March 2023

Understanding Early Childhood Play and Its Benefits

Over the years, many researchers have studied children playing in various environments, with all of them suggesting that playing is important for overall development of children. Read on to find out more on, different types of childhood play and how they help.

To most, the term childhood automatically brings blissful memories of times spent on the playground. World within the walls of a playground, seems a totally different place, most children cry when their parents try to take them away. Play is a child’s work and along with preschool, it plays an important part in overall development of children. Preschool specializes in early childhood education and recognizes the importance of play in childhood, children are considered to be preschool ready when they turn three.

According to various researchers, there are different stages of playing that children go through from toddler-hood to preadolescence, a period generally termed as early childhood. These stages are:

Unoccupied play: Often seen during early months of infancy, from birth to three months, children are often seen making random hand or leg movements with no definitive purpose. This act is seen as an initial form of playing.

Solitary play: From 3 months to 18 months, children are observed to be playing on their own. They often do not seem to notice other children playing or sitting around them. Solitary play is very common in toddlers since they have limited social, cognitive and physical skills. Another form of play is Onlooker play, it is when children watch and observe those surrounding him, and this helps children in learning the language and relating themselves to others.

Parallel play: This is when children learn to play alongside other children, this forms an important part of child’s development as he acquaints himself with the concept of sharing and recognizing what belongs to them. Children usually engage in parallel play when they are between 18 months to 2 years old.

Associative play: Commonly seen in children as they reach the pre-schooling age, it is then they start to get interested in other children more than toys. Through associative play children learn the do’s and don’ts of getting along with other as well as art of sharing and cooperation to go with honing of their language development skills. Other forms of play that occupy a kid ranging between 3 years to 4 years are Constructive play, Expressive play and Fantasy play. With each having benefits of their own, Constructive play allows children to explore what works and what does not work by playing with objects and discovering patterns.

Through expressive play, children learn to express themselves through crayon, paint, pencil and other drawing or writing materials. Fantasy play encourages children to imagine things beyond their understanding, it need not be about fairies or dragons, but can be their imitation and understanding of adults. This form of play encourages expression of concept, dream and help them understand various roles their family members play.

As suggested there is …

An Aerial Runway For the Garden

One of the most popular pastimes we devised in the garden, for our grandchildren, was the aerial runway. We had some trees that were about 10 meters apart and the ground sloped gently down from one to the other. All we needed was some rope and a pulley, then we could tie a rope between the trees and hoist our grandsons on to a bar suspended from the pulley. In fact a step ladder proved useful to give enough height for them to get a decent run but they were never so far from the ground that it was a danger.

Of course life is never that simple. The main problem was the sag in the rope used to span the trees. We calculated that with a sag of half a meter over a 10 meter span the tension in the rope would be about 5 times the weight of the child. The trees were quite strong but still flexible enough to bend towards each other and increase the sag. Of course you could use stronger trees if you have them, but we did not!

There were two ways that we overcame the problem. Firstly we reinforced the branch holding the runway by tying to another branch behind it so that it could share the strain. Secondly we used some extra rope to lift the end of the runway where it was attached to the tree. Lifting upwards in this manner can increase the tension in the runway rope significantly. Alternatively if the attachment were too high then a similar scheme could be used to pull the end of the runway downwards with a similar effect.

With these schemes in place we were able to keep the sag small enough. In fact some sag is helpful since it stops the child crashing into the tree at the end of the runway. At the end the pulley, in effect, tries to go uphill and this is enough to arrest the speed. Nevertheless a cushion tied to the second tree made the ending more comfortable.

We used a marine pulley and attached a small bar of about a half meter using two clove hitches. We found it important to tie the hitches in opposite directions to stop the bar rotating and unwinding the hitches, a technique we have used for other equipment such as the rope ladder and the trapeze.…

Rubber Mulch for Your Complete Playground Safety

Rubber mulch is one of the most important things to have as playground equipment for your playground safety. Often children there play, work and have fun and there are chances that they fall down and get injured at play. These mulch works best as the perfect source of protection for them and are completely safe for them.

