Playground manufacturers typically make playgrounds for three age groups: 6 – 23 months, 2 – 5 years, and 5 – 10 years. So, how do these playgrounds really differ? Take a look.
PLAYGROUNDS FOR 6 – 23 MONTHS Children in this age group are usually referred to as “pre-toddlers.” Playgrounds designed for their needs need to meet specific guidelines set about by two different organizations: the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). First of all, playgrounds for these very young children need to be designed to fit their tiny bodies. Seat heights are very low: 7 inches. Table heights are only 14 inches. Playsets for pre-toddlers tend to have a lot of mentally stimulating elements, such as knobs and spinners that turn. You may also see tactile elements, such as shapes with different textures. Flooring is usually rubber and soft to protect the knees and hands of crawling children. PLAYGROUNDS FOR 2 – 5 YEARS Children in this age group are usually called toddlers, and the CPSC and ASTM have guidelines for playgrounds for them, too. The equipment can be a little taller and higher. Seats are 10.5 inches tall, and tables are 20 inches tall. Playground equipment for toddlers is designed with the knowledge that these kids are more independent. You’ll see a lot of equipment that challenges kids to climb, balance, and pull themselves up. Surfaces and floors are still padded to reduce the chance of injury if a child falls. PLAYGROUNDS FOR 5 – 10 YEARS Kids in this age group are referred to as elementary students in the ASTM and CPSC guidelines. Equipment for them has seat heights of 16 inches and table heights of 25 inches. Playgrounds for elementary kids allow for more independence. This is where you see swings, classic slides, monkey bars, and more involved climbing walls. Elementary playgrounds are what many people picture when they hear the word “playground.” A playground built for the right age group will be safer and more enjoyable for the kids who use it! Always make sure you’re building for the right age range before you have a playground designed and installed. About Premier Park & Play Premier Park & Play is a family owned and operated playground equipment supplier for schools, parks, child care centers, apartments, campgrounds and more in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. Our products include playground equipment, playground surfacing, site furnishings, shelters and shades, outdoor sport and fitness equipment, spray park / splash pad /water play, outdoor musical instruments, dog parks, bleachers and more. Contact us at [email protected].
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A playground can be a wonderful resource for a community, school, or campground. It can become a place where children and their parents gather to get some fresh air and exercise. In many communities, the playground serves as a meeting place, a landmark, and a source of great job. However, not all playgrounds are created equal.
In choosing park playground equipment for your community, one of the most important factors to consider is the age of the children who will be using it. Preschoolers, for instance, have quite different playground needs from preteens. Here’s a closer look at age-appropriate playgrounds and some tips for choosing the most age-appropriate choice for your community. WHAT AGE GROUPS DO PLAYGROUNDS SERVE? Kids of all ages can enjoy playgrounds, but the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission actually divides play equipment into three brackets, depending on the age groups it’s intended for. There are different guidelines regarding the safety of playground equipment within each bracket. These three age groups are:
Because the CPSC standards divide play equipment in this way, most playground equipment makers offer three different types of play structures — one for each of these age groups. WHY IS AGE-APPROPRIATE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT IMPORTANT? Kids tend to have more fun on children’s playground equipment built to suit their age group, but that’s far from the only reason to select age-appropriate equipment. Age-appropriate equipment is safer for kids to use. A 12-year-old, for example, can safely use monkey bars in school playgrounds. Most 18-month-olds cannot. Size is another factor. Swings made for the age 2 – 5 bracket will be hard for a 10-year-old to squeeze into. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE AGE-APPROPRIATE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT? Sometimes your playground needs are obvious. For instance, if you run a daycare center and wish to build a playground for toddlers and preschoolers, you want equipment for 2 – 5-years. In communities with multiple age groups, such as housing complexes, churches, campgrounds and parks, you may want to include equipment for various ages in the same playground. Some playground companies make specific structures that offer a few activities for kids in each of the three age ranges. Another approach would be to build three small, separate playgrounds — one for each age range. Playgrounds are safer, more fun, and more usable for kids when they are built to suit their age-related needs. Make sure you keep the age of the kids you’re serving in mind when selecting playground equipment. Premier Park & Play provides commercial grade playground equipment that are safe and fun for children. If you need help designing a playground for your community, school or