“ Play is a child’s life and the means by which s/he comes to understand the world s/he lives in”
Isaacs, 1933

A play area will only be used if it provides a more attractive play environment than other open spaces. Research has identified key points about how children play. The success of any play project depends on using that knowledge.

• Children use their whole environment for play - streets, waste land, public open space, anywhere accessible.


• Children play mostly on the street even when playgrounds are provided.


• Independent journeys to and from friends are important in developing social relationships.


• Concern with 'stranger danger' and increased traffic has led to a significant decrease in children's freedom to move and travel independently.


• Children gain significant play value from the natural environment, e.g. slopes, trees, bushes, sand, long grass and water. Natural features such as these should be retained or provided in play facilities.


• Vandalism can be reduced by informal supervision, the provision of purpose built seats and shelters and facilities for older children and young teens, such as basketball and 5 -a -side pitches.


• Involve the community, especially children, in the design and siting of play facilities


• The key problems facing local authorities in providing playgrounds are the lack of funding, concern about insurance and liability and maintenance.

“I have noticed that there are many bars, restaurants, museums etc. for adults to have a fun day out but there are no rollerblading parks or skate boarding parks for children like me to have fun in”.A child’s viewpoint, 2000

Play Policy

So, the children need somewhere to play? The first response is to provide a playground. However, a playground is just one place where children play. By developing a policy for children's play in your community, you will identify where and how children play, as well as the resources and strategies needed for providing a range of play opportunities, including playgrounds. This means putting children's play needs onto the planning agenda.

Talk to the local authority and talk to the Councillors about developing a play policy. A play policy should be central to any organisation providing a play service. It will help to ensure that those involved have a common understanding of what they are doing and why.

Under the National Children's Strategy, each local authority is to designate an officer to develop a local play policy for providing play and recreation facilities. Guidance in this area is provided by the National Play Policy from the National Children's Office.

See also: National Play Information Centre Information Sheet 12, Writing Play Policies (1998) and Action for Play - A Good Practical Guide for Developing Out of School Play, produced by PlayBoard Northern Ireland.Play Policy

Do you need a Playground?

Just because the children need somewhere to play, doesn't mean that a playground is the best or only solution for your community. Research shows that for children, a playground is their base for play, somewhere from which to safely explore their neighbourhood - not somewhere to spend hours of play. Playgrounds are part of a community's provision of play for children, they are not the only answer. Why not make your whole environment child friendly, so that children can play more safely everywhere? Measures like traffic calming, improved footpaths and road crossings will help not just children but all pedestrians, young and old. Look at the 'Home Zones' idea www.ncb.org.uk/cpc.htm and at creating 'child friendly towns' www.childfriendlycities.org

“If they (cities) are not meant for children, they are not meant for citizents either. If they are not meant for citizens – ourselves – they are not cities”

Aldo Van Eyck

A network of play spaces, from landscaped green spaces in housing areas, through neighborhood parks with some play equipment to larger Town Parks with more facilities is ideal, linked by footpaths and cycle ways so that children can travel safely through their neighborhood.Landscape improvements enable children to play in the natural environment. The RoSPA booklet, 'Growing Spaces for Play' gives lots of ideas. Natural play areas are cheaper to provide than fixed equipment sites.

Children enjoy playing on playground equipment, but access to play opportunities within their own home environment gives significant opportunities for social, physical, imaginative and creative play.

“The absence of leisure/recreation facilities and activities for children and young people was one of the most pressing issues raised in the course of the consultations."

National Children’s Strategy - Report of the Public Consultation

Commitment

Developing a community playground can be a long process. Is there a committed group to work on it? People can soon loose interest in the project as their children grow older and the playground remains a dream. To develop an effective playground project a community group needs to be properly organised.

Advice on getting a group together, planning a project, surveying your area, presenting ideas, campaigning and gathering resources is presented in the Tidy Towns Handbook produced by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The Handbook also gives details of where voluntary groups can get training in organisational skills. Copies of the Handbook are available from the Government Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth St. Dublin 2. Price € 7. Advice on organisation can also be provided by the Community and Enterprise Department of your local authority.

"Young people clearly feel that facilities for them are a neglected aspect of the social fabric of society…………Young people in rural areas argue that they are especially deprived………Younger children highlighted a major deficit in the provision of public playgrounds as well as the absence of other facilities for their age group”.

National Children’s Strategy - Report of the Public Consultation

Age and Ability

What age group will the playground cater for? Equipment is specifically designed for children in key age groups. Just because you choose to provide for one age group, doesn't mean that children older or younger will not also use the equipment. Play equipment for young children should be separated from that for older children.

Older children and teenagers need safe places to 'hang out' and socialise, places to play ball games and to skateboard. If vandalism may be an issue, then provide for this age group before putting in play facilities for younger children. See Youth Shelters and Sports Systems, in the publications section.

