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Contents 8
Playground Magazine | Volume 13 No. 2 | Summer 2013
Features
Why Children Climb
8
Motivation, Process and Child Development by Dr. Joe L. Frost
Climbing is Looking Up
12
Climbing in Playgrounds by Andris Zobs & Ian Glass
Rope-Based Playgrounds
16
An Early American Play Concept Makes a Come Back by Nicole Stoddard Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock.com
16
21st Century Climbing Event Manufacturing Materials
20
by Jan Neish
Climbing Safety Review
24
by Jeromy Morningstar
Climbing Trends on the North American PLAYground
26
by Tom Norquist, IPEMA
Departments 15 4 Great Climbers 19 PGPEDIA.COM 28 CPSI Corner 30 CPSI Course Calendar
20
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Call 1-208-652-3683 or visit playgroundmag.com Cover Photo: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com
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Curtis Stoddard Publisher Publisher Curtis Stoddard
Editor Rita Watts
Advertising Director Lauri Burns
Design Jake Amen Printing Falls Printing
Accounting Evelyn Coolidge IT Director Wade Cornelison Webmaster Jake Amen
Contributing Authors John Balicki Joe Frost Ian Glass Jan Neish Tom Norquist Nicole Stoddard Rita Watts Andris Zobs
Copyright, 2013 published by Playground Professionals, LLC, 4 issues per year, sub rates, back copies, foreign, reproduction prohibitions, all rights reserved, not responsible for content of ads and submitted materials, mail permits, printed by Falls Printing, Idaho Falls, ID.
CORPORATE OFFICES Playground Professionals LLC P.O. Box 807 Ashton, Idaho 83420
Thinking Today About Tomorrow’s Play I like to climb, and I have dozens of stories to prove it. My climbing urge began early in my life as it probably did with most of us. As a toddler, I was always being pulled off of a counter or table. When I was five, I attempted to “tight rope walk” the top beam of my family’s Sears & Roebuck backyard swing set aiming to impress a neighbor girl. It ended in a trip to the emergency room and a half dozen stitches. It was a great lesson about gravity, which has been haunting me ever since. However, gravity did not sway me from my desire to climb and I took every chance I could to see if I could “get up there.” At the age of eight I climbed to the top of my dad’s barn and attempted to balance walk across a 1” X 8” board which promptly gave way and dropped me forty feet. I landed on a log floor and I had my first experience with unconsciousness. Despite my many mishaps, my propensity for climbing continued. As a teen I challenged my climbing skills on a sixty foot cliff in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho. This is where I learned that sometimes going up is easier and takes less time than getting down. With extreme caution, youthful courage, unknown strength and unprecedented luck, I “climbed back down.” I am over fifty now. I still like to climb as evidenced by my failed attempt to summit the almost 14,000 foot Grand Teton a couple of years ago. Climbing is a satisfaction that comes from testing oneself, exploring the unknown and the delight one experiences with the profound sensations of height. Climbing is inherent to mankind. Children should be encouraged to climb and be provided unique opportunities that will stimulate fun and self discovery. In our summer issue of Playground Magazine, we take an indepth look at climbing and ways that play settings can incorporate great climbing events that turn into great climbing experiences. You are holding the first issue of Playground Magazine as produced by Playground Professionals, LLC (PGP). We are thrilled to have purchased the magazine, and we are committed to providing useful, valuable, and vibrant play and playground information to playground owners and users. We have our hands and hearts on the pulse of play. We are able to feel the beat with support systems like the bi-weekly news magazine “The Play and Playground News Center”, with the ultimate history of play and playgrounds through “The Play and Playground Encyclopedia”, and two great directories that can help you locate the right playground professional for you and your project. Take a few minutes to visit our website at www.playgroundprofessionals.com to see these great play and playground resources. Feel free to contact us and offer your thoughts about Playground Magazine and the PGP on-line services at info@playgroundprofessionals.com.
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PGP Columnists Ask the Right Questions
Thought-provoking and challenging conversations by Rita Watts from play and playground leaders Views from a variety of perspectives are found at The Play and Playground News Center (www.pgpnewscenter.com). The mission to explore “Today’s Play News and Views™” is accomplished by the PGP Columnists, who write monthly columns to spark conversation about relevant trends and topics and encourage comments from their readers to further the discussion. Here are some quotes from the columnists to give you a feel for their interesting takes on a variety of subjects:
Confessions of a Playground Guru – Jay Beckwith
Journey to Inclusion – Mara Kaplan
Have You Heard? – Anne-Marie Spencer
“Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but playgrounds are losing their customers. Over the past couple of decades the playground business has been transformed into the playground “industry” replete with ASTM Standards and design practices ruled more by convention than invention. While the playground industry has been busy codifying their business, their customers, the kids, have been evolving in a different direction.” – What Makes for a Great Play Structure?
“In the next generation of playgrounds, we are beginning to see the emphasis go beyond access to that of usability. We want to make sure that every child can participate in a rich play experience. We are starting to talk about a variety of disabilities, not just physical disabilities. We are also starting to assess the first generation of playgrounds for their play value. We are asking questions such as: How much play value does a playground full of ramps offer? Are accessible playgrounds challenging enough? Have we created segregation instead of inclusion through our designs?” – My Journey
“On a daily basis, those of us who make our living in the play industry talk about the multitude of ways that play is beneficial to children, how recess offers them the opportunity to refocus, and how play is essential for development. Play can also help reduce stress, something that most of us have in abundance. Why would these benefits be any different for adults? The truth is, they’re not.” – What’s in a name?
Playsafe and Live Well! – Butch DeFillippo “We all agree that playground equipment is needed in all our communities.... Local decision makers have many ways to proceed when choosing what to purchase. They can determine that the selection of the equipment is to be made by professional staff who have studied all of the location and equipment options or by a consulting firm that works hard to represent the community in this important selection process. Both of these approaches are appropriate and will lead to a successful conclusion. However, there is one other way to look at this exciting and meaningful decision, which is to purposefully involve the local citizenship.” – Selecting Playground Equipment: The Citizen Perspective www.playgroundmag.com
Kutska’s Korner, A Commentary – Ken Kutska “Anybody who cares about improving children’s play spaces could benefit from a little better understanding of the importance and effect RISK and CHALLENGE can make in their personal development. Children face real risk and danger every day of their lives. Crossing a busy street or riding a bicycle to school can put them in harm’s way. It is interesting that for the most part we all accept these risks. We have to if our children are to develop and learn to cope with making their own decisions each and every day as they face new challenges and the safety issues each challenge represents.” – Why is Risk and Challenge Disappearing from our Children’s Play Environment?
