It’s National Playground Safety Week, and there’s no better time to read up on some of the most important aspects of playground safety: audits and maintenance! Understanding the difference and the components of the two can help you create a safe, up to date play space for all ages and abilities!
Check us out on playlsi.com to read more about staying safe on the playground!
It’s important to keep the developmental needs of toddlers and preschoolers in mind when you’re designing playgrounds for your childcare facility or school. Playgrounds for young kids not only help them build their senses, and motor and cognitive skills, but they also teach them about cooperation and social imaginative play.
Keep the following five considerations in mind when designing early childhood playgrounds:
Find more resources for your daycare of preschool playground including ways to keep your playground safe, information on fundraising and playground grants, and some of our key partnerships at playlsi.com.
It’s National Playground Safety Week, which is a great time to focus on the maintenance of your playgrounds. Maintenance issues contribute to approximately one-third of playground injuries each year. To ensure safe play, keep your playground structures soundly inspected and fully functioning. See five easy steps to take in our infographic below.
Are you looking for resources on trends affecting the playground industry? We can help! We’ve created whitepapers to help generate discussion about the importance of play in early childhood development, outdoor play during school hours, and balancing safety and challenge, and serve as a reference during future playground projects. Get details below about each of our whitepapers, and request a download today.
Shaped by Play: The Formative Role of Play and Playgrounds
Child’s play, we are learning, is not just fun and games. Children’s play behavior appears to be essential preparation for a successful adult life. We partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development to understand how behavior on school and community playgrounds contributes to whole-child development. This meta-study aggregates and analyzes key findings from some of the most influential studies on children and play.
Balancing Safety & Challenge in Playground Design
Playgrounds are a place where children can learn and grow through exploration and social interaction. However, that development can’t take place without age and developmentally appropriate challenges. Parental concern along with standards that have decreased design freedom are contributors to the lack of challenging opportunities in today’s play equipment. Finding a balance between challenge and safety is important to childhood development, and society can help determine a healthy median.
The Importance of Outdoor Play & Physical Activity During School Hours
Both outdoor physical activity and indoor classroom time are important for kids’ growth and development. School provides students with the education they need to have a successful career, and physical activity gives them a chance to stay healthy. Unfortunately, not all kids get their daily 60 minutes outside. School is a place where kids can supplement the lack of physical activity they get at home, and help kids become smarter, healthier and stronger.
Find more playground education resources including continuing education sessions and infographics at playlsi.com.
Exceed community expectations by creating amazing playground designs. Our innovative new playground products will deliver engaging and educational play experiences that will keep kids safe. Even more, we’ll ensure that your playground project stays within budget and is delivered on time. Collaborate with us in 2018 and bring your playground visions to life.
See the new 2018 playground and shade products offered exclusively from Landscape Structures.
Alpha™ Tower & Alpha™ Link Towers
Bring height to the playground with the geometric design of these 20-foot towers.
Centre
Engage developing minds and bodies with language-rich conversation prompts while little ones play.
Friendship™ Swing
This face-to-face swing delivers a great way for individuals of all ages and abilities to swing together.
Facet™ Forms
This collection of modular forms is inspired by natural geometries found in nature.
DigiRiders™
Created using digital artwork, these updated spring riders produce an experience that excites the eyes and body.
FitCore™ Extreme
High-intensity strength training challenges kids, teens and adults to get and stay fit.
SkyWays® Shade Products
Provide cool and reliable shade for playgrounds, dog parks or pickleball courts, and everything in between.
Learn about even more new products for your playground projects by visiting playlsi.com. Then contact your local playground consultant to get started on an amazing playground design today.
Toddlers and preschoolers always find new, but not always safe, ways to play. That’s why we make playground safety a top priority by creating age- and developmentally appropriate products like our Smart Play® playstructures. The Smart Play designs specifically for toddlers and preschoolers are packed with play activities to help build their senses, and motor and cognitive skills. See below for more details about these designs:
Even more, we’ve partnered with Too Small to Fail to create language-rich playgrounds using their Talking is Teaching creative content on panels and signage throughout the playground. These literacy panels will encourage parent-child conversations to help prepare children for success in school and beyond.
Learn more about how to create a dream playground for toddlers and preschoolers at playlsi.com, and get started on an early childhood playground design by contacting us here.
Summer is synonymous with outdoor fun. As the weather warms up and trips to the park and playground become more frequent, take steps to keep your children safe from the sun and heat.
Sunscreen in addition to lightweight clothing and a sun hat help protect against UVA and UVB rays. However, the best line of defense is by staying in the shade. When planning trips to the park, choose commercial playgrounds that integrate shade into the design. Our shade systems–SkyWays® and CoolToppers®–are designed to block up to 97 percent of the sun’s harmful UV rays.
During physical play at the playground, kids should have water available and should take a break regularly to stay hydrated. Our playground shade systems will also combat summer heat by keeping temperatures up to 30-degrees cooler. We even offer a shade option with a cool misting feature to help keep kids cool during the steamiest of play days.
In addition to providing protection from the summer sun and heat, the SkyWays and CoolToppers shade systems deliver a beautiful aesthetic to park, playground and recreation areas. Whether your goal is to shade a playground, dog park, pickleball courts or something entirely unique to your community, we have shade solutions to meet your needs. Contact us to learn more.
Kids are always finding new and inventive ways to play on or around playground equipment. And while they may scrape an elbow or bruise a shin, it’s important to take steps to eliminate the risk of more serious mishaps. We make playground safety a top priority, and we’ll help you keep kids safe with our age-appropriate commercial playground equipment:
Even more, our playground safety surfacing will help keep kids safe from falls and our CoolToppers® shade systems will help protect them from harmful UV rays. Learn more about our commitment to playground safety at playlsi.com.
Choosing the right playground equipment for preschools or daycare centers may seem a little daunting at first, but we’ve compiled a list of industry-specific resources to make the planning process easier. Even more, we have a playground planning checklist with five easy steps to create the ultimate childcare playground.
Assisi Early Learning Center, Madison, Miss.
Toddlers and preschoolers always find new, but not always safe, ways to play. That’s why we make playground safety a top priority by creating age- and developmentally appropriate products using the best materials and innovative features.
Trinity Church, Lubbock, Texas
Securing funds is an important step in creating dream preschool or toddler playgrounds. And we can help with that! We have fundraising programs available, can help you find playground grants for child care centers and we have purchasing contracts to help expedite the buying process.
Learning and Wellness Center, Chicago, Ill.
Check out our list of early childhood playground resources for even more information on how to plan an outdoor playground for daycare centers including details about our partnerships, certifications, and how to design an inclusive and accessible playground.