Playgrounds and play equipment should be accessible and usable for children and their carers of all abilities. You can download the Sugradh report on the play provision for children with disabilities, from the 'News' section of this website.

This means providing a firm surface on paths and on safety surfaces around equipment.Guidance may be obtained through the RoSPA booklets, 'Developing the Children's Playground', 'Playgrounds for Children with Special Needs' and 'Basic Guidelines for Wheeled Sports Equipment on Children's Play Areas'.

“One of the key issues which arose from the consultation process was the need for more play and leisure activities. Throughout the country young people highlighted to me that they had no playground, no leisure facilities, no alternatives to the pub”.

Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister of State at the launch of the National Children’s Strategy. Nov 2000

Consultation

A playground should be designed to meet the needs of the children - so why not ask them? Don't ask, "What do you want in the playground?" but ask, "How and What do you play? What do you want the playground to feel like? Where do children play at the moment? Can these places be better protected or developed for play?
Taking children to other playgrounds and observing what they play on is also a good idea. It will also give you an idea as to how that make of equipment is standing up to vandalism, wear and tear, decay etc.
Don't forget to involve the rest of the community in making decisions about the placement of playgrounds and other environmental improvements. Many playgrounds provided by local authorities have had to be closed due to complaints from neighbours.

Ref. ISPCC Document on consultation ispcc@ispcc.ie

Period of Use

Do you want a playground or playscheme that is open all year or just in the Summer holidays? If it is just in the holiday time then perhaps consider instead developing or improving the holiday play schemes available to local children?

For advice on developing holiday or year round play schemes see the section on play schemes.

Playgrounds within an enclosed park, which is locked after dark, are subject to less vandalism than if they are sited in unenclosed open spaces.

The Site

Do you have a site? If not then talk to the local authority - the best person to talk to is the Area Engineer, or your Council member.

In choosing a site for a play area, avoid it being out of sight behind houses or shops. Vandalism will be higher where there is no informal supervision from passers by. The site should not be outside of town where it will be difficult for children to get to on their own and where there will be little informal supervision.

A site for a play area should be in a well used area, along a pedestrian route to the shops or school, ideally where there is public lighting, and where there is access for maintenance and emergency vehicles. A site close to a community centre, preschool or youth club would also be suitable. Avoid a site where children will have to cross a main road to reach it.

Playgrounds close to homes provide informal supervision, are popular with parents and children, are easy for kids to get to, are safer, are used more often than isolated playgrounds in parks and reduce the risk of vandalism. Several small play areas with a few items of equipment in a landscaped area may be better value for the children than one expensive playground away from their homes.

“One of the key functions of a Local Authority is to provide services and facilities to those groups/individuals that cannot afford to purchase/pay for same”

Local Authority respondent in “Grounds for Play”, 1997

Design

There is a great range of play equipment available. A list of playground suppliers is given in this website. The choice of metal or timber equipment will depend on local circumstances – urban or rural, expected vandalism, exposure and durability. The suppliers will also advise on the layout of the playground.

It is important to get a high play value from the items chosen, in other words how many play features does the item have? A play value check list can be found in the RoSPA booklet 'Developing the Children's Playground'.

Research shows that the most popular play items, in order of popularity are:
Swings - different types, roundabouts, seesaws, slides, a hard surface for ball games and wheeled toys, and then multiplay structures with many things to do.
Play equipment, however, is the equivalent of furniture within a room. Think of the whole of the play space as providing imaginative and fun opportunities for play within a rich play environment with slopes, planting, long grass and trees and avoid ending up with a few pieces of play equipment in a flat area of tarmac. Access to natural features and materials is highly valued by children. Children love to explore and to experiment. Their favourite places are waste ground with natural vegetation. Research by Marc Armitage shows that 50-70% of local children will use such places, compared with only 6% on equiped playgrounds. Get ideas from www.earthplay.net and the RoSPA booklet, 'Growing Spaces for Play'. Involve the children in the design of the playground and look at other playgrounds in the area

An excellent book, “We Like this Place”…Guidelines for Best Practice in the Design of Childcare Facilities, has been produced by the National Children’s Nurseries Association, Dublin, and includes advice on both indoor and outdoor areas.

The Irish Landscape Institute can provide a list of landscape architects, many of whom design play areas www.irishlandscapeinstitute.com.

"Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of...education"

Luther Burbank

Objectives for play provision

In terms of delivering best practice in relation to play and recreation, projects should:

• Extend the choice and control that children have over their play, the freedom they enjoy and the satisfaction they gain from it.


