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Playground: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Playground
The first purpose-built public playgrounds were created in 1846 in Peel Park in Salford and Queen's Park and Philips Park in Manchester, England, marking a radical shift in how society viewed childhood. Before this moment, children played wherever they could find space, typically in the streets and lanes near their homes, often in the shadow of industrial cities. In the 19th century, developmental psychologists such as Friedrich Fröbel proposed playgrounds as a developmental aid to instill in children a sense of fair play and good manners, but it was the social pressure of the Industrial Revolution that forced the issue. Thomas Carlyle called for the establishment of public playgrounds within industrial cities such as Manchester, England, in Past and Present (1843), saying that every toiling Manchester ought to have a hundred acres or so of free greenfield, with trees on it, conquered, for its little children to disport in. The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, formed in 1882, became an important advocate for children's playgrounds in London, in part at least to provide a steady supply of healthy, strong working-class children for the army, navy, and factories. One of the first playgrounds in the United States was built in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1887, proving that the concept was spreading across the Atlantic to address the dangers of urban life.
The Playground Movement
In 1906 the Playground Association of America was founded and a year later Luther Gulick became president, launching a movement that would fundamentally alter the American cityscape. The movement was born from a collision of safety concerns and educational theory, as the street increasingly lost its role as the default public space for children's play. It was planned for motor-car use, with momentum building to remove children from the new dangers and confine them to segregated areas to play. Organisations such as the National Highway Protective Society highlighted the number of deaths caused by automobiles, urging the creation of playgrounds to free streets for vehicles rather than children's play. In tandem with the new concern about the danger of roads, educational theories of play, including those of Herbert Spencer and John Dewey, inspired the emergence of the reformist playground movement, which argued that playgrounds had educational value, improved attention in class, enhanced physical health, and reduced truancy. Former President Theodore Roosevelt stated in 1907 that city streets are unsatisfactory playgrounds for children because of the danger, because most good games are against the law, because they are too hot in summer, and because in crowded sections of the city they are apt to be schools of crime. He argued that older children who play vigorous games must have places set aside especially for them, and since play is a fundamental need, playgrounds should be provided for every child as much as schools.
Common questions
When were the first purpose-built public playgrounds created in England?
The first purpose-built public playgrounds were created in 1846 in Peel Park in Salford and Queen's Park and Philips Park in Manchester, England. This event marked a radical shift in how society viewed childhood and moved play from streets to designated areas.
Who founded the Playground Association of America and when did it start?
The Playground Association of America was founded in 1906 and Luther Gulick became president in 1907. This organization launched a movement that fundamentally altered the American cityscape by combining safety concerns with educational theory.
What is a junk playground and who popularized this concept in post-war London?
A junk playground is a space where children play with rubble and build structures to invent their own entertainment. Lady Allen of Hurtwood popularized this concept in post-war London by campaigning for play facilities in new high-rise developments and writing books on adventure playgrounds.
How many children ages 14 and younger are treated for playground-related injuries each year?
Each year, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries. Safety measures often prioritize injury prevention over developmental benefits, which can paradoxically increase the likelihood and severity of injuries.
Which Soviet cities had playgrounds in the 1970s and 1980s and what did the equipment consist of?
Playgrounds existed in almost every park in many Soviet cities during the 1970s and 1980s. The playground apparatus was reasonably standard across the country and consisted of metal bars with relatively few wooden parts manufactured in state-owned factories.
How many children's playgrounds were there in the UK in 2019 and what is the current trend?
In 2019, there were more than 26,000 children's playgrounds in the UK. The conversation has shifted toward allowing children to play in a natural environment such as open land or a park to gain a better sense of balance and interpret nature more effectively.
In post-war London, pioneering designers, charities and child advocates, including Lady Allen of Hurtwood, popularised the concept of the junk playground, where children played with rubble, built structures and invented their own entertainment. Bombsites and waste ground were transformed into hives of activity by children and progressive educationalists, creating a stark contrast to the manufactured equipment that dominated the era. Lady Allen campaigned for play facilities for children growing up in the new high-rise developments in Britain's cities and wrote a series of illustrated books on the subject of playgrounds, and at least one book on adventure playgrounds, spaces for free creativity by children, which helped the idea spread worldwide. This approach stood in direct opposition to the National Playing Fields Association, which promoted playgrounds across the middle of the century and equated proper playgrounds with manufactured equipment. The engineer and philanthropist Charles Wicksteed became an important advocate for children's playgrounds from the 1920s onward, manufacturing robust equipment including swings, slides and other playground equipment, yet the junk playground movement offered a different philosophy. It allowed children to claim the space for themselves, creating a sense of ownership that structured environments often failed to provide, and it recognized that the most valuable play was often the kind that adults could not fully control or predict.
