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School Playgrounds & Value For Money | Part 1: Essential Play

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Crucial Equipment For Developing The 3 Fundamental Movement Skills

The funding for a new school playground doesn’t come along too often, so when it does equipment needs to be chosen for its’ potential to deliver maximum value.

In the worst-case scenario, a flippant approach towards outdoor play area construction can lead to unpopular, unused sections. Holding no interest or developmental value to children, poor playground design squanders thousands of pounds that could have potentially aided their growth and eased their ability to advance through the curriculum via play.

Even if well intentioned, with an assumption on what children might find fun, a casual attitude to equipment selection is unwise – for a play area to meet its’ optimal potential it must deliver specific interaction needs and aid in the development of skills children need for educational progression.

Read on to find answers to the following:

What Are The 3 Fundamental Movement Skills?

Does Ofsted Approve Of Outdoor Play Activities?

How Does Outdoor Play Equipment Aid Fundamental Movement Skills?

Getting Help To Choose The Right Outdoor Play Equipment For Your School

What Are The 3 Fundamental Movement Skills?

According to the Department For Education, the physical aspects of the national curriculum (in England) key stages 1 and 2 programmes of study aim to ‘provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness’, as well as ‘build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect’.

Skills pupils are expected to develop and enhance include:

Running | Jumping | Throwing & Catching | Flexibility | Strength | Technique | Control

…as well as being able to partake in ‘adventurous activity challenges both individually and within a team’.

While it is possible to extend this list to include activities such as hopping, skipping, kicking and other practices which further both gross and fine motor skills, it is often easier to condense them all into categories called The 3 FMS (Fundamental Movement Skills):

  • Balance
  • Agility
  • Coordination

These are the most basic, but vital, movement skills all children need for progressing through education, and life in general. By focusing on nurturing these skills in the playground it is expected that the outcome will be ‘competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities’, an ability to be ‘physically active for sustained periods of time’, and that children will be leading ‘healthy, active lives’.

Does Ofsted Approve Of Outdoor Play Activities?

An article in Education Business reveals that ‘Ofsted recommends that schools evaluate the quality of learning outside the classroom to ensure that it has maximum impact on learners’ achievements, personal development and well-being’.

They also divulge that children engaging in outside activities are ‘proven to raise attainment, improve behaviour and motivate and engage all children in their learning…it could hardly be more relevant to raising standards and demonstrating outstanding practice against the new Ofsted inspection framework’.

Rather than simply adding another checkbox for schools to tick off, ‘Ofsted views learning outside the classroom as an essential element of a broad and balanced curriculum and are urging schools to make explicit reference to it in their self-evaluation and other evidence presented during the inspection visit. Demonstrating a planned and integrated approach to learning outside the classroom has never been more relevant’.

With so many aspects of child development – including physical, emotional and intellectual – willingly achievable through outdoor play, there can be no doubt that playgrounds benefit teacher target results just as much as they do each individual child.

How Does Outdoor Play Equipment Aid Fundamental Movement Skills?

Balance

Wooden balance beam on grass surfaceLittle blonde boy wearing red raising his arms up in the air while smiling

The little boy spies the balance beam in the corner of the playground. He approaches, unsure of what exactly it is for, but ventures a foot up on the wooden structure, which stand half a meter off the ground. At 2.3 metres, the board is almost twice as long as he is tall. Although the risk of falling from the narrow beam is low, and the peril non-existent, during this first attempt he levels out his arms for balance as he walks along. Once at the end, overcome with excitement, he takes a mighty leap off and lands back down on terra firma.

A few days later, and after many more goes, so comfortable is he with his centre of gravity that the very idea of stretching his arms out for balance on this equipment feels an unnecessary, even alien action.

…Until he spies the spring-mounted jelly board at the other end of the school yard, and the process start anew.

In short, balance is when we develop a sense for maintaining the centre of gravity inside our base support. While most outdoor play equipment offers a test of balance, there are some which present greater challenges than others.

Clatterbridges, for instance, are a great way for children to take their first, gingerly steps into increasing their balancing abilities. While a little uneasy to traverse for the uninitiated, it never feels as risky as some similar crossings, and the ease with which it is achievable rapidly helps build confidence for tackling more daring equipment.

There is a vast array of balance-specific equipment available ranging from rope bridges and log bridges to zigzag beams, and weaving beams, all offering varying degrees of stabilising difficulty. Most of these are fairly basic in concept, but for developing even better skills (and thrills!) consideration should be given to more creative equipment such as swinging logs, tyre crossings, and net tunnels.