• Recognise the child’s need to test boundaries and respond positively to that need


• Manage the balance between the need to offer risk and the need to keep the child safe from harm


• Maximise the range of play opportunities


• Foster independence and self-esteem


• Foster children’s respect for others and to offer opportunities for social interaction.


• Foster the child’s well-being, healthy growth and development, knowledge and understanding, creativity and capacity to learn.

Creating a rich playing environment

The following points are taken from work by Bob Hughes, who has done extensive research into children’s play and play work.
A rich play environment should provide opportunities for:

• A varied and interesting physical environment – changes in level, hiding places, trees and bushes, places to inspire the imagination.


• Challenge in relation to the physical environment - activities which test the limits of capabilities, rough and tumble, chase, games.


• Playing with the natural elements – earth, water, sand, fire, digging, flying kites


• Movement – running, jumping, rolling, climbing, balancing – beams and ropes, soft mats, space, juggling.


• Manipulating natural and fabricated materials – materials for art, making and mending, building dens, making concoctions, using tools, sand, mud, access to bits and pieces.


• Stimulation of the five senses – music making, shouting, quiet places, colours and shapes, dark and bright places, cooking on a campfire, edible plants, nuts and berries.


• Experience change in the natural and built environment – experiencing the seasons through access to the outdoor environment (many playschemes in Scandinavia have the children outdoors for 75% of their time), opportunities to take part in building, demolishing, or transforming the environment.


• Social interactions – being able to choose whether and when to play alone or with others, to negotiate, co-operate, compete and resolve conflicts. Being able to interact with individuals and groups of different ages, abilities, interests, gender, ethnicity and culture.


• Playing with identity – dressing up, role play, performing, taking on different forms of responsibility.


• Experience a range of emotions – opportunities to be powerful/powerless, scared/confident, liked/disliked, in/out of control, brave/cowardly.

Safety

Accidents can never be totally prevented, but their incidence can be reduced by good design. The Irish Play Safety Forum has shown that out of 5,500 incidents reported to a local authority over the last 20 years, 29 occurred in playgrounds and only 14 resulted in claims. A 'duty of care' which may reduce the likelihood of serious accidents and claims is shown when:

• Equipment and surfacing meets ISEN 1176 and 1177, determined by product certification, a post-installation inspection and a risk assessment of the completed play area (required under Safety and Welfare at Work Regulations) and independent annual inspections. These inspections can be provided by the RoSPA playground inspector in Ireland rwebb@indigo.ie


• The site is well maintained


• Records are kept of weekly and independent annual inspections.

Insurance

Insurance premiums for playgrounds in Ireland are very high, reflecting the 'claims culture' rather than any inherent risk with playgrounds. Community groups can often lobby for and raise funding for play areas, which are then taken over by the local authority for maintenance and insurance.

All local authorities are insured through the Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurance Co. and playground insurance forms only a small part of their overall public liability insurance budget. The IPBM have told Sugradh that there are no insurance reasons why playgrounds should not be provided.

The IPBM insist that playgrounds insured by them are under the control and management of the local authority and weekly inspections of all equipment are carried out by suitably qualified staff.

Community groups can still be involved in opening and closing playgrounds, keeping them clean on a daily basis and reporting any problems to the Council. Some local authorities have closed playgrounds or failed to open playgrounds because of "insurance problems". If you are told this, then see if there is an underlying reason. The insurance companies ask that the playgrounds meet recognised standards in terms of their construction and maintenance. It could well be the cost of meeting those requirements, which is preventing the local authority from providing a playground.

Supervised play areas, with trained playworkers, or play areas that are associated with a community centre where there is some overall supervision, are easier to insure than 'stand alone' equipment in an open space. Past experience with unsupervised playgrounds in housing areas has led to most local authorities now only providing playgrounds within enclosed and supervised parks.

“Good for children, good for tourists, brighten up town environment, give children something to do rather than hang around. Adventure playgrounds should be provided for older children”

Local Authority respondent in “Grounds for Play”, 1997

Maintenance

Regular maintenance and recorded inspections are required by insurance companies - and certainly, it does help to reduce the possibility of accidents and claims. Playgrounds should be checked at least once a week for general tidiness, wear and tear and vandalism.

Quarterly inspections, together with annual inspections by an independent outside body, such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), are also recommended. The RoSPA booklet "Regular Inspection of Playgrounds" provides checklists and forms for inspecting playgrounds.

RoSPA with ILAM (Ireland) run regular certified training workshops in playground inspection and maintenance. The RoSPA playground inspector in Ireland can be contacted at rwebb@indigo.ie .

The Next Step

Find out as much as you can about playgrounds and children's play. To do this talk to as many people as possible in the community, local authority and especially the children. Then do your homework, learn from other people's experiences. Please use the information section of this site to find useful links and references to publications. This information should enable you to produce an action plan for a playground or playscheme to present to your local authority.