by Stéphane Sylvestre – VP Marketing and Innovation, Partner
During my presentations, I am often asked:
“How many children can play in your structure?”
Is it that important? Why pay so much attention to it, to the point of including this premise in an analysis grid?
We believe that trying to answer this question first takes us away from our primary goal: to create play environments that support children’s development and evolution.
That’s why we’re proposing to rethink your playground design by introducing you to the concept of exploded playgrounds.
Create play stations
When several independent play stations and components are set up, such as houses, spring elements, rotating elements, etc., each play tray becomes a target to be reached when children challenge themselves to be the first to reach it.
Small stations encourage sharing and help develop the notion of patience, waiting and sharing space. The beauty of developing resorts is that, among other things, they enable us to work on a project in phases, respecting budgets and also the sociological progression of the sector, while focusing on distinctive, fun facilities.
Set up zones by age group
Although playgrounds are governed by the CSA standard, we believe that designing stations for more targeted age groups offers multiple advantages. In my presentations, I always suggest that there are at least 6 age subgroups;
- 0-18 months
- 18 months-24 months
- 24-36 months
- 4-5 years
- 6-8 years
- 9-12 years
- 13 and over
For example, for 18 to 24-month-olds, why not install discovery panels all along the park’s access trails?
In addition to telling a story and encouraging interaction, these panels don’t require a resilient surface and, when properly distanced, implant targets to be reached while running, walking, gambolling, etc.
For 9- to 12-year-olds, go bold by placing spinning, swinging, pivoting and rallying equipment at various distances to encourage the development of agility, balance and coordination.
The course also fosters a spirit of healthy competition (essential to this group) by offering the opportunity to measure up to others, compare themselves, observe, complete the course as quickly as possible, etc.
Let yourself be inspired
For all groups, there is unique equipment designed by specialists in child development through Kompan play, which we always refer to when designing our playgrounds.
In closing, what better way to get inspired than by some of our exploded playground projects?
