The learning life of preschool toddlers should not be merely filled with studying only. An outdoor playground is essential for developing children’s abilities. It is a place for stimulating the toddlers’ cognitive skills and enhancing social skills.
“It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for unfolding his capacities and talents.” ~Eric Hoffer
Preschool playground becomes a must-have in every preschool. But, having a fantastic preschool playground is not as easy as you might think. Today, this article will tell you on some crucial principles to create an excellent preschool playground design.
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5 Important Principles in Preschool Playground Design
1. Safety
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Safety problems among toddlers is the top priority for parents. Parents need preschool teachers to keep an eye on their children when having the outdoor play. It is a must to make sure the preschool playground design and all play equipment are linked to safety norms.
How to ensure the toddlers safe in the preschool playground?
The simple way is to separate playsets by age group. Majority preschool toddlers aged five and above may be more active than other younger kids. Preschool teachers are allowed to distribute each specific group of toddlers to use different playground equipment according to safety index.
Obviously, it can take the burden off teachers’ shoulders, instead of merely reducing the toddlers’ playtime. To make it implement, the age-appropriate playground equipments are required. Bear in mind; it would be better to seek some advice from relevant experts before purchasing.
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2. Allow for Different Types of Play
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Designing different types of play in preschool playground help to enhance the toddlers’ growth. Most playgrounds provide some physical play styles only, which apparently isn’t enough of a benefit for children.
When it comes to the preschool playground layout step, you may consider which types of play that can allow children to physically and mentally interact with peers and the environment.
Here are various types of play that are suitable for preschool playground ideas:
- Exploratory Play – Looking, touching (with hands and mouths), listening and moving the objects to explore.
- Dramatic Play – Involving in imaginative situations. Learn about real-life situations and problem-solving skills.
- Creative Play – Playing musical instruments, painting, storytelling, etc. Enhancing physical, social and cognitive skills.
- Rough and Tumble Play – Mock fighting or chasing one another, which help to improve gross motor skills.
These are just some examples for the play types. According to playwork theorist Bob Hughes, he has identified 16 different play types in his book ‘A Playworker’s Taxonomy of Play Types’.
3. Zone Partition for Different Energy Levels
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Every toddlers has different personalities, whether introvert or extrovert. Some of them may want some peace space, but some of them might be like to run around and shout happily in the playground.
Imagine a toddler is drawing and painting on the bench, but children around him chase each other and climb like monkeys. That’s definitely chaos.
Thus, creating zones for different energy levels is vital. Allowing those active children to have their playtime in a corner that is located with slides, swings, climbing structures, etc. Also, forming a space for introvert children, to allow them quiet daydream and chilling.
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4. Work Together with Nature
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Obviously, children all love vivid nature instead of boring books. So, a playground with an area of sands is a good-start. Also, planting more trees and flowers at the surrounding of the preschool playground.
“Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, trees, sticks and tadpoles.” ~Brooke Hampton
Besides adding the elements of nature into your preschool playground design, some benches are needed for teachers for easy monitoring on the toddlers.
Furthermore, it may need to remove some dead trees, but make sure you leave some healthy trees to create some shade space. It provides the rest areas for the kids when playing in the playground under the big sun.
Read also: 8 Steps to Establish A Good Childcare Environment
5. Equipments That Allow Creative Play
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A perfect preschool playground design should allow the toddlers’ imagination to run wild and be creative. Now, here’s one crucial question: Does your preschool playground provide multi-purpose playground equipments?
Commonly, those playground equipments are with only a singular purpose, such as slides, monkey bars and seesaws. However, you will realise that if you put an open barrel in the playground, it will become a house, a horse or a starship for those toddlers.
Instead of installing those monotonous playground equipment, preschool should put effort into finding some playground elements that can be used in many different ways.
“Of course, as adults, we like a beautifully hand-carved, wooden motorbike. But what if the child prefers a pony or a unicorn? The more room there is for interpretation, the better.” ~Günter Beltzig
In your preschool playground design plan, adding some “loose part” should be an excellent idea for it. “Loose parts” refer to those elements or materials that can be combined, moved or structured. The toddlers can enhance their creativity by assembling those “loose parts” into anything they want.
Importance of A Good Preschool Playground
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Last but not least, let’s have a look into how vital a good preschool playground is:
1. Improve toddlers’ exercise capacity
2. Enhance toddlers’ balance and coordination abilities
3. Develop social skills with peers
4. Learn what rules and order is
5. Master some new skills, such as climbing, jumping, etc
6. Develop toddlers’ creativity and imagination
To learn more about the influence of plays on the kids of different ages, read this article: Play and Its Impact on Development of Kids
Speak with The Experts
Planning to get started at your preschool but have no idea on it? Or, want to build a preschool playground for your preschool?
Childcare Center Renovation Singapore is a reliable company for renovation and interior design. They have about ten years experience in this field and also have a good reputation from customers.
Call us now to get your desired preschool design layout ideas now!
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