daycare center, contact Premier Park & Play at 617-244-3317 or email [email protected]. Doug Knotts, President of Premier Park & Play, a playground equipment supplier for schools, towns, campgrounds, apartments, daycare centers and other community spaces in New England, celebrates his 25th Anniversary in the playground equipment industry. Doug earned a Master’s Degree in Recreation, Sports and Leisure Management from Northeastern University and has been an NPSI certified playground safety inspector since 1995. Doug has a natural understanding of the things that would excite a child, and applies it toward the design of playgrounds. He takes a collaborative approach to playground design, engaging the community, staff and school kids. He even advises and supports schools and non-profits in fundraising. A supporter of the environment, Doug has made a wide selection of eco-friendly playground equipment and playground surfacing options available to his customers. These include products made from recycled milk jugs and playground surfaces made from recycled rubber or wood fiber. He also made sure that his company’s products meets all the safety and accessibility by complying with ASTM, CPSC and ADAAG regulations. website: http://www.premierparkplay.com
Over the years, Doug has received many kudos from his customers, from City Parks and Recreations, Schools and Daycare Centers to Apartment Complexes and various Non-Profits. “Mr. Knotts is always approachable and provides excellent service throughout the sometimes long and arduous process of planning, budgeting and actually installing new play equipment. He willingly meets with City personnel, elected officials and community members, and answers questions while providing helpful insight based on his many years of industry experience.” “Doug Knotts was simply amazing to us and our cause. He even played in our poker tournament even though he had never played before just because he wanted to help us out!!! Which that RIGHT there speaks volumes to his dedication to the project.” “Mr. Knotts has been a pleasure to work with, reliable, thorough, creative and understanding of the difficulties of fundraising for such a process. He has a wonderful knowledge of his product, a creative type and a natural understanding of the things that excite a preschooler.” “Doug’s considerate manner, attention to details on behalf of the customer and overall work ethic exceed the norm. He is honest, patient and very dedicated to his customer and stands behind his product.” For his part, Doug enjoys his work tremendously and looks forward to many more years providing fun and educational playgrounds for children all over New England! About Premier Park & Play: Premier Park & Play is a family owned and operated playground equipment supplier for schools, parks, child care centers, campgrounds and non-profits in New England. The Company is a state contractor for Connecticut and Massachusetts. Designing a playground for early age kids involves more than choosing age-appropriate equipment. It’s important to design a whole play environment that helps them develop the skills they need and enjoy their playtime. Whether you are designing for daycare centers or preschools, keeping a few key developmental needs in mind can help ensure that your playground design provides both skills development and fun.
Interaction Simple interactions with both equipment and environment can give kids experience with how the physical world works. Provide opportunities to push, pull, dig, build, roll, collect, or spill things. Try to include items that have multiple uses and/or settings that the children can alter by themselves to encourage hands-on discovery. Sensory Engagement Appeal to children’s senses. Think beyond brightly colored equipment. Engage touch, hearing and smell in addition to sight. Textured surfaces and natural materials can provide a range of different tactile experiences. Incorporating trees, gardens, and other natural features adds sensory appeal and encourages movement as well. Challenge Consider the importance of risk and challenge. Children are built for adventure. They test their limits through play and repeat skills in order to master them. Provide graduated levels of developmentally appropriate challenges that nurture children’s natural curiosity and taste for adventure, allow them to try out their problem-solving and creative thinking skills, and build confidence. Imagination Encourage imagination. Young children have an active imagination and naturally engage in creative play. Playgrounds that include structures like forts, tunnels, and other components that facilitate storytelling and dramatic play allow children to express their creativity, invent scenarios, and act out their imaginary worlds. Independence Support individual exploration and discovery. Playground structures designed to allow opportunities for children to control the environment and select their level of risk without sacrificing safety build confidence and encourage independence. If you need help designing a playground for your school or daycare center, contact Premier Park & Play at 617-244-3317 or email [email protected] What are your favorite memories of childhood play? Chances are those memories happened outdoors and included a lot of nature-based activities like digging holes, chasing fireflies, building stick forts or sand castles, jumping in big piles of leaves, or just fooling around with dirt or water. Mud pies, anyone?