The Outdoor Guide to Play – Dr. John A. Sutterby “Sand play boxes have been around for a long time in schools. Sand play boxes were introduced in Friedrich Froebel’s kindergarten classes around 1850 or so. Froebel felt that sand and water play would even be beneficial for very young children. There was a time not so many years ago when all the kindergarten classrooms in the United States had a sand and water table. I had one in my first classroom. I used it a great deal for all sorts of formless materials.” – Sand and Water at School Is your interest piqued? You can get in on the dialogue and add your thoughtful comments. Stay up to date with the latest newsworthy controversies and trends by following these columnists. Be sure to visit The Play and Playground News Center often. Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 7
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Motivation, Process and Child Development by Dr. Joe L. Frost Experts representing child development, education, health, kinesiology, playground design, and child injury litigation responded to the question: Why do children climb? Children climb for fun, enjoyment, challenge, the sense of danger, and to access the top for success and observation. They climb to explore, gain new perspectives, access play options, play chase, engage in make-believe play, respond to parent and peer challenges and encouragement, and to compete with peers (Frost, et al, 2004). They also climb to learn. Children are wired to learn and learning by climbing carries benefits in skill development, health, fitness, and injury prevention. All healthy children are born to climb. They climb for the same reasons that fish swim and birds fly. Soon after birth, children employ built in natural instincts to seek, see, explore, touch, and move objects and build mental and physical capabilities leading to initial climbing skills. Basic 8 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
principles of child development, supported by decades of research, are at work here. All children are unique. Similar patterns of neurological functioning and consequent behavior allow general conclusions about child development, but novel patterns of cognitive, physical, and social experience form individual differences in children. Climbing behavior is no exception. The primitive tools for climbing and many other skills are present at birth, but growth and elaboration of these early skills depend upon use.
Developmental Progression of Climbing Babies crawl and explore every object in reach. Toddlers learn to walk and “cruise” haltingly and discover toys, furniture, and climbable objects. They investigate every accessible object and search for new sensations, sources of pleasure, and satisfaction of curiosity. Early climbing behavior follows predictable developmen-
tal processes – reaching, touching, rolling, pulling up, balancing, sitting, crawling, holding on, standing with support, and eventually grasping, stepping up and pulling to higher levels, walking, and running. This is natural and developmentally appropriate — with safety caveats. During early stages, the play environment should be carefully assessed for toddler safety and carefully monitored by adults. Unsafe objects are removed or secured from climbing and falling, and reasonably safe play materials are added – both indoors and outdoors. As children gain experience and development, monitoring is relaxed and new challenges are introduced. Risk is valued but minimized and carefully monitored as infants, toddlers, and pre-school children develop basic, rudimentary climbing skills. In elementary school, children employ climbing and related skills in mastering construction play, symbolic play, organized games, and pleasurable forms of www.playgroundmag.com
work. During each stage they are learning new skills for thinking, exploring, and climbing. Neuroscience and related sciences confirm that play, including climbing, builds fitness, brains, and bodies and promotes general health across generations. Climbing playground equipment, trees, fences, and other objects promotes strength, confidence, vestibular stimulation, perceptual-motor skills, creativity, and neuromuscular development. Imaginative play and associated activities, such as planning, constructing, accessing, and using dens and tree houses, engage experiential learning and executive functioning (neurological skills for mental control). The instinctive bond (biophilia) existing between humans and other mammals is perhaps best expressed and enriched in opportunities to play outdoors in nature. With experience and development children attempt to scale any object in range – indoor furniture, steps, boxes, tables, outdoor hills, fences, playground equipment, and low natural features such as logs. From the beginning they may stand by, observe older children climb, www.playgroundmag.com
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and appear to reflect about trying to climb equipment that older children are climbing. Eventually, neophytes enter the play fray and set about to climb — one step at a time. In a rather clumsy way, they reach for bars, knobs, limbs, or edges to grab and step up on, and then they begin to climb one step at a time, often falling a few times before reaching the ultimate goal — the top of a deck, hill, or boulder, the handholds for an overhead bar, or the access to a slide or tunnel. Getting down poses yet another challenge and may require adult encouragement or assistance. Individual differences in children’s skill levels related to limited play experiences, excessive sedentary cyber play, excessive fear, motor and emotional disabilities, and overprotection by adults should be identified and remedied early.
Outdoor preschool playgrounds for ages two to five are typically designed to be sequentially more complex and challenging to match the continuing development of physical skills of preschool climbers. For example, climbers such as overhead ladders, installed at lower height, less than 60 inches high for preschoolers versus less than 84 inches maximum for older children, installed in loose protective surfacing with resilient take-off steps results in early development of skills needed to master the more complex natural and built challenges to follow. If climbers are available and allowed by adults, three-year-old children of normal weight choose to climb and traverse (brachiate) overhead ladders. Only obese children are typically unable to do this. Failing to develop basic intuitive skills and master Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 9
increasingly complex physical play and playground challenges results in negative consequences across the developmental domain. So what should responsible adults do? At home, in the neighborhood, and at school, climbing objects, natural or manufactured, should be available and time allowed for children to engage daily in free play. In so doing they learn what they can and can’t do, what challenges they can master, how they can avoid injury, and how to select and modify climbing experiences for fun and learning. During climbing and other playground activities (running, throwing, balancing, brachiating, creating, building), nerves and muscles are developed and brain circuits and cells are formed as children develop coordination, agility, strength, confidence, and motor skills such as depth and distance judgment - making climbing an efficient developmental activity. Free play should take place in a context of fun allowing for social exchanges with peers, game development (e.g., chase, follow the leader, make believe), and such expanded activities as building tree houses, competing with peers, play and work in nature, and accessing decks, nets, slides, climbers, trapeze bars, and tunnels. While play can generally be enjoyed in a safe environment, it often involves taking risks.
The Issue of Risk Healthy development requires that children have many opportunities to take risks on playgrounds. Climbing is risky, and the higher children climb, the riskier it can become. For any particular climbing route or skill, beginners frequently fall a few or even many times before reaching their goal. Injury records of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) and analysis of playground injury litigation records reveal that 60 to 80 percent of injuries to the 200,000 plus children annually admitted to emergency rooms for playground injuries result from falling onto hard surfaces. This despite the employment of national and state injury guidelines and standards, growing inspections of playgrounds by trained personnel, extensive use of standards by equipment manufacturers, and decline in outdoor play. At our research site of 35 years (Redeemer Lutheran School, Austin, Texas), initial climbing challenges are designed to take into account preschool 10 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
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children’s limited experience, and they feature special challenges and surfaces on equipment and in fall areas. Following mastery of early climbing options, children are successively moved to primary and elementary playgrounds featuring increasingly challenging equipment and natural features. The 500 children at this school have 30 minutes of free play on natural/built playgrounds and 30 minutes of physical education every day. The cafeteria serves food from the children’s gardens. In Texas with a 19 percent child obesity level, fewer than five percent of the subject children are obese. There is no record of a serious injury on the preschool
playground and only one simple fracture per decade on the two more challenging playgrounds for primary and elementary school children. Consider the injury rate at an elementary school enrolling about 700 children in the general vicinity as the above research based school. This is one of many similar reviews received, followed by personal inspections each year. Serious injuries, especially fractures, are commonly seen among primary grades with children lacking extensive opportunities to play on equipment or natural challenges during the preschool years. Following installation of an expansive new playground with www.playgroundmag.com
“state of the art” playground equipment for 5-12 year old children, modern manufactured surfacing, and approval by a Certified Playground Safety Inspector, the following injury pattern resulted. Fifteen students sustained significant injuries in about 18 months playing on the new equipment, including ten with broken arms or legs after falling from a climber (a simple modification to reduce the risk factor resulted in no injuries during the following 10 months). The principal of this school remarked, “Something is terribly wrong here.” Research points to growing sedentary time, loss of free play, high stakes testing, cyber play, lawsuits, and “helicopter parenting” for children’s declining play skills. Extensive experience in mastering climbing challenges from an early age is a more reliable predictor of success in climbing and safety than chronological age or grade level. Learners, even those introduced to climbing as late as elementary school, occasionally fall. Initially, they should be free to fall only from limited heights onto carefully prepared and maintained surfaces. As children gain skill, adults should stand back and release them to test their skills and enhance climbing abilities. However, a missing element in the risk and skill development equation is the readiness of the child to protect himself
during risky playground activities such as climbing trees – a current topic of controversy. Should children climb trees? Climbing trees offers similar benefits as other forms of climbing, but should also be subject to limited assistance by adults and older children during the learning stages. Climbing trees is often prohibited or limited by teachers, school administrators, and parents. Many school, park, and backyard playgrounds, perhaps most, do not include trees suitable for climbing, and owners of private property are reluctant to risk potential legal consequences of children falling from their trees. Reports of present-day elderly people who were skilled tree climbers during childhood typically paint pictures of pleasure, excitement, and reasonably safe, healthy consequences. The forgotten caveat here is that physical labor and extensive free play at home and school built readiness for physical challenges.