Covering your ground areas with this mulch for the playground safety is must if you are really concerned about your children’s safety playing at these areas. There may be slides, swings and other playground equipments that can make your child injured while they are enjoying there. But using these rubber mulch make you relax completely. You even need not see your child all the time when they are playing at these safe playground areas covered with the beautiful mulch.

Generally these mulch acts as a cushion for your children when they are at play. Your kids do not get injured when they fall down on these rubber based mulch that acts as a shock absorbers and protect your child from getting injured. The play ground areas can be made safe and easy by using this mulch. Today these are attractively available in most appealing colors and designs. You can get them differently as the match of your playground and the one which is most loved by your children.

Most advantageous part of using this mulch is that they are neither blown away in most stormy nights nor they are washed away with the heavy rains. These are environment friendly and the insects are not attracted by these best quality mulch. These do not smell bad and are completely safe, comfortable and easy for your children. These are must for the complete playground safety. Inorganic and synthetic rubber mulch is now in great demand. These are easy to use and install. Buying out the best mulch for your needs can be made very easy through internet.…

Putting the Necessary Safety Measures in Place So Kids Can Keep on Being Kids

Accidents and injuries involving our young, developing kids are an everyday site. Like it or not, they’ll continue to happen, whether it be down at the park, around the home or in the large surroundings of their schools.

No matter how cold, sore, tired or hungry kids are, it takes an awful lot to deter our kids from playing. Full of energy and with a willingness to explore, kids are difficult to pin down or even slow down at the best of times.

From football and riding a bike, to playing on the swings and jumping of the playground, kids are always busy showing off their new found abilities and confidence and generally expressing their personalities. As parents and teachers, we can only but sit back and admire their development and excitable natures, whilst ensuring the risk of accidents and injuries is as low as can be.

Every parent has endured the experience of seeing their kids walking in the door from another day at school with bumps and bruises on their legs and arms. “What happened and why?” are normally the first questions raised by concerned parents.

Up until a few years ago, schools around the world were equipped with very few safety measures to help prevent accidents from occurring. Kids hanging from bars and swinging from playground equipment was an all too familiar site. Having concrete or grass in the playground area was considered normal for all schools.

Fortunately, grass and concrete have been replaced by a more logical and kid-friendly alternative, helping to reduce the risk of injury from falls, trips and spills. More and more schools have adopted this safety approach and consequently, kids are crying less and walking home to their parents a lot happier.…

Does Your Parking Lot Need a Shade Structure?

A parking lot has become a huge necessity these days as the need for it has increased. In certain countries, it is even responsible for some of the state’s source of revenue. A parking lot is simply an allotted piece of land in front of your home, in the company and office building, in the store grounds where people can park their cars.

The need for parking lots with shade structures has also increased tremendously in the last two decades. This is mostly due to the drastic increase in global temperature. Thus, the need for a shade structure that will benefit the people who park their cars in these parking lots. The common shade structures found in most parking lots are the steel roofed shade structures. These are mostly built by people who intend to not bother with it again for a long time. Steel roof shade structures were extremely popular in the hey days but now have a fair competition with the more dynamic type known as the fabric canopy shade structure.

Parking lots that must have a shade structure would most likely opt for the steel roof shade structure as they last longer and do not need as much maintenance as the nylon tension cable shade structure. The steel roof shade structure is about the most solid and all that is required is just taking good care of the facilities is consistent maintenance efforts and necessary repairs when necessary.

On the other hand, the fabric canopy is also a good option. It is highly dynamic and can be transformed into any shape you might want. It is also aesthetically advantaged as the designs with it can be very attractive and appealing to the eye.

One of the basic reasons a shade structure is in order in every open space denoting a parking lot is because of the incessant heat and snow.

If you park your car out in a sweltering heat for hours, you can imagine how hot it would be after a long period. Not just this, consistent parking out in the heat and in the snow for a long time will definitely tell on the paintwork as the car pain will begin to wear off thus making your car lose its characteristic shine.

