Archive for the ‘Playgrounds’ Category
- In: Parenting | Playgrounds | Projects
- Leave a Comment
Generally you don’t really take much notice of the condition of playgrounds until you get a child’s eye view. Parents of preschool children tend to spend lots of time in playgrounds giving their children fresh air and getting out of the house. Our local Sure Start centre even provide a list of the locations of playgrounds in our area to visit. Therefore it is hardly surprising that you notice how worn out playground equipment is while you sit in your shattered mother of a toddler state.
The little playground near to us is very basic with just a slide, swings and a couple of rockers. I did consider fund raising to update the equipment but only got as far as contacting Playdale and a lady who seemed to know about how to raise funds for playgrounds. My only major issue was that I didn’t know enough people to start a committee with. Unfortunately the five years you spend with your baby is very fleeting and before you know it they are striving for independence so you don’t really see the playground equipment close up any more.
Once your child has made the transition from toddler to infant and you are starting to foray into the adult world, the shoddy swings and ancient slide suddenly don’t seem to be important any more. New parents take your place in the playground and if they are all like minded they could work together to improve the local playground. This is exactly what happened in our area but the playground in question is to be a new one on a big stretch of road quite away from where we live. The playground project is extremely ambitious and aims to fulfill the recreational needs of all ages including adults.
The NCB has produced a fact sheet on how to raise funds for your playground. You can request a funding guide from playground equipment companies like Playdale Playgrounds who have produced a funding guide. They also follow up the request by contacting you to see if they can help with your project. Once you have read through all of the instructions you will have to form a committee and be prepared to write detailed plans so that people funding your project know exactly what they are paying for. In some cases you may need to think about why your project is more important than other people’s so you can secure grants from different organisations.
Hopefully you will have some very creative and dynamic people on your committee who will be full of ideas for fundraising events. Eventually after a lot of hard slog and dedication you will be ready to speak to your local playground adviser who will help you to confirm which pieces of equipment you would like and where you are going to put them. Once an installation date has been agreed the playground equipment installers will come and set up your playground. Most playground equipment companies provide maintenance contracts to ensure that your playground remains in tip top condition.
All that is left is for your local community to launch the new playground and welcome children and parents into your amazing play area.
Mud Mud Glorious Mud!
Posted on: February 24, 2016
This year nature seems to have provided us with a bountiful supply of mud. Whether we have liked it or not country dwellers have been forced to contend with muddy feet and huge puddles on a daily basis. Children have found having impromptu mud baths fun and washing machines have been working double shifts during this constant wet season. If we think that sending our little darlings to school will prevent them from getting dirty then we are going to be disappointed.
Mud kitchens are all the rage in schools now, whether a DIY plucky Governor version or bought one, your children will spend some of their school day in mud kitchens. This article from Playdale Playgrounds explains why mud kitchens are such great fun. At home children can pester Mum and Dad for old utensils, cupboards and buckets so that they can enjoy the glory of mud. As with all aspects of play, a mud kitchen provides a rich learning experience that we just assumed was mucking about.
If learning objectives and opportunities are what floats your boat then this chart produced by blogger Worms Eye View applies EYFS Learning Opportunities to playing in mud kitchens.
All children can enjoy playing in mud kitchens, as the activity provides learning experiences for children of all abilities. Aspiring artists and those who like to touch and feel the world have wonderful opportunities to explore texture, consistency and the possibility of shaping mud. Scientists will totally enjoy experimenting with water quantities and soil types. All children enjoy copying their home life and a kitchen environment is where a lot of the action happens.
Learning objectives aside playing with mud and soil is really pleasurable. I remember my mud kitchen in the corner of the garden, consisting of an old pan, buckets and a sieve. One very warm summer holidays 35 years ago was spent sieving dry mud to make a sandy dust – I can’t remember the expensive activities we did that year but playing in my mud kitchen is firmly fixed in my mind.
To make lasting memories kit your kids up with clothes that can withstand mud and frequent washing, old spoons and pans. These are the ingredients of happy childhood memories.
As an advocate of play and all of its positive attributes it is really quite fitting that I live very close to a playground equipment manufacturer. In fact every time I drive towards the main road I can see the yellow sign for Playdale Playgrounds Ltd smiling at me. The playground next to the school has been stocked by Playdale and most of the school playground equipment has been purchased from Playdale.
Nine Generations Of Croasdales
The evolution of Playdale from Barrel makers to playground equipment manufacturers demonstrates how a family business can survive the test of time. Since the 1800’s there has been a member of the Croasdale family manufacturing goods in Haverthwaite in Cumbria. From 1770 to 1978 the Croasdale family have done the following trades; cooper, hooper, woodmonger & farmer, woodmonger, timber merchant and playground equipment manufacturer. In 1978 the concept of Playdale Playgrounds Ltd was born.
Timber Playground Equipment
Source: Playdale Playgrounds Ltd
John Croasdale was inspired to make playground equipment when he decided to replace the old equipment in the leven Valley Playing Fields. He looked at a playground equipment brochure and noticed that it was all made from timber and they could make a lot of the equipment themselves. The playground equipment at the Leven Valley Playing Fields has been updated yet again and the fundraising required to purchase it united the local community.