The Safety Paradox
Each year, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries, yet the drive to prevent these injuries has created a new set of problems. Safety in the context of playgrounds is generally understood as preventing injuries, but risk aversion and fear of lawsuits on the part of the adults who design playgrounds prioritize injury prevention over other factors, such as cost or developmental benefits to users. Sometimes the safety of playgrounds is disputed in schools or among regulators, and over at least the last twenty years, the kinds of equipment found in playgrounds have changed, often towards safer equipment made of plastic. For example, an older jungle gym might be constructed entirely from steel bars, while newer ones tend to have a minimal steel framework while providing a web of nylon ropes for children to climb on. Playgrounds with equipment that may cause children to fall often use rubber mulch on the ground to help cushion the impact, but these efforts sometimes paradoxically increase the likelihood and severity of injuries because of how people choose to use playground equipment. Older children may choose to climb on the outside of a safe but boring play structure rather than using it as the designers intended, and if a child's shoe catches on the edge of a slide while an adult is seated on their lap, the child's leg may be broken, an injury that would not have happened if the child had been permitted to use the slide independently.
The Cost of Overprotection
As a result of what some experts say is over-protectiveness driven by a fear of lawsuits, playgrounds have been designed to be, or at least to appear, excessively safe, resulting in a decreased sense of achievement and increased fears in children. The equipment limitations result in the children receiving less value from playtime, as enclosed, padded, constrained, low structures may prevent children from taking risks and developing a sense of mastery over their environment. Successfully taking a risk is empowering to children, and a child climbing to the top of a tall jungle gym may feel happy about completing the challenging climb and experience the thrill of being in a precarious, high position. By contrast, the child on a low piece of equipment, designed to reduce the incidence of injuries from falls, experiences no such thrill, sense of mastery, or accomplishment. Additionally, a lack of experience with heights as a child is associated with increased acrophobia, or fear of heights, in adults. The appearance of safety encourages unreasonable risk-taking in children, who might take more reasonable risks if they correctly understood that it is possible to break a bone on the soft surfaces under most modern equipment, and the playground, designed to appear low-risk, may be boring, especially to older children, who tend to seek out alternative play areas, which may be very unsafe.
Global Variations and Inclusion
Playgrounds were an integral part of urban culture in the Soviet Union, where in the 1970s and 1980s, there were playgrounds in almost every park in many Soviet cities, and playground apparatus was reasonably standard across the country, consisting of metal bars with relatively few wooden parts and manufactured in state-owned factories. In China and some European countries, playgrounds are designed for adults, featuring fitness equipment designed for use primarily by adults, such as chin-up bars, and playgrounds for older adults are popular in China, where seniors are the primary users of public playgrounds. These playgrounds are usually in a smaller, screened area, which may reduce the feeling of being watched or judged by others, and often feature adult-sized equipment that helps seniors stretch, strengthen muscles, and improve their balance. Berlin's Preußenpark, for example, is designed for people aged 70 or higher, demonstrating that the concept of play extends far beyond childhood. Universally designed playgrounds are created to be accessible to all children, with three primary components to a higher level of inclusive play: physical accessibility, age and developmental appropriateness, and sensory-stimulating activity. Most efforts at inclusive playgrounds have been aimed at accommodating wheelchair users, with rubber paths and ramps replacing sand pits and steps, and some features placed at ground level, though efforts to accommodate children on the autism spectrum, who may find playgrounds overstimulating or who may have difficulty interacting with other children, have been less common.
The Future of Play
Natural playgrounds are play environments that blend natural materials, features, and indigenous vegetation with creative landforms to create purposely complex interplays of natural and environmental objects that challenge and fascinate children and teach them about the wonders and intricacies of the natural world while they play within it. Play components may include earth shapes, environmental art, indigenous vegetation, boulders or other rock structures, dirt and sand, natural fences, textured pathways, and natural water features, offering a stark contrast to the standardized equipment that has dominated the 20th century. In 2019, there were more than 26,000 children's playgrounds in the UK, yet the conversation has shifted toward allowing children to play in a natural environment such as open land or a park, where children gain a better sense of balance playing on uneven ground, and learn to interpret the complexity and signals of nature more effectively. Experts studying child development, including Tim Gill, have written about the overprotective bias in the provision for children, and instead of a constructed playground, allowing children to play in a natural environment is sometimes recommended. The history of playgrounds shows a constant tension between the desire to protect children and the need to allow them to develop the skills to protect themselves, a balance that continues to shape how we design the spaces where children grow up.