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Home- Swing sets
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Age
Appropriate Playground Equipment
Playground activities are beneficial for
a child's physical, emotional and even intellectual growth and
development. The playground must be designed to enable children to
develop at their appropriate level of growth. They need to be able to
exercise their skills appropriately while enjoying the benefits of
playground equipment.
There are generally three different groups of playground equipment.
These include play structures for preschool ages, kindergarten and
elementary school children.
Durable modular designs composed of PVC are perfect for preschool
children since the younger ones are often not steady on their feet. It
is better if they fall on plastic rather than hard wood, where they may
be injured or get splinters in their little fingers. The FunZone brand
is ideal for preschoolers because the molded plastic decks are strong
and durable and can be found in many different colors, making the design
especially attractive to small children. The equipment is especially
strong, yet flexible, due to its pipe/clamp construction, and the
structure is put together with cast aluminum alloy clamps. It also
contains features to prevent head entrapment, which is so important for
small children.
Playground equipment that is designed for the kindergarten aged children
should be steel or plastic play structures that are built to endure more
abuse than the preschool equipment. Modular designs are great because
the play structure can be customized to meet the needs and safety of
this age group.
Elementary school age children are more sophisticated in their desires
for playground equipment. After all, they have probably been playing on
such structures for a few years now and they may be ready for something
different. Elementary school children are quite active and need many
different activities within the playground structure.
The structures designed for children of this age group may be composed
of wood or metal, as well as molded plastic structures. For example, a
swing set may include such activities as a rope ladder or sliding pole.
Swings may be designed so that the swing will go quite high, even 15
feet or above.
Safety guidelines are published for two different age groups: 2-5 year
olds (pre-school children), and 5-12 year olds (elementary school
children).
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