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Designing and building a playground is always a unique experience. Each area has an individual character that is defined by any number of manmade or natural elements. Every playground should be approached with an interest in community involvement. …

Things have definitely changed since the first playgrounds came to be. These were long before our time, of course, and they may have involved little more than a great climbing tree with plenty of green grass underfoot. In fact, think about it: we probably …

Through years of experience creating habitats in zoos, aquariums, and museum, CemRock has taken another jump into the playground industry to create unique play spaces with its fun and interesting pieces. It can manufacture everything from the giant …

You know you can’t live without water, and what fun is summer without plenty of it? There’s no drought going on here! You’ll find plenty of aquatic fun on the playground with spray and splash parks featuring zero-depth fun and a seemingly endless supply …

Just how important is play, especially outdoor play? It seems we have to lobby more and more for playtime for children. It isn’t that it just has no importance to educators and school administrators, but they are under a lot of pressure with standardized …

Geysers, fountains, gizmos, and gadgets—Children and adults alike delight in the latest concept in community-based programming . . . the water playground! “The inclusion of water playgrounds into municipal parks is on the rise. These interactive areas can …

Why have an “outdoor classroom”? If you already have a well-equipped indoor classroom, isn’t that enough? Why should teachers have to plan for outside time too, when so much effort is already required of them? After all, there are the issues of “getting …

In the Fall of 2000, the City of Tempe, Ariz., held an invitational competition to design a children's playground for Tempe Beach Park—the premier park in the city located on the south bank of the Rio Salado Project, which is a nationally recognized flood …

San Antonio, Texas, a fabled playground for the annual and historic Fiesta Celebration, is the perfect home for the Joe L. Frost Children’s Play and Play Environments Research Collection, housed in the J. E. and L. E. Mabee Library in the sylvan, natural …

And it’s a dragon’s lair at that, or Dragon Hollow, to be exact. Set in Caras Park, this is where young and old alike come to play in Missoula, Mont. Many years ago this location was actually the riverbed of the Clark Fork River. But as time changes most …

Once you have an injury accident on your playground, it triggers a series of events and actions that will consume your time, your staff's time, your facility’s reputation and bottom financial line. Here is how it all starts. A child is injured for one …

There has long been a debate about which is better for children—quality time or quantity time. Quality time means a parent interacts with his children for a limited, intensive, specified time. Quantity time means that a parent spends the greater portion …

Playgrounds, by their very nature, are fun—even during construction. But don’t confuse having a good time with being careless. Maintaining a safe work environment requires the continuous cooperation of all persons on the job. Accidents and injuries can be …

Marcissus fell in love with his watery reflection and turned into a flower. Pinocchio escaped the whale but still drowned in the ocean. Jack and Jill tumbled down a hill after fetching a pail. Adults have certainly written enough of these poignant and …

Recently, I came under suspicion of being the pied piper of playground safety. Some people question that the rulemaking process has gone too far. Why does the playground industry continue to push playground rules? Some lament that “new rules and new …

What is our responsibility concerning play these days? Society has changed so much over the past decade even. Some of us don’t have kids, have a double income and spend our time looking for the next snow hill or lake to ski on, so we are responsible only …

The first guideline for public playground safety was published in 1981 by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. The target audience for this guideline was children starting at age 5. This guideline was republished in 1991 with a target …

Are you looking for a skatepark that won't be a maintenance problem? The word problem doesn't really have to be part of the equation, but whether you have wooden modulars or plan on building a concrete park, you'll have maintenance.  It's part of the …

You might think you could just throw some bases down in a diamond form, slap up some two-by-sixes and throw a rope and swing over the top, plant a tree, run the garden hose from the neighbor's house for a drink, and say game on! and you ve got yourself a …

Ready to spice up your fundraising efforts? Consider a golf scramble. It's a great way to get the community involved It doesn't matter whether you're a scratch golfer or a beginner; it's all about the cause, and all can enjoy.  First, you'll want to talk …