Readiness, Risk, and Intuition A missing element in playground safety is failure to provide sufficient free play time on challenging playgrounds for children to develop their natural intuition for protecting themselves in increasingly risky play. Over time and with experience, children given many opportunities
to engage in risky play build remarkably rapid instinctive, reflective processes that kick in to trigger automatic compensatory actions to prevent falls and to protect themselves during falls. Children can gain the power to intuitively know immediately and without conscious reasoning when an activity transcends from risky but doable to dangerous. For example, during falls experienced climbers twist the body to fall onto the expansive, less vulnerable back, the arms are withdrawn toward the body prior to receiving too much shock, and the neck bends forward to protect the most vulnerable head. The ultimate expression of such automatic, intuitive action is seen in wrestling, gymnastics, ballet, and parkour - even on the most challenging and active playgrounds. Learning how to prevent falls and how to fall safely begins early and depends on early cues from peers, adults, and much experience. Levels of child development and readiness for risky play are fundamental components of safe, healthy play. Reference Frost, J. L., Brown, P. S., Thornton, C. D., & Sutterby, J. A. (2004). The Developmental Benefits of Playgrounds. Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International.
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Photo Credit: ID Sculptures
Climbing in Playgrounds by Andris Zobs & Ian Glass
As any parent knows, children climb, anything. From the dresser drawers to the first time they awkwardly wrap themselves around a tree trunk. Teenagers scale walls and adults seek out remote mountaintops. When we are at our strongest and most confident, we climb. The Outdoor Industry Association puts total participation in rock climbing in the United States at 4.7 million to 6.9 million people, and the Climbing Wall Association estimates that there are 600 climbing-specific gyms and thousands of climbing walls within larger facilities and camps. While the popularity of rock climbing seems to have peaked in 2002 to 2006, there has been an explosive growth of nature-themed climbing in playgrounds and parks. With improvements in the
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manufacture of climbing structures and sculptures, accessibility and safety has improved, making climbing a sport with widespread appeal across age groups and skill levels. Playground designers and manufacturers have recognized that traditional post and deck structures and climbing events don’t fully satisfy the urge to climb that we all feel. In recent years, the industry has stepped forward to meet the challenge with climbing sculptures that have added a new dimension to playground activity, with more realistic surfaces, more challenging athleticism, and creativity in forms. New technology has enabled complete creative freedom; climbers are no longer limited to walls and boulders. Playground designers can now create expressive sculptures that combine the health benefits of climbing while also providing a venue for imaginative play.
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Climbing is playing Kids are all innately different; some are daredevils, others more quiet and introspective. Some create imaginary environments from their surroundings, while others try to conquer whatever is close by. Nature play and climbing provide opportunities for both by being both athletic challenges and adventure-filled landscapes. Children also crave unique and compelling environments. Just like an adult in a cubicle, children recognize the encroaching sameness of the spaces we live and work in. Sculptural climbing gives designers the opportunity to make each play space unique with its own special nuance. Climbing sculptures provide that diversity of experience by combining physical and mental challenges.
Manufacturers of custom play sculptures consider the physical activity to be only one component of a well-designed play feature. Each piece should provide aesthetic and sensory aspects that give children and adults a foothold into imaginary landscapes and act as a canvas for their imagination.
Climbing never gets old As those in the playground industry know, most structures have a life expectancy of 20 years or less. Aesthetic tastes change, user groups change, and children exhaust the play value of traditional structures. What was once a source of pride for the community quickly becomes destined for the landfill. This life expectancy is contrary to the general trend of the construction industry, which is to design for lasting durability. Playgrounds should be
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timeless by offering opportunities for ever increasing challenges. A well-designed playground climbing feature should include routes for all types, ranging from scrambles for young children to advanced over-hanging problems for adults. As skills and strength grow, so should the challenge.
Anyone can be a climber For most climbers, climbing is a lifelong sport. One of the joys of rock climbing is that you can spend your entire life as a climber and never master the sport; in fact, few ever do. Because climbing has become safer, younger children are being introduced to the sport by the parents, making it a sport that multiple generations can enjoy together.
Climbers are healthy Climbing, by its nature, combines physical power with mental fortitude. It builds strength, resolve, and control. Climbers tend to have an uncanny awareness of the body and movements, using efficiency of motion to overcome physical challenges. Rock climbing increases aerobic and anaerobic endurance, strength, and flexibility. According to “The Outdoor 14 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
Athlete,� climbing short, steep, and overhanging routes enhances anaerobic endurance, while climbing longer, sustained routes promotes aerobic endurance. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises improve cardiovascular function and body composition. The process of climbing itself involves stretching your limbs to reach hand and foot holds, increasing strength and flexibility. Physical and mental strength are not the only benefit of climbing. You also can enjoy a reduction in stress and stronger emotional health. Many people feel a sense of peace and freedom from everyday pressures when participating in activities that bring them closer to nature.
Climbers have a personal connection to the natural environment As a climber, you are forced to look at a route at every scale, assessing both the overall strategy and individual handholds, down to the minute texture of the rock. Artificial rock brings that intense scrutiny to the playground, building essential problem-solving skills. As playgrounds have become standardized, synthetic materials have proliferated. Meanwhile, our affinity for natural materials and its effect on well-being has been
well documented in a variety of other fields such as health care and office workspaces. Well-designed climbing sculptures bring the textures and materials of nature back to the controlled environment of the playground by creating connections to the outside world. Material and sculptural advances in artificial rock fabrication mean that playground users can experience actual geology, feel the warmth of rock, and explore its layers of detail. About the AuthorS
Founded in 2005, Integrated Design Solutions (IDS) designs and fabricates custom sculptural landscapes and play features using a specially formulated polymer concrete shell that provides a durable, realistic surface suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Driven to increase the play and climbing value of artificial rock, IDS has pioneered new material and sculptural techniques that bring an unprecedented level of realism to the market.
