Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/adventure-playgrounds-and-outdoor-safety-issues/5015046/
How is it that children's play yards have evolved from sand piles to the manufactured slides, climbers, and swings found on most playgrounds today? Children's outdoor play environments have been influenced over the years by play theories that date back to Jean Jacques Rousseau of France in the 18th century, who advocated for a return to nature speaking to children's need for a sense of freedom (Christianson & Vogelsong, 1996). Playgrounds have taken many forms over the years, with an overriding recognition of the important fact that play is essential to early development. Play is the work of early childhood and the way by which children learn and grow.Attempts to provide the ideal outdoor setting for children's play have been inspired by the desire to support physical challenge, play and recreation, organized games, and exploration of the natural world. In the 1970s and '80s we saw adventure playgrounds develop using discarded materials such as scrap lumber, rubber tires, old vehicles, and other recycled materials. This concept of adventure playgrounds began in Europe in the 1930s. Sometimes referred to as "junk playgrounds" these were informal areas found most frequently in Scandinavian countries where children create their own design and structures ...