Is it possible to form those kinds of memories today? Childhood has changed. With all the screen time, the lack of access to green space, and the emphasis on direct instruction and increased academic focus in early childhood programs and preschools, it can be hard to squeeze in unstructured outdoor play. We need to remember the importance of play in the child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual development. Play is how children understand each other and make sense of their world. They learn so much from play that it’s often called the “work” of childhood. Studies show that children learn best in an environment that allows them to explore, discover, and play. Outdoor play in nature has a powerful impact on a child’s development. Research shows that school playgrounds with trees, fields, shrubs, and vegetated edges encourage creative play and build skills that will be valuable in academic learning too. There are entire preschools centered on nature play. One of the first in New England was established in 2006 at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Connecticut. Several Massachusetts Audubon sanctuaries offer preschool programs. However, nature play can be designed into the playground of your preschool using equipment designed specifically for early childhood outdoor play. Nature of Early Play products, available through Premier Park & Play, reconnect children with the natural world through interactions with dirt, sand, water, animals, music, and plants. Products like the Outdoor Classroom, Nature Bowl, and Garden Roof House provide hands-on opportunities for exploration. For more information about preschool playground products, please contact Doug Knotts at 617-244-3317 or email [email protected]. Are you planning to build a new playground for your school and wondering how you will pay for it? Fundraising may seem like the most daunting part of your playground project but it doesn’t have to be. These days there are many options from the time-honored bake sale to affiliate programs. Consider a mix of traditional fundraisers, partnerships with businesses and parks departments, as well as grants. Here are a few ideas:
Saving the planet and going green is what we aspire to do, and as parents, we want our children to learn to be environmentally friendly as well. What better way to do that than to build an eco-friendly playground for our kids? Many playground equipment manufacturers such as Playmart, one of Premier Park & Play’s manufacturing partners, build play structures with recycled plastic materials such as milk jugs. A small park bench uses close to 500 milk jugs and a larger play set can use more than 70,000 milk jugs. See how much we can contribute to sustainability by using eco-friendly play structures in our school playgrounds and municipal parks. In addition to benefits to the environment, recycled plastic does not rust, peel or produce splinters, thus providing a safe and beautiful surface for children to play. Besides play equipment and playground benches, we can also use recycled rubber mulch, which is produced by recycling tires, for playground surfacing. Rubber mulch playground surfaces are not only eco-friendly, they provide the most shock absorption keeping children safe from fall injuries. A more affordable but still eco-friendly alternative is wood fiber mulch, which is free of paint, chemicals and additives. Lastly, consider a nature-themed playground to teach your child to love nature and motivate them to become environmentally-friendly citizens, while having great fun with climbers, enclosures, panels, roofs, rocks and stumps in the form of natural elements like mushrooms and tree trunks. Premier Park & Play provides eco-friendly playground equipment and constructs eco-friendly playgrounds for schools, parks, child care centers and other organizations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and other parts of New England. For more information, please call 617-244-3317 or visit our website at premierparkplay.com. Educators know that play is one of the most effective ways for children to learn. That is why a well designed and installed playground is an indispensable part of a school. Here, we provide some suggestions for School Boards and PTAs to consider when choosing playground equipment and installing play structures on their grounds. Carry out a playground needs assessment Before you start reviewing the possible playground equipment or designs, it is essential to carry out a needs assessment. Some of the things to consider should include:
Playground Equipment and Design The ideal playground should give children exercise, socialization, and learning opportunities. A great playground should have the equipment and design to stimulate kids’ sense of adventure and their need to explore and investigate. It should encourage kids to run, swing, climb, and then do it again! There is an undeniable link between a healthy body and a healthy mind, especially for growing kids. An excellent playground equipment supplier can help you choose the right equipment based on your needs. They can put together a playground design and construction plan to make your dream playground a reality! Playground Installation - Safety and Accessibility Every parent needs assurance on the safety of their children when using the playground. Playground safety includes not only the safety of the play equipment, but also playground surfacing, and the overall safety of the playground environment. An experienced certified playground safety inspector can give you a good assessment after a site visit. He can also ensure that your choice of playground equipment meets safety and accessibility standards established by ASTM, CPSC and ADAAG.
