How to Make Your Playground More Inclusive
Playgrounds exist to entertain children and to allow them to be active and social with their peers. For children with additional access needs, visiting the local park or playing in a playground can sometimes be a challenge, so making sure to consider them and adapt your playground to make it more inclusive will enable everyone to join in on the fun without holding back!
A fantastic example of an inclusive playground can be found in Greenwich Park. After many years of making children and parents alike happy, the playground went through a revamp allowing it to welcome all children including those with disabilities.
The equipment in the new playground includes a roundabout, basket swing, plus sand and water play features. Different elements are positioned at different heights, so all children have the opportunity to play together without any worries. There’s also sensory equipment to enhance their experience. All of this combined with the historical landscape of the park makes for an amazing play area for children of all abilities.
If you don’t want anyone to feel left out in your playground, you must consider its inclusivity. How do you do that? Here’s some helpful tips and advice to follow:
Make it more accessible
In order for your playground to be more inclusive, first you need to make sure that everybody can navigate in and around it. Wider pathways will allow for comfortable passage for children in wheelchairs in between the different equipment. The same goes for the equipment itself – lowered to ground level where children might have had trouble getting on it before. Having equipment at different heights will certainly include more children of different ages and capabilities.
Consider the surface of your play areas
Using playground markings is a good way to make the surface of your playground more attractive. Plus, our thermoplastic designs are anti-slip, environmentally friendly and long-lasting. What’s more, each of our designs can be adapted to suit your requirements.
Aside from making the surface colourful and appealing to the playground users, every play area should be made fall and injury safe. Consider appropriate flooring for each piece of equipment, for example, soft flooring around a swing to minimise injury if any children were to fall over. This will benefit both able-bodied children and children with disabilities.
Utilise sensory equipment
Without a doubt, sensory equipment is one of the best ways to make a playground inviting to young people. Children with sensory disorders will also be able to have lots of fun on such a playground whilst learning and being encouraged to develop their sense of texture and colours, develop their balance and other motor skills.
Offer group and solo activities
Make sure that you have various play areas and equipment in the playground. Every child has a different taste, comfort zone, and social needs. Whilst some might prefer to enjoy more solo activities, others may be more comfortable or more interested in taking part in group activities, and some might just even want to observe before joining in. Having a wide range of choice is important in order to meet the different needs and interests of those who are visiting your playground.
There are numerous options for you to create an inclusive playground, where nobody would ever feel left out or discriminated against, providing a bigger sense of security to parents and guardians. After all, playgrounds should be a place for joy for everyone and these examples will set you on the right path for a happier and more inclusive play area. Playground markings can also bring many smiles to playgrounds, so make sure to contact us if you want us to help you bring even more life to yours!
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