Slides, monkey bars, and even ladders are great for a baby’s development. Allowing them to climb up and down the ladder provides sensory stimulation, which is essential for their growth.
But everywhere you go, playgrounds, both indoor and outdoor, offer rubber rubber-bottom surfaces. One professor is hoping to bring back sand into playgrounds.
Susan Herrington, a professor in the school of architecture and landscape architecture at the University of British Columbia, has studied children’s playgrounds for more than a decade, and she’s asking parents to think about the value of sand for children.
She said that rubber has no play value compared to sand, Fibar and wood chips. Describing playgrounds today, the modern built are boring than what parents nowadays experienced when they were kids.
“I always ask parents what their fondest memories were of playing outdoors and it probably wasn’t playing on the rubberized playground. It was probably climbing a tree or something that dealt with nature,” Herrington told Global News.
Sand is not exclusive to outdoor playgrounds for children to experience. Different playgrounds around the world offer the best of both worlds — the combination of rubber equipment and sandboxes.
Truth be told, sand is one of the best toys that nature can offer children. Aside from it being a huge landscape, it’s also a blank canvas for children to play it. In other words, it lets children learn to explore, imagine, create, and socialize with other children.
Placing sandboxes for children provides various benefits:
- Development of motor skills and hand & eye coordination
- Stimulates creativity and sensory development
- Promotes socialization and language development
- Urges children to think of creative solutions to overcome challenges
Allowing children to have fun with sand opens possibilities of endless fun, exploration, and socialization with other children.
For playground owners who want their playgrounds to offer more options for children in terms of development, getting a commercial playground manufacturer that specializes in indoor playgrounds is a great way to get started.
iREC is a playground manufacturer that designs, manufactures, and installs high-quality play equipment that is on par with international standards of fun and safety. Check out our portfolio and find out more about our projects. Contact us at +63 47 250 2779 / +63 047 251 3139 or email sales@irec.ph to get in touch with us.