Schools are now being pressured by the government to try and increase health and physical activities within the school. This is due to the rapid increase of obesity in childhood and a shocking decrease in kids who do exercise.
A simple resolution that a lot of people first think of is to increase the amount of PE lessons that are being taught. However, with the government also wanting an increase in academic statistics, schools can’t afford to alter their plans.
This is where playground equipment for schools comes into use. Schools can encourage children to do the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity in their free time by making the playground and equipment appealing to them. Check out this post to see more about the best outdoor activities which help kids learn.
By doing this, schools don’t lose any valuable time and kids can still achieve the recommended level of exercise through having fun. Comparing this to PE which can be seen as incredibly boring and linear to kids, playgrounds and the equipment offered on them are becoming a more favoured option.
Primary School Outdoor Play Equipment
Soft Surfaces offer a wide variety of equipment which can be installed on playgrounds and help children not only have fun but learn at the same time. Some of the equipment we offer includes:
- Climbing frames
- Activity trails
- Outdoor musical instruments
- Climbing walls
- Slides
- Swings
- See-Saws
- Multi units
- Benches
Each of these pieces can turn a plain, regular playground into something a lot more creative and unique (therefore appealing even more to kids). With more interactive parts, children will have more to do and won’t get as bored quickly, keeping them entertained and active. Find out more about Early Years outdoor play as well if you are running a nursery or playgroup.
With over 20 years of experience, we can help you through the design process and help you select the best-suited play equipment for your personal design. Alongside this, as we are an independent business, you don’t have to worry about us trying to push any one manufacturer’s range, and as a result, you can select the best-suited items for your project.
Benefits of Outdoor Play Structures
When interacting with the playgrounds, children can gain a wide amount of benefits from it. Here are some of the main advantages to playground equipment for schools:
- Children become more physically fit
- They build stronger muscles and improve bone density
- Heart and lung functions can be improved
- It helps with preventing obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol
Alongside this, children become a lot more mentally healthy as well. 695,000 5 – 16-year-olds have a clinically significant mental illness – Source. This is a huge number and would mean that in every school at least one student fits into this statistic. With playground equipment for schools, these kids can release emotions from trauma, build their self-confidence and esteem, and express other emotions.
Social skills are vital for humans and they become a lot more important as we develop into adults. School playgrounds allow children to interact with others from different backgrounds and skill levels. Through this, kids start to learn the way to converse with each other, how to be polite, how to make friends and how to resolve conflict.
Group work is another major skill that can be built simply through a school playground. Swings may require one person to sit down and one to push. See-saws require both people to put in the same effort. Through this, kids understand that working together can help them achieve certain things which they can’t by themselves.
Along with this, interactive play areas also improve independent skills. Problem-solving and logical thinking can be improved through use of the playground. Children can start to realise that some things can’t be done with multiple people at once and therefore, solely requires them to try and conquer it by themselves.
Even though many people may not believe it, games can really improve thinking skills. Floor markings that include hop-scotch and things like noughts and crosses will introduce kids to strategizing and competition.
Equipment for School Playgrounds
Many people at first believe playtime is just playtime. What they don’t understand is that equipment for school playgrounds can hugely benefit children in a wide amount of ways! Schools can hugely benefit from these increases in thinking, physical and emotional skills amongst their students as it will result in a much better performance in lessons.
Interestingly, through these physical activities, an improvement in academic scores can occur as kids can start using the new/improved skills that they have developed through the playground in lessons. This then results in the students interacting a lot better in class and from that, learn a lot more than usual.
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Overall, having equipment on your school playground can make students 10x better than they would be without. It’s well known that parents not only consider the school’s Ofsted rating and school ranking in the local area, but they also look at the facilities that are available and if it would make their child happy going to this school. Playgrounds are a key to a successful learning environment.
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