Balance-Focused Outdoor Play Equipment

Collage of four pieces of outdoor play equipment which can help children with their balance skills

Advanced Balance-Focused Outdoor Play Equipment

Collage of three pieces of outdoor play equipment which offers a greater challenge for balance

Agility

A child cautiously approaches a beam of wood which is raised less than half a foot from the ground. Eyeing it up, she decides to make her attempt…

Squatting, she stabilises herself ready for action before feeling her legs generating a great force which lifts her up into the air and over the beam. Stabilising herself upon landing back down, she smiles, checking out the next wooden beam, which is slightly higher.

She has just overcome her first hurdle in life. Literally.

Little brown-haired girl with a wry smile to camera

Three wooden hurdles on grass

As they scramble out towards the playground in a large group, shoulder to shoulder, children find themselves suddenly stopping and quickly moving again, pushing forward, waiting their turn, and navigating their embarkation onto roundabouts, climbing frames and slides.

When we have combined the ability to balance ourselves with sudden movements, such as quickly stopping, starting or efficiently changing directions, then we have acquired the skill of agility. By their very nature, children’s interaction with virtually any outdoor play equipment employs the practice of this skill.

Moving beams, jelly boards, and ramp jumps are all efficient playground items for helping children get to know their centre of gravity better while simultaneously dealing with sudden movements.

Agility-Focused Outdoor Play Equipment

Three pieces of outdoor play equipment which focuses on agility

Coordination

Four wooden posts proudly stand in a row, awaiting the next adventurer to come investigate. A girl approaches. She walks up to the first post, casually runs her hands over the top of its’ platform, found almost a meter in the air, slightly taller than half her hight. She pirouettes, takes a few steps, then turns back around to face the row.

Digging the ball of her right foot into the dirt, she leverages her body forward to gain some speed. Reaching out her hands, she slaps both palms firmly against the top of the first post and bends her elbows. All in one mighty motion, she straightens her arms and flies through the air – up, up, and over the post.

And then does it three more times over the other leapfrog posts.

Three children, all in school uniforms, play leapfrog over wooden posts Four wooden leapfrog posts on grass

Coordination is the blending of skills (balance and agility) into a skill of its’ own, allowing children to ‘feel’ for the force they need when aiming and throwing, amongst other activities.

Equipment such as target panels, traverse walls and stilts allow children to put into practice their newfound abilities in balance while adding the element of force – but swinging grips, overhead ladders, and scramble nets also provide great challenges in this area.

Coordination-Focused Outdoor Play Equipment

Collage of three pieces of outdoor play equipment focused on developing coordination

Advanced Coordination-Focused Outdoor Play Equipment

Three pieces of outdoor play equipment which are for developing advanced coordination skills

The best way to include a wide variety of equipment that caters to balance, agility and coordination skills development is with a trim trail. An impressive test of fundamental movement skills, trim trails are an adventurous set of outdoor play equipment all connected to form easily accessed, yet continuous play.

Trim Trail on grass Girls in uniform using the climbing wall on a trim trail

Getting Help To Choose The Right Outdoor Play Equipment For Your School

Deciding on the right playground equipment for achieving the 3 FMS is dependent on several considerations:

  • Who is going to be using the equipment (inclusivity requirements)?
  • Which aspects of physical development need serving most beyond class-time learning?
  • Is there a need to accommodate an above average amount of children?
  • What can the budget provide?
  • How much space is available?

There’s no need to feel like you’re stalling while looking for the most appropriate outdoor play equipment for delivering the 3 FMS. With Creative Play, choosing the perfect playground is like child’s play. Our outdoor play experts pride themselves on their specialist knowledge and ability to guide customers to the best set-up for their school’s needs.

Our belief that every child should have the opportunity to play means we are committed to working with educators to deliver inclusive play areas for a range of budgets. Since 1991 we have been listening to client’s needs and connecting them with sustainable, affordable, high-quality equipment – with an exceptional aftercare service.

I’d like help finding the right outdoor play equipment for 3 FMS needs –

Connect me with a Creative Play Outdoor Play Expert!

Interested in how the design flow of a play area can benefit your school?

Discover How To Amplify Playtime Skills Development By Employing Efficient Playground Layout

Also of interest:

Learn how to achieve National Curriculum success with an outdoor play area

Understand how to choose a playground that will provide the best long-term investment

 

A Little About Us

Our playground equipment and outdoor sports equipment have been bringing smiles to children’s faces for over 30 years.

Designing, manufacturing and installing our playground equipment has taken us across the UK, developing over 14,000 play areas for children in Schools, Holiday Parks, Pubs, Play Parks and more.

We only use the highest quality timber and materials to ensure the lifespan and durability of all our playground equipment. We also provide a comprehensive guarantee on all products and services for the first 2 Years of your product’s life, for peace of mind.

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