Playgrounds are an essential part of childhood, helping children develop physically, socially and academically. However, it is important to design a playground with age in mind to keep children engaged and strike a balance between giving children challenges while still encouraging growth.
Educators and commercial developers are tasked with designing the perfect playground. However, getting the right age can make a significant difference to children’s enjoyment, alongside ensuring they are playing in a safe environment.
Find out how to choose age-appropriate playground equipment in our guide!
The Importance Of Playgrounds Being Age Appropriate
Age is a key consideration when developing a playground to ensure it meets safety guidelines and fosters each child’s engagement. Reasons why age-appropriate equipment is necessary includes the following:
- Playground Safety: Ensuring children are safe when using your playground should be a top priority to reduce the risk of injuries. Younger children are still developing their strength and coordination, meaning large structures can be dangerous for EYFS children to climb.
- Development: Outdoor play is a key component to developing a child’s skills. Different equipment can play a part in enhancing fine and gross motor skills, alongside encouraging children to socialise with each other. Children often naturally develop soft skills too, such as teamwork when faced with a group challenge.
- Encouraging Engagement: Children need to want to play on the playground and find it fun. For example, a climbing frame that is suited to a child’s height and strength will provide a nice challenge that they can accomplish. When it is too difficult, children are likely to not interact or feel frustrated. Older children may also be bored at how easy, for example, a trim trail is, if it is too easy for their age.
- Easier For Guardians and Parents: Age-appropriate playgrounds can help parents and caregivers feel at ease when taking children to a playground. School settings and families often have multiple age groups. Children of all ages being able to enjoy the playground safely helps guardians feel at ease and can monitor the children more effectively.
Considerations When Designing Age Specific Playgrounds
When designing a playground, there are some key considerations you need to follow, which will help narrow down the age-specific equipment you need.
Staying To Safety Guidelines
Playgrounds are governed by safety guidelines, including ones set by the National Program For Play Area Safety. Ways to make your areas safe are having the right playground surfacing, ensuring equipment has enough walking space in between, using the right guardrails or handrails on equipment and fencing to zone areas.
Clear Age Play Areas
Make sure you make different zones for different age groups and ensure these are clear to the user. Separating these will ensure they are not hazardous to the incorrect age group, giving each child enough space to play and engage. You can use different landscaping, markings and signs to do this. Fencing doesn’t have to be dull, for example, use playground pencils to zone off areas.
Structures For Different Ages
Utilise different heights and abilities when choosing your playground structures. For example, EYFS children will need low platforms, minimal climbing and short slides. In contrast, primary school children can be challenged with climbing frames, obstacle courses and more complex structures.
Variety Of Equipment
When creating a playground, it is important to remember equipment can be used for creative play, role-play activities and outdoor learning.
- Role play: Incorporate items such as a mud kitchen to allow children to create food-related games.
- Creative play: Adding building blocks or chalkboards will let children unleash their creativity in different ways.
- Outdoor learning: A playground can be an extension of the classroom. Put an outdoor storytelling area or educational activity panels, so children can learn in a fun and engaging way.
Looking for more ways to include learning in outdoor play? See our guides below:
Examples Of Playground Equipment For Different Age Groups
Here is a breakdown of the different age groups and which equipment is appropriate to include:
Infants/ Toddlers (6-23 months)
Children are developing basic motor skills and movements. At this age, there should be a focus on sensory play and small physical challenges that focus on basic movements.
- Gentle Slides
- Low structures to the ground
- Sensory equipment
- Soft Play
- Swings with safety support
- Tunnels
- Wide steps
It is important during the infant stage that children are safe and supported while developing strength in their grip alongside balance and coordination.
Nursery & EYFS (2-5 Years)
For nurseries, children are going the extra step from basic movement to more challenges to develop their overall strength alongside problem-solving and teamwork.
- Activity Panels (ensure the activities are suitable for the age, eg counting numbers)
- Low balance beams or stepping stones
- Low climbing structures
- Sand and water activities
- Short obstacle courses including crawl spaces
Primary School (5-12)
During Primary School years, it is an important stage for developing motor skills and strength. You also need to foster imagination and engage in creative activities to engage with a variety of skills’ children have.
- Higher, longer and faster slides
- More advanced obstacle courses or trim trails including bridges
- Sports areas
- Swings (these can be traditional swings where the user has to hold to stay balanced)
- Tall climbing structures such as monkey bars and climbing frames
The children will have different abilities in this age range from 5 and 12 as these are key learning years. The idea is so the children can develop throughout the time they are in school to accomplish more advanced obstacles.
Secondary School (12 -16)
In secondary school, play becomes less traditional and more advancing physical development and utilising outdoor space to encourage learning.
- MUGA Pitches
- Gym equipment
- Outdoor learning spaces, such as bench areas with pergolas
Learning outdoors can encourage children to stay engaged with learning outside of the typical classroom. Incorporating sports areas that are multi-use can also mix up the team sports that can be played throughout the year.
Evaluating Your Current Playground For The Age Group
We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how to assess your current playground for the age group it’s intended for.
- Identify which age group your playground is for. For schools this is easy as they are segmented by age, however, developers such as community groups or new house builders need to research the area more.
- Assess what current safety features your playground has and when the surfacing and fencing were last installed.
- Make a list of the current equipment you have and mark if it is age-appropriate.
- Create a wish list of missing items you could include for the age range.
- Observe how children are currently interacting with the playground.
- Do an inclusivity and accessibility assessment. Can all children use the playground?
- Gather any additional feedback you need.
- Start the redesigning process of areas. It may be a full playground makeover or a section that could be improved.
To make improvements, it doesn’t always mean starting the playground from scratch. You can make vast improvements by adding new equipment pieces, moving, or redesigning a section.
Get Expert Advice From Sovereign Play
Our team of specialists can help you throughout the full life-cycle of the playground redesign process. From designing an area to installation and beyond, our expertise will help you achieve your goals within your budget.
For more information or to book a free quotation, fill in our contact form online or call us on 01702 804200. We work nationwide.
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