Playgrounds come in all shapes and sizes, offering kids different forms of play. The best playgrounds for kids include equipment with stimulating configurations and bright colors that engage kids in unique ways they don’t experience elsewhere. In recent years, playground equipment has evolved to include more accessibility and safety features among the staples of any kid-approved play area.
If you want to incorporate a playground into your community or school, it’s essential to understand what the most popular playground equipment is and how to select the right components for your play area.
When considering the most common playground structures for children, it can be insightful to break down the criteria that make one type of playground feature more popular than another. Typically, you can assess a play structure’s popularity based on its:
In other words, if an object is safe and fun to play on for every child, all while providing learning opportunities, it may end up being the most popular equipment on the playground. Considering those aspects, here is our ranked list of the top seven most popular playground equipment.
Swings are easily the most popular equipment on playgrounds. They are fun for adults and kids alike and boast a variety of benefits, including encouraging the development of social, spatial awareness, gross motor and fine motor skills.
Swinging is also a relaxing and calming activity that children of all abilities can engage in alone or together with their peers. Different types of playground swings can be installed to promote kids’ health and well-being.
For example, traditional belt swings allow individuals to swing alone and improve their fine motor skills by adapting their leg movements. Basket or tire swings accommodate several kids at a time, fostering teamwork and collaboration on the playground. Accessible swing seats have sturdy seats and roller-coaster-inspired safety harnesses to accommodate and secure children with mobility limitations.
Slides are a playground staple that stimulate the development of children’s balance, coordination and social and motor skills. Kids climb up a ladder and sit to slide back down to the bottom, often landing in a burst of giggles. Slides can come in all shapes and sizes — some are flat and short, others are wavy and long. Many options are open, while others feature enclosed tubes.
Here are some popular slide styles kids love having on a playground:
Climbing structures are versatile structures that offer several difficulty levels suitable for children in different age groups. Kids can use these structures to improve their physical strength, strengthen their muscles and improve their sensory awareness. As they make their way up and around these structures, kids flex their decision-making skills and are nudged to interact with others as they face challenges on the courses together.
There are different types of climbing structures, from overhead climbers, ropes and nets to rock walls, stump steppers, climbing walls and climbing boulders. You can also customize climbers with themes that appeal to children, like animals and bugs, to create a more immersive play experience. Every design promises a fun challenge and advanced play that pushes kids to be resilient.
Also known as horizontal ladders, monkey bars are fun for climbing and swinging from one end of the structure to the other. They can be freestanding or attached to another structure, like a jungle gym. When kids use monkey bars, they can develop their upper body strength, enhance their hand-eye coordination, increase motion and flexibility, and relax or warm up their muscles.
Monkey bars also help children improve their posture and encourage them to take safe and healthy risks. You can help kids learn how to play on monkey bars in a few easy steps:
Kids love flying up and down on a seesaw with their friends. Seesaws encourage cooperation, collaboration and teamwork. Kids also get to experience first-hand the benefits of working together and the joys of shared experiences. To enjoy the seesaw, children are encouraged to communicate with others, negotiate turns and problem-solve together.
Whether you choose a traditional seesaw design or a more modern option, this can be one of the most well-loved pieces on your playground. Undoubtedly, it’s likely to become a favorite playground feature that kids will remember, creating some of their fondest memories and friendships.
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Merry-go-rounds, also known as carousels, playground spinners or roundabouts, have been among the most popular playground equipment for decades. Kids love spinning the merry-go-round and then hopping on to spin in circles themselves. The spinning motion of merry-go-rounds makes this equipment ideal for sensory stimulation.
Playing on merry-go-rounds also helps kids improve spatial awareness and balance, as well as build physical strength when they push to start. There are various types of merry-go-rounds that create fun and inclusive playgrounds. A good example is the Unity® Ring, which allows kids to sit on the angled top and shift their weight to spin. A great alternative is an Accessible Whirl that accommodates up to two wheelchairs and has an extra seat for other kids or a caregiver.
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What kid doesn’t love building sandcastles? Bring the beach to your play area by including a sandbox for kids to play in and express their creativity. Sandboxes are great for promoting sensory play among children of all ages, which is essential for cognitive development and encouraging kids to explore and better understand their environment.
Additionally, including a sandbox on your playground allows kids to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills as they play with the sand and the play tools you provide them, like buckets and shovels.
Today, sandboxes don’t need to be plain and boring. There are many unique designs, such as the PlayExpress® Sandbox Car.
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As time goes on, children become interested in different kinds of play experiences, and new playground equipment emerges. When it comes to the future of playground equipment, some popular trends include:
You can keep children interested in and excited by your playground by leaning into trends and building a play space that is enjoyable and educational for every kid that visits.
At Playworld, we understand that kids learn life lessons on the playground, which is why we’re dedicated to providing heavy-duty outdoor playground equipment with innovative, inclusive designs and exceptional customer service. With our legacy in innovative leadership, a daring approach and research-based universal design, we have become an industry leader in providing outdoor play equipment.
Contact us at Playworld to learn more about our popular playground sets and equipment for your community, school or daycare.
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