Building Play Spaces for Tweens and Teens

We generally think that the playgrounds are meant specially for the toddlers and not for the tweens. Because most of the children today, prefer to spend a significant portion of their time in indoor activities such as watching TV, playing video games or online games, instead of going out to play in the open air. This is how the importance of playgrounds in keeping a child healthy, physically as well as mentally is lost. 

A structured lifestyle has led to such changes in the lives of tweens between the age of 10-12 years. This is quite harmful and is the root cause of health issues such as obesity and being overweight. This has made it necessary for us to design a play space in such a way that the teens.  As for tweens, they will feel comfortable and enthusiastic about engaging themselves in social connections without being restricted to indoor activities only. 

For this, the manufacturers of playground need to observe how older children love to play. They need to interact with such children to know about their taste and preference regarding the features.  They would be delighted to see in the playground so that all such elements can be incorporated while building it.

It is generally seen that the playground equipment for schools is subjected to maximum strain as the children tend to divide themselves into groups to compete with each other while playing on the playground. The best thing about this is that it not only makes them physically active but also makes it easy for them to get involved in social interaction. It develops a sense of challenge in them, which makes things quite interesting.

The tweens and teens are primarily affected by four main elements, namely, competition, socialization, physical activity, and challenge because of which distinctive designs are intended for the new playgrounds. This includes gliding boards, systems for cable climbing, see-saws, climbing walls, spaces for hanging out, and soft rocks or boulders. To appease their competitive spirit, circuit play systems are also included in which a series of the event are connected. It needs the user to complete the whole circuit through the use of various motions in which multiple parts of the body are put to use. This plays a significant role in enhancing the child's balance as well as ability.

Besides the inclusion of various types of equipment to attract the attention of teens and tweens, some other factors also exist which determine the rate of their usage by them. This involves the location of the playground, availability of food, and transportation facility. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the playground is designed in those areas where older children, as well as their family members, generally stay active. That way, it becomes easy for them to get convinced to play with this commercial playground equipment. It has also been noticed that the play spaces with concession stands are found to be fuller of tween and teens. They are even found to play for a longer duration in such a location. Then comes the situation, which is best if the playground is situated in a walkable or biking distance from the residential area. That way, their parents do not feel reluctant to send their kids to the playground.  And even the children find it easier to cover the small range to reach there and enjoy with their peers.

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