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Four Great Climbing Events Damon Yancy/Shutterstock.com
Photo Credit: Berliner Seilfabrik Neptune Park in Saratoga Springs, UT At 30’-2” the Berliner Seilfabrik Neptun XXL has a free fall height of only 6’-1” and a play capacity of 200+ users. Footprint/ use zone required only 55’x55’. www.berliner-playequipment.com
Climbing Rope We all remember gym class horror stories, but still, it’s a great feeling to touch the ceiling of the gym and make it back to the floor alive. Those that really liked it joined the Army where rope climbing is an art and social symbol!
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Trees Trees may well have been man’s first great climbing event. Tree climbing is a centuries-old activity that is still practiced by millions of kids annually. Get some water and a seed and plant a tree!
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Photo Credit: RockCraft
Chief-C-232 The Chief is RockCraft’s largest climbing boulder. It is a massive piece at 10’ high, 13’ long, 8’ wide, and weighs 7,000 lbs. This boulder has a load capacity in excess of 12,600 lbs., and can accommodate 22+ climbers. www.rockcraft.net
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Photo Credit: Dynamo Playgrounds
Rope-Based Playgrounds
An Early American Play Concept Makes a Come Back Over the last couple of decades many traditional playground toys such as rope climbers, merry-go-rounds, and tall swings have gotten a bad rap. Toys that were considered too tall, spin too fast, or swing too high were deemed suspect and were often removed under the guise that they were “too risky.” Risk, however is perceived differently depending on which side of the “suspect” toy you are standing. Playground providers manage risk by establishing policies that circumvent the likelihood of a personal injury lawsuit. At the same time, they compete with other forms of entertainment such as electronic games and devices that tend to promote a sedentary indoor lifestyle where children and their families are spending the majority of their time. How can School Facilities Directors and Park Managers compete? From a parental perspective, the desire to give children play experiences that offer just enough risk without
causing physical injury to little Johnny or harm to what may be perceived as delicate self-esteem is becoming more and more evident. Scare tactics of the media continue to sensationalize and overdramatize the inherent risks to sticking one’s nose outdoors. This, thank goodness, is offset by programs like “Take Your Kids to the Park Day,”1 and the 4th annual “Take Our Children to the Park and Leave Them There Day.”2 Both were held Saturday May 18, 2013. And, yes you read that correctly; leave them there without you! Experiencing risk is an integral part of a child’s healthy physical, mental, and emotional development. The Play & Playground Encyclopedia describes the positive aspects of challenge and risk: “When experiencing moments of apparent risk, their minds are placed in a state of alertness, resourcefulness, and expectancy. Mastering challenges results in giving children a sense of personal power and a satisfying feeling of accomplishment…. Children learn about their own strengths and limitations by physically challenging themselves. If they are not overprotected and sheltered from risk, they will learn to make judgments about their own capabilities and make their own reasoned decisions about the risks involved.”3
by Nicole Stoddard Europe but there is certainly a lot of evidence to the contrary. In the 1930’s a former boxer and designer from Princeton University, Joe Brown, built a loose rope structure modeled after a boxing ring that he called a jingle-net, and a spinning cone climber known as the swing-ring. These encouraged both climbing and spinning sensations that required agility and swift reaction to the unexpected shaking movement caused by other children.4
Sensation Rope-based play is based on the principle that every action creates an
History of Ropebased Play It’s generally accepted that the rope-based play concept originated in 16 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
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opposite reaction. Designers begin with the assumption that a child will learn to grasp the unpredictable and adjust to the change with an innate desire to explore the diversity of the unexplored. Imagine the sensations a sailor feels while climbing the rigging of a ship sailing on the high seas in a fierce storm. A challenge in the extreme no doubt, the sailor is dealing with the movement of the ropes, the swaying of the ship, and the change of wind speed, all of which conspire to remove his clinging climbing limbs from the safety of the ropes and pitch him head-long into the sea. Bring this image back to land by picturing your local school or community playground. Some of the experience is within a child’s control – his ability to grasp and adjust for the movement made by the rope under his own feet, and some of the experience is out of his control – the unpredictability of movement caused by other children using the same rope climbing event. This engaging combination of sensations is the very reason ropebased playgrounds are
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making a comeback. Add a “spin” to this and you have the essence of rope-based play: the unpredictable risk of movement. By all appearances, a rope-based play challenge has a common basis with a primary principle of life: the only constant is change. Rob Lockhart, Business Development Manager for Dynamo Playgrounds, a rope-based playground equipment manufacturer, suggests that rope-based play engages a child both cognitively and physically. “With rope-climbing and spinning games a child can’t stand on one foot hands-free and say ‘look mom, no hands.’ At least three points of contact – two feet and one hand or one foot and two hands – must be touching the ropes at all times.” The focus required to navigate a series of interconnected ropes makes every play experience a new experience. Young and old can find a place to play on at least one of the three major ropebased play events.
Selecting a Rope-based Play Event: Mast or Pyramid Nets For the faint hearted and skeptical, purchasing a net climber functionally linked to a traditional structure may be a good place to start. Some grown-ups think kids won’t know what to do with a net, or that they will “miss” having a slippery slide. More likely the children will know just what to do and at any age. For example, five-year-old Kailer Holt climbed to the tippy-top of a 30 foot Net with her older brothers and sisters during the grand opening of a Neptune Park in Saratoga Springs, Utah. And that’s the beauty of a climbing net, children instinc-
tively know their own skill level and can easily determine how high is “high enough.” Nets that link to traditional play structures are called mast or pyramid nets. They are a popular choice for elementary school grounds as young children are able to experience which way the wind is blowing “up there” for the first time. They are able to experience height while in the safety of a net that catches them should they fall. Nets of this type start as low as 8’ for toddlers; up to 12’ high and 18’ in height for the 5 to 12 year old set. An independent mast or pyramid net can be much higher, upwards of 30 feet tall (Arlington, VA) and to almost 50 feet tall (Mesa, AZ). Mast nets are wide at the base. For example, the nearly 50’ net in Arizona is 110’ wide at its base and gets smaller in diameter as it rises to the top. Whether a user wants to shimmy up to the top or hang out among the dozens of geometric configurations throughout, a pyramid climbing net offers plenty of rope for climbing on, crawling through, and swinging around. Intermingled within the geometry of taller pyramid nets, there may be lofty little seating perches just right for a friend or two to rest and hang-out. Pre-teens and teens gravitate to such places with their friends. Let it be said that tall pyramid nets do attract older users. So, if you are looking to draw teens and adults to your venue, consider a “tall” double or even triple pyramid net.