Premier Park and Play is a highly reputable provider of playground equipment and playground design and installation services in New England. Owner Doug Knotts has over 20 years of park & playground industry consulting experience. He has a Master's Degree in Recreation, Sports and Leisure Management from Northeastern University and has been an NPSI certified playground safety inspector since 1995. Doug has a natural understanding of the things that would excite a child, and applies it toward the design of playgrounds. If your school is looking to install a new playground, please visit our website at premierparkplay.com and contact Doug at [email protected] or call 617-244-3317. Educators know that play is one of the most effective ways for children to learn. That is why a well designed and installed playground is an indispensable part of a school. Here, we provide some suggestions for School Boards and PTAs to consider when choosing playground equipment and installing play structures on their grounds. Carry out a needs assessmentBefore you start reviewing the possible equipment or designs, it is essential to carry out a needs assessment. Some of the things to consider should include:
Playground Equipment and Design The ideal playground should give children exercise, socialization, and learning opportunities. A great playground should have the equipment and design to stimulate kids’ sense of adventure and their need to explore and investigate. It should encourage kids to run, swing, climb, and then do it again! There is an undeniable link between a healthy body and a healthy mind, especially for growing kids. An excellent playground equipment supplier can help you choose the right equipment based on your needs. They can put together a playground design and construction plan to make your dream playground a reality! Playground Installation - Safety and AccessibilityEvery parent needs assurance on the safety of their children when using the playground. Playground safety includes not only the safety of the play equipment, but also playground surfacing, and the overall safety of the playground environment. An experienced certified playground safety inspector can give you a good assessment after a site visit. He can also ensure that your choice of playground equipment meets safety and accessibility standards established by ASTM, CPSC and ADAAG.
Premier Park and Play is a highly reputable provider of playground equipment and playground design and installation services. The company has designed and built many school playgrounds in New England. Owner Doug Knotts has over 20 years of park & playground industry consulting experience. He has a Master's Degree in Recreation, Sports and Leisure Management from Northeastern University and has been an NPSI certified playground safety inspector since 1995. Doug has a natural understanding of the things that would excite a child, and applies it toward the design of playgrounds. If your school is looking to install a new playground, please visit our website at premierparkplay.com and contact Doug at [email protected] or call 617-244-3317. The playground is often the place where school kids develop socials skills and learn valuable lessons about teamwork, trust, patience and following rules. That’s why Premier Park and Park provides not only playground equipment for schools, but also offers lots of advice and project management services in the design and construction of the playground.
One of our customers is Milestones Day School of Waltham, MA. Premier Park and Play provided playground design services in addition to supplying and installing playground equipment by Meglio Unionland. As the School’s Executive Director puts it: “The elaborate play structure design was a huge social project. Doug Knotts gave us the parameters and a plethora of playground components to pick from. Students voted on which structures they liked best and ultimately which ones were included in our playground. The final design was a collaboration between Doug and the Milestones staff.” At Rockport-Camden Elementary School of Rockport, Maine, Premier Park and Play representative, Doug Knotts, again provided assistance in the design of the playground and playground equipment. He facilitated a "design the playground day" during which both students and parents were involved in the design of the playground. After the design process, Doug carefully planned the construction process which was finely executed by experience builders who completed the whole playground in two days! “We found Doug Knotts, to be professional, knowledgeable and incredibly easy to work with from the first meeting where we discussed our needs, to the final completion of the playground project. The many parents volunteers involved in the construction of the playground commented on how they enjoyed working with the builders. Our K-4 elementary students love the playground. I highly recommend for any school considering to replace or add on a playground to consider contacting Premier Park and Play." From traditional playground equipment such as slides and jungle gyms to fantasy themed playground castles – and even larger than life outdoor musical instruments – Premier Park and Play can help you design, source and install the playground equipment that’s just right for you. We are committed to putting both the customer and safety first, making sure that all the playground systems we install are compliant with ASTM, CPSC and ADAAG regulations. To find out how we can help you design the perfect playground to meet your needs, contact us today. |
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Premier Park and Play is a playground equipment supplier based in Newton, Massachusetts. Archives
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