From Classic Adventure Trail To i.Play
Source: Playdale Playgrounds Ltd
The very first piece of playground equipment was the classic adventure trail which made use of the natural timber logs. By 1983 the Croasdale’s moved their business on and concentrated on building playground equipment. Playdale Playgrounds went from strength to strength and in the 30 years of trading have diversified into building; steel equipment, play towers, slides, outdoor classrooms, play panels and much more. They also combined technology with playground equipment by developing i.Play which is a fascinating combination of computer technology and playground equipment.
From Haverthwaite To The Rest Of The World
Source: Playdale Playgrounds Ltd
Playdale Playground equipment can be found all over the world and they have installed playgrounds in 22 countries all over the world. In 2014 they won an award for their export success at the Insider’s North West International Trade Awards. They also participated in the, Exporting Is Great’, national campaign featured in the Financial Times and the Spectator. This year 2015 they opened their global distribution centre.
It is exciting watching this fantastic business grow and grow particularly as they are helping to ensure that children are able to play safely all over the world.
- In: Outdoors | Play | Play eqipment | Playgrounds
- Leave a Comment
Daily Mail
Natural play equipment has become a necessary feature in playgrounds to create a more natural setting. As wasteland and fields are being consumed by housing estates, opportunities for children to participate in natural play has significantly decreased. Local playgrounds have never been more important than they are today, simply because they are much safer places to play. Natural play equipment gives children the opportunity to go, ‘off piste’, and create imaginative games based on the landscape of the playground.
Changes In Play Places
An extensive study by Nature England into the changing play behaviour between generations, found that children do not enjoy the same freedom their parents and grand parents enjoyed. ‘The favourite places to play have changed over time. In the past these were in the streets, near home (29%), indoors (16%) and in some natural places (15%) whereas nowadays children like playing indoors best (41%) and, to a lesser extent, in the garden (17%)’. (Nature England)
Unsupervised Play
Children do not participate in unsupervised play like their ancestors this could be due to; increase in traffic, the use of technology, decrease in natural places to play and over protective parenting. Gone are the days that children would go out all day and return when their tummy rumbled at tea time. It is probably unfair to include over protective parenting because 85% of the parents questioned in the Nature England study did want their children to have more freedom.
Natural Landscaping
Playgrounds today are quite different to playgrounds in the past because they have been designed with the importance of play in mind. Many playground equipment companies started off in either the wood industry like Playdale Playgrounds Ltd or the family entertainment industry like Charles Wicksteed. Often children’s playgrounds were stark places with only the traditional swings, slide and roundabout to play on. These days playgrounds are landscaped and have natural play equipment to increase the play value of the space available.
Natural Play Equipment
Natural play equipment is essentially naturally occurring objects such as; stones, plants, tunnels and mounds that have been made safe for children to play on. Children benefit from such additions to the playground because they can let their imagination run wild and explore nature first hand. Children are fascinated by natural shapes and the opportunity to sit on huge smooth stones is too great to miss.
Really the ideal playground would be a safe environment for children to play in with a coffee shop for parents to meet up and keep a watchful eye on their children.
- In: Education | Exercise | Outdoors | Play eqipment | Playgrounds | School | school playground equipment
- 2 Comments
Do your Children Have #nowhere2play API to Study Decline in Children’s Play Facilities
Posted on: September 3, 2015
- In: Children | Exercise | Health | Outdoors | Play eqipment | Playgrounds
- Leave a Comment
The Association Of Play Industries (API) have become greatly concerned with the lack of play facilities for children, particularly in urban areas, and are conducting a survey to find out from parents the state of play facilities in their area. The campaign is called #nowhere2play and is supported by Playdale Playgrounds Ltd who are experts in designing play equipment and installing it all over the world.
Do your children have public spaces to play in? Even in the countryside we are seeing green patches of land being swallowed up by housing estates and school playgrounds sold off to building companies. Is your local playground somewhere where you and your children like to meet friends and have fun or has it become dilapidated and rarely used. The Association Of Play Industries (API) have become greatly concerned with the lack of play facilities for children, particularly in urban areas, and are conducting a survey to find out from parents the state of play facilities in their area. The campaign is called #nowhere2play and is supported by Playdale Playgrounds Ltd who are experts in designing play equipment and installing it all over the world.
We are pretty lucky in this part of Cumbria, as there are plenty of places for children to play, and the majority of playgrounds are well resourced and maintained by committees. In Carlisle funding cuts meant that the council considered bulldozing unused playgrounds down, leaving spaces for imaginative play. This article in metro.co.uk explains their intentions. I am not sure if they followed through with this plan or were stopped in their tracks. To be fair the council were only considering removing playgrounds that were rarely used anyway as opposed to ones that were the meeting place of children in particular areas.
Are playgrounds used less these days because we are reluctant to let our children wander from our sight when they are playground age? There are significantly more cars than there used to be, causing us to be more overprotective than we may have been in the past. We are in an age where we fear strangers hanging around our children and allowing them to go and play out of our sight in a playground where there is no one to protect them scary. Children don’t really gain independence until they are in the upper juniors or starting secondary school, depending on how sensible they are.
As the population of the UK increases we find our selves in a space paradox, we will have more families so we need more houses, we will have more children so we need play areas but the houses have been built on the land that was once a playground. If children don’t get the opportunity to play outside they become obese and cost the NHS milions so what do we do?