Frame Nets Another style of climbing structure is a frame net. The appearance of a frame net is very obvious; the core of the structure is all rope connected together in geometric patterns that look like something from a biology science project. The outer frame, made of steel, can be configured in just about any shape such as a rounded arch or hexagon formation, and it can be any size and I do mean any size! Instead of being manufacturer driven, where what you see in a product catalog is what you get, rope-based play is becoming more and more designer driven as architects and customers are becoming increasingly daring with the possibilities. And “endless” seems to be the variety of ways to interpret a framed net. Many framed nets are now incorporating other toys and games within the internal structure such as trapeze style balancing ropes and even swings. Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 17
An Early American Play Concept Makes a Come Back
Unlike a mast net where users crawl, climb, and scale the heights on the perimeter of the ropes, a frame net encourages users to play within its web of angles and cross links. Frame nets give the impression of safety and security to an observing supervisor or parent which is one of the very reasons a playground provider may choose a frame net over a pyramid or mast style net. However, if frame nets are meant to look safe, consider the 30 foot frame climbing net in the shape of a pyramid in Saratoga Springs, Utah, where families from all over the region come to see and experience the roped-based play phenomena that is as tall as a 3-story building. Is it a sign that litigation over equipment that is “too high” is a thing of the past? According to park manager, Mark Christensen, “Any playground equipment, whether it’s a swing or a curb to a step onto a park, has hazards. We contacted our insurance company. We sent the plans before we did anything. They said that as long as it meets the specs, and is designed in such a way, it’s a safe structure.”
Spinning Climbing Nets Spinning nets offer users a “gravityfree” feeling, and many are accessible to children and adults that do not have full use of their hands and feet for gripping. According to an excerpt from a listing on climbing in The Play & Playground Encyclopedia: “By the age of 6, most children can perform the basic motor skill tasks required for climbing on the level of an adult.”5 By adding spinning to a climbing challenge, children of all ages and abilities can enjoy the same spinning game over and over and over without losing initial interest. 18 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
For parents and park planners concerned about the alarming decrease in children’s physical health and ability, a spinning net climber is an excellent option. While some children push the spinning game to keep it in motion, other children get to enjoy the ride. Equipped with a simple friction braking system, the spinning game never goes too fast and children get to experience the cause and effect of their pushing efforts. Putting a “spin” on rope-based play is probably the best value dollar for dollar you can own. For example, a popular brand of spinning net climber only takes a 23’ use zone and serves 35 or more children at one time. That’s about one user per ten square feet. Spinning nets have become such a kid magnet that many schools have assigned use of the spinning net to one grade level per recess session.
Fall Height If you have read up to this point without asking yourself, “what about fall height?” you either know the answer or are patiently waiting for this important issue to be addressed. So here it is. Net geometry is carefully calculated for maximum safety, meaning it would be impossible for a child to fall from the tippy-top of a net clear to the ground without being gathered up by a series of nets designed not just for climbing and fun, but to anticipate the possible hazard: children may fall and do need to be protected if it happens. With this in mind, the fall height of net climbers is based on how far the user is expected to fall from the bottom most series of ropes on the structure to the surface. For most net climbers the fall height is a mere 6 feet or less. The maximum fall height for the tallest net to be installed in Arizona at Riverview Park will have only a 9 foot fall height.
Today rope-based playgrounds are making a come back and not because playground providers are any less wary of a personal injury lawsuit. Injury data simply does not show that “high” net climbers are any more risky than other traditional forms of play. Salt Lake County is preparing to unveil their most recent park plan for the largest regional park to date. It not only includes rope-based play concepts but actually makes “high adventure” its theme. Wayne Johnson, Parks Operations Director for Salt Lake County is reminded of the not so distant past, “Our last merry-go-round came out of the ground 20 years ago. We have 53 parks. There are zero merry-go-rounds. There are zero teeter-totters. The rule in the parks shouldn’t be ‘no fun allowed.’”6 About The Author
Nicole Stoddard is sales and marketing director for LuckyDog Recreation; distributors and installers of playgrounds, shelters and outdoor amenities in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. She serves as president to Playground Hound LLC; distributors of playground safety awareness education for children. Nicole is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector, (CPSI) and graduate of the University of Utah in Parks Management. She can be reached at play@luckydrec.com. Reference 1
National Park Trust Announces ‘National Kids to Parks Day’ To Take Place Saturday May 18, 2013. National Park Trust. < http://www.kidstoparks. org/news/press-release-and-media/643-nfl-players-association-joins-the-team > 18 June 2013.
2
“SATURDAY! 4th Annual ‘Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day.” FreeRange Kids. < http://www.freerangekids.com/thissaturday-may-18-4th-annual-take-our-childrento-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/ > 18 June 2013.
3
“Challenge.” The Play & Playground Encyclopedia. < http://www.pgpedia.com/c/challenge > 18 June 2013.
4
“The ‘designer’ playground continued…” The Architecture of Early Childhood. < http://www. thearchitectureofearlychildhood.com/2012/03/ designer-playground-continued.html > 18 June 2013.
5
“Climbing.” The Play & Playground Encyclopedia. < http://www.pgpedia.com/c/climbing > 18 June 2013.
6
“30-foot play pyramid, 1 of 3 in the world, comes to Saratoga Springs.” KSL.com. <http://ksl.com/ index.php?sid=20131420&nid=481 > 18 June 2013. www.playgroundmag.com
Climbing from The Play & Playground Encyclopedia www.pgpedia.com Climbing is an activity that children enjoy from an early age. Most children find climbing fun and strive to accomplish reaching the highest point possible to view the world around them. Exploration is an important part of climbing, whether they are climbing a tree or scaling a rock wall. They climb for excitement and the feeling of achievement when they overcome challenges, test their abilities, and show off for others. Peer pressure and encouragement from others often motivates children to climb structures and accept challenges. Children are also found playing on climbing structures as they engage in dramatic play and chase games.1 As babies begin to crawl and explore their world, they are soon able to pull themselves up on edges of furniture and climb over low obstacles. As their walking develops, they fearlessly attempt more climbing not seeing any danger. Until the age of 4, boys and girls show the same ability in their climbing skills, however, after this age, boys develop more strength than girls. By the age of 6, most children can perform the basic motor skill tasks required for climbing on the level of an adult. By the age of 9 or 10, children become more aware of height and may develop a fear of heights. They also often start to play more sports games by the age of 10 and climb less, although climbing rock walls remains a popular activity for older children.2 Children who are good climbers tend to be lightly built and are strong. They move in a relaxed, easy manner looking around and concentrating on several things at the same time while climbing. They take alternating steps and easily choose the best technique for each object.3 The motor skills of climbers are developed much quicker than non-climbers. In fact, practice in climbing on challenging climbers is a better predictor of skills than the size or age of a child.4 When climbing, children draw on a combination of cognitive skills, such as memory, visualization, and problem solving. They also have physical requirements that involve body, spatial and directional awareness as well as physical abilities, such as power, agility, speed, balance, and www.playgroundmag.com
Photo Credit: Staff Photo
coordination. Good visual perception is required to effectively determine foot and hand holds, also known as affordances, when climbing. The development of their perception of affordances results in a number of factors, including leg strength, limb lengths, locomotor abilities, and experience in climbing. As children have more experience in climbing, they will be better at perceiving distances and their reaching capacities. Children who have difficulty climbing may lack good fitness, be overweight, or have a physical disability.5 Besides climbing natural challenges, such as trees, rocks, and hills, today’s playgrounds offer lots of new, innovative climbing structures. The jungle gym from the past is now upstaged by sophisticated climbing frames, rope networks, rock climbing walls, and irregular shaped objects.6 Interesting ladders to platforms
have been added to playground equipment that make climbing more challenging. Reference 1
Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby, Candra D. Thornton. The Developmental Benefits of Playgrounds Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International, 2004. pp. 55, 126-127.