So, you can now see that if you need to have a parking lot, it is advisable that it also include one that has a form of shade structure and one that is long lasting at that. But if you can’t afford the steel roof, you might want to opt for the fabric canopy. It will also serve effectively as long the weather isn’t unfavorable.…

Situating Playground Sets Properly

One thing that many people over look when buying playground sets is how and where they will be situated in the yard. It is very important to measure the span of your chosen location to make sure that you have enough room to put the set you have in mind. This is particularly true of wooden playsets. Although wooden playsets are preferable over other types they are also bulkier and larger. As many of them are put together in components with each “block” having a different feature like a slide, a fort, a net or a climbing wall, you have to be particularly meticulous about making sure that the space you have is large enough to accommodate it. Yet another thing to keep in mind is that you might want to add even more components to these wooden sets over time. This means that if you think you want to add a climbing wall to an existing swing and slide that when you situate the unit in your yard you must leave room for expansion.

It is not a good idea to situate your playground set beneath a tree as children that grow could bump their heads on branches. You should also watch out for back ending the unit up against a tree that could grow a huge trunk over the years. Wooden playsets also last for years and you do not want to compromise the growth of your tree or do an expensive move of the unit.

Playground sets with swings should have plenty of clearance on all sides. If there are two swings on the unit then make sure there is no fence or any other kind of obstacle that could get in the way of the swings highest potential to arc upwards. Also, most adults remember from being young once that the favorite thing for kids to do on a swing is swing as high as you can and then jump off. Make sure that your child has at least six feet in front of the swing to play like this and that he or she is not going to smack into the side of your house or into a pool or into the neighbour’s fence.

Another important aspect of situation playground sets is line of view. Make sure that you place it in a way that you can view it from windows that you often look out of when you are in the house. This allows you to keep an eye in general on your children and their friends as they monkey around on playground sets in your backyard.…

Kids Playground Sets – Here Are 2 Important Considerations Before You Buy

When searching for a great kids playground set or backyard play equipment for your young children here are 2 key areas to consider.

1. Make Sure The Play Set is Age-Appropriate

Consider the age range of your children now. A mistake that many people make is buying a set that a child can grow into. You should aim at having between 2-5 years of activity from a Play Set. Just make sure that the equipment will suit their abilities and interests for their current age. You want them to immediately be comfortable with all areas of the Play Set so they can enjoy it right away.

If you have children of different ages than you should consider getting a Play Set that has apparatus for different age groups. For instance, many sets offer the option of getting a child’s swing that securely holds a younger child, while still offering slightly larger apparatus for children a few years older. Having the option to add or change sections of the Play Set should be a consideration when there are different age groups.

Remember it is more important for a parent to be close at hand to ensure younger children do not climb up on slides and other pieces that could turn fun into a fall or injury.

2. Always Consider Safety Based On Their Ages and Abilities

Because children do not recognize a potentially dangerous situation, it is even more important that you consider your child’s abilities and motor skills before your install any Play Equipment in your backyard.

Naturally children have less fear when something looks like fun. Unfortunately Playground injuries can be common as a result. School and Park Playgrounds have equipment that is installed for a broad age-range so for some children it’s fine but for others it’s too high or too difficult; and potentially dangerous. When acquiring a Play Set for your backyard consider the potential for injury based on your children’s age and abilities.

Don’t just consider the equipment but also where and how it will be installed. Be sure to consider the surface and read the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations. Many manufacturers recommend special surfaces that have less impact.

Simply put, safety must be considered along with the age-appropriate level. Parents should always be immediately available for very young children. As a child ages and is comfortable with the Play Equipment the parent should still be close and always watching. Children tend to push themselves so the need to be close is very important.

These are just 2 important considerations when you are searching for a Kids Playground Set for your children. Try to imagine yourself at their level (literally) and keep it age-appropriate and safe.…