On Saturday, the National Park Trust, in conjunction with Let’s Move!, will host the second annual National Kids to Parks Day, featuring unique events at parks across the country.

According to a news release from the National Park Trust, 61,000 individuals have pledged to play outdoors on this day and 228 mayors in 45 states have passed resolutions of support.

Grace Lee, the executive director of NPT, was quoted in the press release saying, “We want to encourage children across the country to explore their neighborhood parks and discover the history, nature and adventure right around the corner or just across town. The Summer season is the time to be outdoors and have fun.”

This wonderful initiative, which began last year, is aimed at improving park attendance and decreasing national obesity rates by calling citizens to local parks.

With recent research suggesting that 42 percent of Americans could be obese by 2030, it is now more important than ever to promote the benefits of outdoor play in our parks and playgrounds.

This annual day of events is a great way to showcase all that local parks have to offer citizens – including amazing, inspiring playgrounds for kids to exercise their bodies, minds, emotions and spirits. Conveniently, outdoor free play is also a solution to help decrease obesity. We join NPT in celebrating national parks, state parks, and local parks and playgrounds and hope to encourage more free play at parks for households across the nation.

At Voice of Play, we hope this campaign helps inspire more frequent outdoor play for families all year long and that, eventually, this spark of interest will soon lead to each and every day becoming a “Kids to Parks” day.

Learn more about the National Kids to Parks Day events happening in your area: http://www.kidstoparks.org/attend-an-event

Over the past few weeks, we discussed the physical and emotional benefits of play and the importance of a daily activity level in bringing out the best of each.. This week we shift our focus to the social benefits of play.

1. Group Interaction
When playing in groups, kids learn social roles and cultural rules, develop appropriate cooperation skills, and learn a shared system of symbols, including verbal and body language. When children develop and test relationships, they learn self-control, compromise and negotiation skills. Kids also learn survival skills, independence and acceptable group activities to build on as they grow up. Voice of Play

2. Connecting to Others
On the playground, children learn to interact and respond to other children, as well as strengthen and create friendships. “They will learn to be sensitive to other’s needs and perspectives when engaging in play, and thus learn to negotiate and compromise when their perspectives or needs are in conflict with those of their friends. Play will often require individuals to work together, and through this cooperation children will learn to share with others.” Indiana.edu Indiana University

3. Dealing With Conflicts in a Safe Place
“It is important to create an environment and social climate that protects children and allows them to play without fear. Because play is the way children learn about the world and how to deal with conflicts, they should feel secure and comfortable in their surroundings, and have opportunities to freely play in order to calm their fears and anxieties. Children develop best in the context of a caring community where they are safe and valued, their physical needs are met, and they feel psychologically secure.”
Kathleen Alfano, Ph.D.

Safety on the playground begins with the appropriate surfacing, proper equipment, professional installation and frequent inspection and maintenance. By following these guidelines and teaching our children good judgment on the playground, we can improve safety environments and reduce preventable injuries on our playgrounds every year.

Check out these tips for playground safety:

• Don’t forget what’s below your feet! Grass is not an acceptable surfacing for playgrounds. One of the leading causes of injury on playgrounds is falling from playground equipment. To minimize the frequency and severity of injury from playground falls, it is crucial to have certified playground surfacing, such as engineered wood fiber, poured-in-place or rubber mulch surfacing installed under and around the equipment on any public playground. This surfacing can be certified through IPEMA to have sufficient depth or thickness to minimize impact injuries from falls.

• Be an advocate for safety standards. Playground equipment and surfacing have been carefully evaluated by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials). The standards set by these organizations help ensure that playground equipment and surfacing is age appropriate and designed with the measurement of children’s physical dimensions, skills and abilities in mind. IPEMA runs an industry-leading certification program to test and validate playground equipment and surfacing to meet the applicable ASTM playground safety standards.

•  Proper installation makes the difference! Playground equipment should be installed by individuals experienced in equipment assembly and knowledgeable about the environment surrounding the playground, including, soil, drainage and the use of other construction materials, tools, equipment and machinery. Many manufacturers of playground equipment can provide certified installers, or the International Playground Contractors Association can provide a list of qualified contractors.

• Check, re-check and then check again. Once the equipment and surfacing are installed, have a post-installation safety audit performed by a person certified in playground safety prior to use. This audit will determine if any equipment or surfacing is non-compliant and will help prioritize any issues that should be corrected before playing begins. Proper installation also includes posting signage about the age-appropriateness of specific equipment and warnings to make sure the equipment is not too hot to play on, warnings about not wearing bicycle helmets or clothing with drawstrings attached and to make certain adequate safety surfacing is provided under and around the equipment.

• Don’t underestimate maintenance and upkeep. Proper maintenance can be overlooked – but is one of the most important aspects of ensuring safety on a playground. Maintenance processes must be in place on both a routine and long-term basis. Equipment and surfacing must be checked for signs of damage following severe weather and for signs of vandalism or any other man-made or natural catastrophe. In addition, equipment and surfacing will show natural wear and tear each year and regular maintenance inspections and replacement processes should be in place to minimize hazards.

We hope you enjoyed the tips, resources and other morsels that have been shared across the virtual space this past week. Most of all, we hope that the attention brought to playground safety through this week will help incite busier and safer playgrounds across the country.