2
Van Herrewegen, Jenny, Johan Molenbroek, and Hedy Goossens. “Children’s Climbing Skills.” ANEC. <http://www.anec.org/ attachments/r&t007-04.pdf> 21 Oct. 2010.
3
Ibid.
4
Frost, Joe L., Pei-San Brown, John A. Sutterby. “Climbing Behavior: The Nature and Benefits of Children’s Climbing Behaviors.” PlayCore. <http://www.playcore.com/upload/file/frostclimbing-final.pdf> 21 Oct. 2010.
5
Op. cit., Frost. pp. 127-131.
6
Op. cit., Van Herrewegen, Molenbroek, and Goossens.
Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 19
21st Century Climbing Event Manufacturing Materials by Jan Neish
What kid, of any age, can resist the challenge to climb to the top? On playgrounds these opportunities often come through boulders and climbing nets. In recent years, the composition of these “challenges” has seen some innovations as outlined below. Boulders are naturally heavy, and as that is costly to ship and install, most of the newer materials are aimed at creating lighter boulders that remain strong and durable. Another important consideration for innovative manufacturers is having a “natural” rock surface for increased enjoyment and climb-ability. Listing in order of heaviest to lightest, the available materials for climbing rock formations are cement, PolyFiberCrete, Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), and fiberglass. Both cement and PolyFiberCrete are a molded process producing a solid single-material singlecolored boulder, while the GFRC and fiberglass boulders are a shell or shells of material over an inner steel framework resulting in lighter-weight boulders. Besides the construction process, the main difference between these materials comes down to the amount of glass fibers added to the cement base – ranging from none in cement to totally in fiberglass. The addition of glass fibers results in boulders with more elasticity and less likelihood of cracking. The climbing surface texture desired for greater realism and grip-ability comes from adding ceramic (sand) to the mixture, unmolding partly cured mixtures into sand, and/or allowing air bubbles in the mixture for a greater textured substance. On the outer layer, often a polymer resin sealant is used to resist color weathering from the open playground environment and to resist damage from graffiti. As to the boulder grips, the industry uses molds created from actual climbing rocks, hand sculpted grip surfaces, or bolted on hand holds. Beyond boulders, or sometimes used in conjunction with boulders, climbing nets are another way to feel like you are at the top of the world. Material considerations with climbing ropes and nets 20 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
involve strength, durability, and grip friendliness. Strength factors, and consequently public safety, currently revolve around the amount of steel core that is utilized, while the grip considerations come from the size and nature of the cable fiber jackets. And naturally, durability is the goal with both of these factors. Stainless steel cables range from 16 mm to 25 mm in diameter composed of generally 6 coated strands around a core strand. This core may be a 3 strand fiber core or another steel wire strand – often the edge cables in a climbing design will have this inner steel strand for added strength. How many steel wires are in each steel strand can vary from company to company resulting in different tensile strengths. However, the search for strength and durability needs to be mitigated by size, since children’s hands can only comfortably grip a rope of generally the 16-20 mm size. Larger diameter cables are usually used for structural strength and anchoring purposes.
The fiber jackets employed in climbing nets are of either polyester or nylon composition and cover each of the outer strands for both grip texture and color options. The inner core may or may not be covered as well. Additionally some of the outer fiber jacket materials have been treated with UV protection agents, flame retardant solutions, and/or a neon reflective color for added visibility. Whether standing tall as the main feature of a playground or combined in creative configurations, boulders and cable nets naturally bring climbing excitement to playgrounds. And the materials being utilized today are bringing added safety, durability, new design possibilities, and greater climbing frontiers.
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Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 21
Specifying Rope-Based Play • Rope fibers can be made of vinyl (polypropylene), which is much less desirable for its strength and durability than nylon (polymide) or polyester. • UV protection or color fastness – look for a rating of 7/8 or 8/8. Red does tend to fade a little more than other colors, but if you select a 7 or 8 rating, you’ll notice the fading is considerably less. • Underneath the rope fibers are steel strands that give the rope its strength. Look for the most steel strands you can find: 144 to 168 galvanized steel strands is preferred. Steer away from any products providing less than 100 strands of steel. • Connectors, like kids, come in all shapes and sizes and content. Look for compressed connectors that are factoryinstalled. Avoid plastic connectors or
22 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
Photo Credit: Dynamo Playgrounds
A reputable playground designer or architect can assist in selecting a brand of rope-based playground equipment. However, not all rope-based equipment is created equal. Here is a short list of things you will want to require and some things you may want to avoid: hook-type connectors (think s-hooks on a swing), which can work loose and cause abrasion against the rope fibers making them fray. • Breaking strength – Ask your net distributor the tested breaking strength of the equipment: the connectors should be able to hold in excess of 2000 lbs. and the cable with steel content should have a breaking strength greater than 12,000 lbs. • IPEMA Certified – When in doubt, select net products that have the IPEMA Certified Seal of approval on them. IPEMA certification gives inexperienced playground purchasers or first time net purchasers the assurance that the equipment they are buying is going to meet or exceed industry accepted standards for quality construction and safety.
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Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 23
Climbing Safety Review In recent years there has been increasing discussion within the playground industry regarding the risks, or lack thereof, associated with modern playground equipment design. One philosophy purports that playgrounds are becoming too safe, akin to sterile environments that don’t offer enough challenge. The argument follows that children naturally seek out, and in fact require, healthy risk-taking activities in order to properly develop both physically and psychologically. When playground designers fail to meet this inherent need for developmental challenge within the relatively managed play-
Photo Credit: SofSURFACES
To be clear, risk and hazard are two very different concepts with very different implications. Risk is the potential that a chosen activity will lead to an undesirable outcome. The very notion of risk implies choice.
ground environment, children will seek out riskier activities either within or outside of the playground setting.
by Jeromy Morningstar
The opposing view states that being injured on the playground is not a rite of passage and references the alarming and growing injury statistics as evidence that we are headed in the wrong direction.
