Playgrounds And The Importance Of Play In The United States
Getting up and moving is hugely important for people of all ages, but especially for children. Young children need to move, as physical and active play is actually instrumental in their brain development, particularly when it comes to the development of their fine and gross motor skills. These fine and gross motor skills must be developed by the time that a child reaches the age of five or six, or else they never will be – and when this ends up being the case, a number of delays in learning are likely to become common and present in that child’s life.
Active play is also ideal for a number of other reasons. Physical health is an important value to instill from a very young age, as staying in good physical shape and avoiding health problems like obesity is likely to lead to a considerably higher quality of life and even a longer lifespan. In addition to this, active and imaginative play in which children find their own ways to avoid boredom actually helps them to develop creativity and mental skills as well. Of course, playing in any playground environment is likely to improve any given child’s social skills and abilities as well, making it hugely ideal all across the board.
However, far too many children are leading largely sedentary lifestyles here in the United States. In fact, children at or over the relatively young age of eight are likely to watch as many as four and a half hours of TV in a single day and children of all ages will engage with various screens for as many as seven and a half hours throughout the day. And while technology is certainly important and has its role for people of all ages in our current day society, too much of it is not ideal and can seriously impede children from engaging in so many of the activities that are so hugely important for brain development.
Many parents here in the United States are becoming concerned about their children using technology as well. In fact, up to two thirds of them have expressed these concerns and it is likely that even more feel that way than let on. With only around one third of all children in the United States even getting just a mere 25 minutes of rigorous physical activity even just three times a week, there’s certainly no doubt about it that the rampant and widespread use of technological devices among very young children is quite problematic indeed.
Fortunately, however, the solution is a relatively simple one – parents must encourage their children to play in a physical and active way more frequently. Simply taking them to any given playground is a great way to do this, especially during the warmer months of the year. And school playground equipment and other types of playground equipment have become safer than ever before, especially since pour in play rubber seems to have become the standard for playgrounds all throughout the country.
Pour in place rubber provides a viable alternative to concrete and even wood chips when it comes to the ground of any given playground. Unlike concrete, pour in place rubber provides a relatively safe place for children to fall, should they slip off of playground equipment or simply just trip while running. While pour in place rubber certainly won’t be able to prevent all injuries, the use of pour in place rubber will be able to prevent a good many of them, to say the least. At the end of the day, pour in place rubber can allow parents to feel safe about letting their children run free on the playground and, in this way, pour in place rubber allows children to play as their hearts desire.
Aside from pour in place rubber, modern playgrounds are more engaging than ever before. Playset parts like playground climbers, rock climbing handholds and handicap swing chairs allow for a great deal of diverse and active play – even for children who suffer from some type of physical disability. Now more than ever, getting up and active is more fun for children than ever before.
