Playground Guide - 2023 - 8

Research Fosters Thoughtful
Playground Design
How research shapes playground design for children ages 5 to 13
By Suzanne Quinn, Ph.D.
T
he World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend
that children ages 2 to 5 have at least 180 minutes per day of physical activity of varying intensity, and
children ages 5 to 18 have at least 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (tinyurl.com/
ybeua97n). Most children are not meeting these guidelines (tinyurl.com/3f33hsa9), which will have serious
consequences for personal and public health, according to WHO (tinyurl.com/ybeua97n) and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (tinyurl.com/4nv7purf). While this trend is troubling, public playgrounds offer solutions by supporting
physical activity and promoting health, well-being and social cohesion.
Playgrounds are an essential civic investment. When
planning for a new playground, organizations should carefully
make decisions about which equipment pieces to install
and how the equipment will be placed in the space
to make a great playground that will attract users and
provide health benefits. These decisions must be made
after considering the features of the available space, the
Americans with Disabilities Act and safety recommendations.
Many playground owners look for research-based
solutions to make the best choices for their communities.
An essential component of designing an outdoor playground
that will provide benefits for children, their families
and the community is research on the use of active outdoor
spaces. Research on public playgrounds is a focused
field of study that combines knowledge from a range of
disciplines. Playground research brings play researchers,
child development professionals, landscape architects,
designers and public health researchers together with
planners and policymakers to inform decisions on wise
practices in playground design (tinyurl.com/y9bh62p6).
Similarly, individuals with varied perspectives contribute
to playground research studies, and the core experts on
playgrounds are the people who will use them - the children
and their families. This is why it is essential that playground
researchers design research programs that include
the perspectives of a wide range of children and families
in the protocol, in addition to objective and reliable measures
of the use of playground equipment and playground
spaces over extended periods of time.
A research-based approach to the design of a playground
will help park and recreation agencies ensure:
* The equipment is enjoyable and suited for play
* The equipment is designed for a range of abilities and
interests
* The equipment is suited for the developmental needs
of growing children
* The equipment and the design of the space will support
physical activity
* The equipment and the design of the space will support
positive social experiences
An example of recent research from the KOMPAN Play
Institute is the study of popular play spaces, active dwell
time and positive social play in outdoor playgrounds for
school-aged children ages 5 to 13. In this study, we observed
children at play, listened to their perspectives and
consulted with youth workers at an out-of-school program.
We found that a winning combination of responsive
play equipment helps children have more active playtime.
When children play together on responsive playground
equipment, they play longer and with no conflicts.
8 Parks & Recreation | 2 0 2 3 PL A Y GROUND GUIDE | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
http://tinyurl.com/ybeua97n http://tinyurl.com/ybeua97n http://tinyurl.com/3f33hsa9 http://tinyurl.com/ybeua97n http://tinyurl.com/4nv7purf http://tinyurl.com/y9bh62p6
Playground Guide - 2023

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