During a recent research effort, I was presented with substantial evidence that indeed, children who do not feel challenged on the playground will in fact seek out more challenging and riskier activities. This often occurred on unsupervised playgrounds and was seen in the form of kids using the equipment in a manner inconsistent with the original design intent. As I was wading through image after image of kids engaged in risky behavior on the playground, it occurred to me that perhaps the debate about equipment that promotes risk versus equipment that does not, is in some sense irrelevant
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or misunderstood at the least. After all, the risks are being taken regardless of the equipment design. So why are kids being injured on playgrounds? Is it from increased risk associated with equipment that encourages more risky behavior, is it from kids using the equipment in unintended ways due to a lack of challenge associated with the equipment design? Or is it from hazards within the playground itself? Does the argument of challenge versus safety have to be an all or nothing approach? Where should the line be drawn? What if an environment could be created where kids could develop physically and psychologically in a setting where the perception of risk is present while the most serious hazards are removed? To be clear, risk and hazard are two very different concepts with very different implications. Risk is the potential that a chosen activity will lead to an undesirable outcome. The very notion of risk implies choice. A child for example may choose whether or not to navigate a particularly challenging piece of playground equipment. A hazard on the other hand implies an unknown, or the state of being
vulnerable to something which cannot be predicted. Since children cannot visually determine a playground surfaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to protect them from a fall, a playground surface could well present an unforeseen hazard. In fact, two surfaces that look and even feel nearly identical, could have a large disparity in safety performance resulting in a 4 foot fall onto a non-compliant surface proving more dangerous than an 8 foot fall onto a surface exceeding safety guidelines.
with the best opportunity to bring seemingly opposing viewpoints together. If the common goal is to increase physical activity within an environment optimized for physical and emotional development but absent of serious hazards, then playground surfacing is the area that affords the opportunity for greatest improvement. Manufacturers of synthetic surfacing are making huge strides in safety performance with some companies developing products that comply with, or even exceed ASTM F1292 at heights previously unattainable. Future conversations concerning the merits of designing higher and more challenging playground equipment might well be incomplete in the absence of serious discussion regarding the significant advancements that have been made within the safety surfacing arena. About The Author
Given that over 70% of all playground injuries are related to falls to the surface, it would appear that a greater focus on playground surfacing may well present us
Jeromy Morningstar has been employed with SofSURFACES for over 17 years and currently holds the position of Managing Director. SofSURFACES has been manufacturing and distributing its SofTILE brand of playground safety surfacing systems since 1991.
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Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 25
Climbing Trends on the North American
PLAYground In the public domain throughout North American playgrounds, climbing is routinely one of the most popular activities. When we ask why both children and adults like to climb, play scholars cite the challenge, the ability to get to the top of a structure, whether natural or manbuilt. Survivalists explain that climbing is part of our wired past as a means of escaping potentially fatal situations. Many professionals explain that when we climb, it’s not only to concur but to gain the ultimate reward of the view or vista from the top. If you have ever climbed a mountain, you know exactly what I mean! Height seems to have practical advantages as well. As anyone who has studied military history can tell you, for thousands of years humans have built our forts and castles in high elevated spaces so that we could see our enemies advance from far away. For all these reasons and more, we are naturally attracted to climbing, and it makes sense for climbing to be such a popular playground activity. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, playgrounds in North America were made SAFER. The resulting actions, spawned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission combined with the American and Canadian Standards Associations’ recommendations, all but eliminated super tall climbing apparatus. I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers from my college Play classes seeing pictures of the original gymnastic play equipment that populated our schools and parks at the turn of the century. This equipment tended to be well over 10’ tall, often as high as a two-story building. Injuries from falls onto a hard surface all but eliminated this type of equipment. Today, if you ask children what they want, and we do, they tell us the taller the better. However, as responsible designers, we must provide adequate safety surfacing materials to attenuate the impact of a direct fall onto the surface directly below and around the play equipment. One recent trend has been to enclose or “cage in” the higher elements on super tall climbing structures to prevent a user 26 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
from falling out of the equipment. This practice is somewhat controversial as published scholars have shown independent research with children using the equipment in manners it was not intended by climbing on the outside of the protective barriers and connecting components. If you are considering placement of these tower type play apparatus, be sure to also consider placing safety surfacing under and around it that protects users from the highest foreseeable point they might fall. Fortunately IPEMA surfacing manufacturers have made tremendous progress developing materials that meet the ASTM F1292 Safety Standard for impact attenuation to heights that approach 16’!
Older style climbing equipment: 18-Foot Bell Buoy and Rocket Ship climber Another strong trend is the reemergence of cable net-type structures that originated in European playgrounds nearly 40 years ago. Cable net climbers can be designed to eliminate the possibility of a direct fall from the higher climbing areas to the surface directly below and underneath the climber. American, Canadian, and European safety standards spell out a test methodology that allows designers to
by Tom Norquist, IPEMA create super tall net structures for climbing. This type of equipment is becoming more and more popular, and hybrid designs are helping create new, fun, and exciting play activities in a compliant manner. As a student of play for 30 years, one can surmise that climbing net structures are complex by design and create climbing experiences that develop coordination, crossing the midline, slow the play experience down and develop cognitive skills of decision making, risk taking and problem solving. The trend of rock climbing in a public space continues to be popular. Natural and manufactured boulders are featured events in many new natural themed park playgrounds. We are seeing an increasing amount of play equipment combining “rocks and ropes” which translates into boulders with either net climber connectors or balance ropes like the “Burma bridge” event. Elementary schools have brought the rock climbing experience into their gymnasiums with horizontal wall climbers that surround the gymnasium walls, are relatively low in height, and have protective mats underneath that double as containment when not in use. Today, as you consider the design of a composite play structure or a free standing climber, you have a more diverse selection of materials than ever before. Traditional climbers like steel rung ladders are still viable climbers, but you can choose themed steel designs to resemble rope to even steel and/or cable with recycled plastic treads resembling the old rope ladders dropped down the side of a ship or from an elevated tree house. You will find climbers themed to look like logs, rocks, trees, leaves, spider webs, animals like bears, raccoons, etc…today’s playground designer has a multitude of options on how they want to theme the traditional climbing activity. About the Author
Tom Norquist, IPEMA Marketing Committee Chair on behalf of the Voice of Play www.playgroundmag.com
CPSICorner: Consider This
Considering a New Playground? Then Consider This...
by John Balicki
Exciting times! Your organization is considering the purchase and installation of a new playground. Before making the purchasing decisions, there are a number of things to take into account to assure a safe and compliant playground when it opens. The decision-making process will logically begin with the choice of a site and then the selection of specific playground equipment. But before making those determinations, it’s important to be aware of the safety standards and other considerations that should guide the design and selection process. The two primary documents related to public playground safety in the United States are: • ASTM F1487 Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use (“ASTM F1487”) • U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Public Playground Safety Handbook (“CPSC Handbook”) ASTM F1487 is an international voluntary standard and is the standard used by the playground industry in the U.S. for the design and manufacture of play equipment; this document also defines playground hazards and how to test for them and equipment use zones. The CPSC Handbook is a consumer-oriented document that guides the playground owner/operator through site-related issues, playground layout, and selection of appropriate play equipment, along with many other important safetyrelated topics. With the passage of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design by the
28 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
Department of Justice, the provisions of that law related to play areas took effect for all newly constructed and altered playgrounds beginning on March 15, 2012. The minimum requirements for the number and type of accessible play activities, as well as accessible routes of travel and accessible surfaces, are all defined in the Play Area Sections 240 and 1008 of Titles II and III Facilities, within that standard. The 2010 ADA standard and it companion guidance document can be found on-line at http:// www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index. htm.
