Concept February
Involving your pupils in the decision making for purchasing and planning your indoor or outdoor play space.
When deciding on the best equipment and facilities to integrate into your playground a great way to help the decision process is to ask the pupils to identify what they would like to have in their grounds, perhaps they have seen different types of equipment or play spaces in other environments that they would like to have access to or even have an ingenious idea for a new product.
It is important to ask the children why they want a specific piece of equipment. This will ultimately help narrow down the theme and equipment required for a space.
What do they want to be able to do? (Climb / Run / Slide / Jump?)
Perhaps your pupils would like an area that encourages creativity, perhaps a space where they can Paint, Draw and Reflect?
Maybe items that can supplement their own imaginative games like play houses or roadways?
By collating the information received from the children, this can then be translated into the perfect play space.
There is such a wide range of equipment, surfacing, markings on offer and different play equipment can have a multitude of diverse uses.
A simple seating area can not only accommodate children to help relax and eat lunch but can be used on hot summer days when the class moves outdoors or as a place for parents to wait in the playground for their children.
A slide can not only be a fun part of the playground but also becomes a place to test out the effect of friction and gravity for a science class!
The possibilities are endless and with such a diverse range of options, deciding on the right equipment can be quite a daunting task!
A great way is to get the whole class involved and integrate the decision process into a lesson.
This can be organised as a class or year group project where each pupil receives a work sheet or creates a mood board from existing play equipment images.
Contact us on social media for a worksheet designed to get the best idea to get the children involved in the decision making.
