Search Playground Professional's Archives

“It is not enough just to give our children a playground. We must provide them and their parents a secure, clean location with safe modern play structures,” said Deputy Director John Cottell, Jr. of the Public Facilities Division, City of Bridgeport, …

If you know anything about Texas, you probably know that it’s hot—really HOT—for much of the year and that means kids want to be able to cool off when they’re playing outside. The Stone Gate housing community, one of five housing developments built by the …

In 2001, playgrounds throughout Florida were closed amid fears of children being exposed to arsenic from wooden playsets constructed of CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate, an arsenic-based wood preservative) treated wood as well as from the contaminated soil …

“A nationwide partnership formed to contribute to the advancement of the playground building industry by promoting playground installation as a legitimate contracting profession.” –Purpose of the NPCA …

I had the best childhood ever. Reared in a small town in Montana (population about 3,000), it was the type of community where you knew pretty much everyone. If you didn’t, you knew someone related to them. The best part of all was the fact that we weren’t …

No matter where you travel throughout the world, you’re bound to find some type of playground equipment. Parks and school playgrounds, as well as many backyards in family-friendly communities, have some form of children’s play equipment. But what actually …

A hot afternoon thundershower or a sudden unanticipated heavy Atlantic Ocean fog can empty the normally crowded sands at Hampton Beach, N.H. in a heartbeat. When this happens, use of the famed summer resort’s unique playground increases dramatically.  …

A) All children have the right to play.  Children, like adults, have certain rights. Among these are the universal rights to safe play spaces. It is an adult responsibility to ensure that these rights extend to all children regardless of race, color, …

The resources are certainly available for playgrounds to be safely installed, inspected and supervised. The National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS), which was established in 1995 through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Injury …

Congratulations America, we have the fattest kids on earth. Over the last 20 years, the number of overweight children in this country has doubled. Soon, if that trend continues, one out of every three kids will be obese.  When I was a kid I used to play …

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

What type of surfacing is best? Will aquatic play structures work in my area? Where do I start? You don’t need a crystal ball to answer these questions or any others you might have concerning the playground industry. You’ve got the greatest shopping tool …

Children between the ages of two and three understand the world in very physical ways. As infants become toddlers, their curiosity about the environment intensifies and they become quite skilled at acting upon it. Mobile toddlers are avid explorers of …

Parks identify your city. We all remember a great experience as a child during a family or social event at a city park. You can visualize the park setting and recall the name of the park or town. Maybe you remember the smells; were there lilacs in bloom, …

Forgive me if my mind is more on football this time of year than on playgrounds. Where I live, the playgrounds are all buried under mounds of snow right now, so I have nothing better to do with my time than to think football.  As we pass the halfway point …

When children step foot onto a playground prepared for a fun-filled hiatus of climbing, jumping, and swinging, they don’t give much thought to how those hours of play will affect their futures. Yet according to Tom Norquist, “There’s a lot more to play …

The school playground in my neighborhood was a place to play before, during and after school. If you weren’t there, you were square. Although we didn’t have fancy equipment, the swings, monkey bars, and slides provided us with hours of entertainment. We …

Heightened awareness of playground safety has progressed rapidly in just the last 20 years. Among equipment manufacturers, safety awareness is evidenced by one-piece designs for spiral slides, which reduce the possibility of clothing drawstrings being …

An injury on North American public and private playgrounds is thought to occur every two minutes.  Readers of Today’s Playground know that one of the best playground injury prevention practices is to provide adequate resilient surfacing under and around …

Large cities have many amenities. Shops, museums, and opera houses provide an infinite amount of entertainment for people living in a big city. But, let’s be honest; kids usually don’t like to shop, go to museums or attend operas. They like to play. It …

As children, most of us looked forward to those carefree summer days where we would hang out at the park and eat ice cream to our heart’s content. We would dangle from the monkey bars, try to walk up the slides and play games of tag where we weren’t …