Before you decide... When selecting an appropriate site for the playground, the CPSC Handbook identifies these as important factors: • Travel patterns of children to and from the playground • Nearby accessible hazards such as roads with traffic, lakes, ponds, streams, dropoffs/cliffs, etc. • Sun exposure (bare metal equipment and shading considerations) • Slope and drainage of the playground surface The CPSC Handbook recommends approaching the playground layout with the following factors in mind: • Accessibility • Age separation (individual play areas for different age groups, physically separated by a buffer zone) • Conflicting activities (motion equipment within the playground and surrounding activities outside the play area)
• Sight lines (eliminating visual barriers) • Signage and/or labeling (in compliance with ASTM F1487) • Supervision Access for emergency and maintenance vehicles should also be taken into account when selecting a site. Additionally, placement of benches, trash receptacles, drinking fountains, signs, and other ancillary equipment and comfort concerns should be addressed in the playground layout. When selecting the play equipment, there are a number of factors to be kept in mind, such as: • The number and type of accessible play activities • Child development (intellectual, physical, emotional, and social) and play value/type (upper/lower body, motion, balance, social, etc.) • Age-appropriate equipment and equipment not recommended for public playgrounds (CPSC Handbook) • Carrying capacity of the playground Once the play equipment is chosen, a protective surfacing system is selected that best fits the organization’s situation; the surfacing will be installed in the use zones of the play equipment. “ASTM F2223 Standard Guide for ASTM Standards on Playground Surfacing” was developed as a guide to assist the owner/operator or designer in selecting and specifying protective surfacing systems by outlining the requirements associated with design, installation, and maintenance. Factors to consider should include the following:
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• The impact attenuating value (critical height) of the surfacing material must equal or exceed the fall height of the equipment • The surfacing material is “firm and stable” in the areas of the playground that are intended to be accessible (ADA) • Frequency of use • Long-term maintenance costs vs. initial purchase price • Environmental conditions/cold weather concerns • Providing an appropriate drainage system • Method of containment for loose-fill surfacing With both the play equipment and the protective surfacing it is imperative that they are installed per the manufacturer’s instructions. If you are using a manufactured loose-fill surfacing product, it is important not to mix products of the same type from different manufacturers, or you may void your product warranty and directly assume product liability.
Before you buy... certify! It is essential that proof of compliance with the applicable standards be obtained before the play equipment and protective surfacing are purchased, both to assure the user’s safety today and as an important part of the organization’s defense in the event of a lawsuit. That proof of compliance will either be in the form of a certificate or actual test results, and should reflect independent/third party testing to the current (active) standard. For public play equipment designed for children 2-to-12 years, the applicable standard is “ASTM F1487 Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Playground Equipment for Public Use.” If the equipment is designed for children under two years of age, the appropriate standard is “ASTM F2373 Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Public Use Play Equipment for Children 6 Months through 23 Months.” Other standards exist for residential (ASTM F1148) and soft-contained (ASTM F1918) play equipment, if that is your interest. All types of protective surfacing should be tested to “ASTM F1292 Standard Specification for Impact Attenuation of Surfacing Materials within the Use Zone of Playground Equipment” to determine www.playgroundmag.com
its “critical height.” In addition, surfacing in areas intended to be accessible must meet “ASTM F1951 Standard Specification for Determination of Accessibility of Surface Systems Under and Around Playground Equipment.” Finally, certification should also be obtained for manufacturing compliance with the appropriate surfacing type, such as “ASTM F2075 Standard Specification for Engineered Wood Fiber for Use as a Playground Safety Surface Under and Around Playground Equipment” or “ASTM F2479 Standard Guide for Specification, Purchase, Installation and Maintenance of Poured-In-Place Playground Surfacing.” If the intent is to use fencing to enclose any part of the play area, the applicable standard for that purpose is “ASTM F2049 Standard Safety Performance Specification for Fences/Barriers for Public, Commercial, and Multi-Family Residential Use Outdoor Play Areas.”
Before you play... After the play equipment, protective surfacing, and all site amenities have been installed, an initial safety audit of the entire playground should be completed before it is opened for use; that safety audit should only be performed by a current Certified Playground Safety Inspector. The safety audit should identity any non-compliance issues with the design, manufacture, and/or installation of both the play equipment and the surfacing against the various standards listed above. The resultant report can be used as a “Punch List” by the installer, to be sure that all identified non-compliant issues are corrected before accepting and opening the playground. The audit report and copies of any subsequent repair records and inspection, maintenance, and incident/accident reports should be retained and saved in a
playground site history file. Copies of the equipment and surfacing certifications/ test results, original purchase documents, installation instructions, and all other documentation provided by the equipment and surfacing manufacturers should also be retained in the site history file. Such a file and documentation should be established separately for each playground that the organization owns and/or operates. These documents will provide ready reference when replacement parts or repairs are needed, for budgeting purposes, for tracking injuries, and for defense in the unfortunate event of an injury and subsequent lawsuit. Now it’s time to celebrate your diligent work and recognize the investment the community has made in the development, health, and happiness of its children. Hold a formal dedication of the playground, complete with a ribbon cutting by your local dignitaries. And enjoy the joyful faces and squeals of delightful play, as the children race into the new playground for the very first time! About The Author John Balicki, CPRP, CPSI is a Recreation and Park Consultant with John Balicki and Associates, LLC and has 35 years of parks and recreation management and consulting experience. He is an instructor of the Certified Playground Safety Inspector course for the National Recreation and Park Association. He has also developed and teaches the Playground Maintenance Course for the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society, served on the Executive Committee of the National Playground Safety Institute, and is a participating member of ASTM International subcommittee F15.29: Playground Equipment for Public Use.
Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 29
Calendar CPSI Course Calendar August 5-7
Greeley, CO
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14-16
Richland, WA
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26-28
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18-20
Coeur dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Alene, ID
208-292-5766
23-25
Morristown, NJ
732-568-1270
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Covington, GA
770-760-1403
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Dublin, OH
614-895-2222
October 6-8
Houston, TX
512-267-5550
21-23
Little Rock, AR
510-416-6700
22-24
Camillus, NY
518-584-0321
22-24
TBD - Chicago Area, IL
708-588-2280
November 4-6
Green Bay, WI
414-423-1210
5-7
North Kansas City, MO
573-636-3828
6-8
Salt Lake City, UT
801-782-5512
6-8
Clearwater, FL
850-878-3221
13-15
Bellevue, WA
360-459-9396
10-12
San Clemente, CA
916-665-2777
30 Playground Magazine Summer 2013
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Summer 2013 Playground Magazine 31