Evolution of playgrounds and their impact on childhood

We can all resonate with the feeling of pure joy to arrive at a playground as a child. The rush to try out every apparatus, swing, and slide. Anyone with young children can also understand the vital role of playgrounds in their children’s lives. Although this can be more of a love hate relationship! Great for a free, outdoor activity to run off energy, yet exhausting and boring, wiling away hours of your life following your children around while feeling extremely sleep deprived.

Playgrounds are now such a staple part of our communities, an almost essential component of residential areas, routinely upgraded to feature shiny new posts and various attempts at safe ground padding. But how have playgrounds evolved from modest sandpits to architectural showcases; how do they differ across various countries? And does the presence of playgrounds provide any benefits to society beyond activity relief for children with pent up energy?

Playgrounds originated in nineteenth-century Germany in the form of sand pits as research on childhood development began to focus on play spaces. Outdoor gymnasium spaces were also created to influence physical fitness. These ideas grew and spread with other versions developed in England and the United States and beyond. As the industrial age progressed into the early twentieth century, dedicated play spaces became an increasing focus for urban planning as the growth in road use by motor vehicles was displacing the typical play space of the streets for local children. With the modernisation of playgrounds, various designs, safety features, and structures became standardised across many regions. For instance, it could be assumed that most good playgrounds included a slide and a swing set at the very least.

The UN declaration of the right of the child to ‘play’ was not established until far later in the twentieth century, and by this time, playgrounds were a firmly established feature of communities. Free and unstructured play is considered an essential component of childhood, and playgrounds provide designated safe spaces for such play to blossom.

Many educational philosophies focus on play, spaces, and physicality with regards to childhood development. These themes can be further explored in terms of social, sensory, and emotional development, all of which are detrimental to a child’s growth and overall learning experiences. Specifically, free, unstructured play allows a child’s imagination to flourish, aiding cognitive development, and provides a safe space to explore social interactions amongst peers.

As such, it is clear that playgrounds provide a vital component of a healthy childhood, and how they are structured can have an immediate impact on the psychological benefits of a child. For instance, overly 'safe’ playgrounds have been argued to limit a child’s ability to challenge themselves and learn their own physical boundaries. On the other hand, of course, outdated, undermaintained playgrounds, particularly those that are damaged, can severely impact a child’s safety and well-being. Playgrounds that don’t accommodate for different stages of childhood can also create problems for children that are either bored and then likely to experiment with equipment in an unsafe manner; or they become too dangerous or inaccessible for younger children who are left frustrated and unable to explore independently.

Across Europe, it is clear that playground design, while fundamentally similar, has varying styles from country to country. It is interesting to see how these public spaces are invested in considering the impact they have on childhood development. In Germany, most playgrounds are still lined with sand, an ode to their origin perhaps. While in Italy, many playgrounds are strongly lacking in shaded areas, surprising considering their climate of hot summers. Some playgrounds have strong imaginative elements or impressive architectural features (not necessarily a positive impact for children!), yet others are severely lacking in modernisation and basic maintenance.

What is clear however is that the quality of the playground is based on the financial status of the locality. The intricate and clever waterways and sustainable wooden nature inspired structures are common in more affluent areas. And the broken stepped, heavily graffitied, rusty apparatuses are left in the shadows of the communities suffering from general socio-economic deprivation. These examples are, of course, a generalisation based on personal experience, yet they give a small insight into a broader impression of the area in which they are located.

But let’s think about the playground activities themselves for a moment. What features can set it apart from the others? Having clever, colourful varieties of activities is essential, with variations suitable for all ages. Every child deserves to feel inspired, challenged, free, and excited while using the playground. After all, according to the aforementioned educational philosophies, this is how playgrounds can serve a purpose to children beyond the importance of physical exercise alone. And across Europe, there are so many designs of playgrounds that no two really are the same. Even in small, unassuming neighbourhoods, there are really beautiful storybook themed playgrounds, musical instruments, or a model road for bikes and scooters. They really are fulfilling their role as free spaces within the community that serve the social, imaginative, and physical needs of children.

On the other hand, for the most part, families will only visit the playgrounds local to them on a regular basis, so any level of variety and exploration is not always possible. And like anything that is repeated often enough, it loses its sense of wonderment and excitement. Play comes so easily to children that this does not necessarily pose a huge problem. Every day there might be a new puddle to splash in or friend to play with that rekindles their joy and explorative energy.

Parents, though, have turned to comedy to share their grim, mundane experiences of chaperoning their children to playgrounds. Comedians that have engaged in such playground-related humour create a platform that allows parents to laugh about what might otherwise be a stressful or tiresome experience. Finding solidarity in shared laughs about the trivialities of parenthood set in the playground is a simple pleasure to be gained, and it brings the shared experience to life. Perhaps the next evolution of playgrounds will start to cater for their less enthused and less energetic visitors!

With all that in mind, are playgrounds worth it? Do they achieve the level of social impact for which they are intended? There is always room for more research to achieve greater understanding, yet there is certainly enough to rest assured that playgrounds are absolutely an asset to our communities, and the more varied and frequent they are, the better. Especially in a world where we are fighting against the increasing rise of technology pushing into our children’s lives, there is no better moment to celebrate the value of the humble local playground.