How to Design Playground Equipment

Include families in the planning and design process from the very beginning. This step is the one most often overlooked and results in playground designs that do not meet community, accessibility and socialization needs of the children and adults using the playground.

Examine the various potential playground sites. Evaluate such things as the amount of available parking or space which can be used for parking, existing approaches to the intended play area, the quality and slope of existing surfaces in the intended play area, proximity to public transportation to reduce traffic congestion and parking space need, traffic patterns of feeder routes into and out of the location and proximity to high-traffic roads or environmental hazards.

Plan barriers to prevent children from entering traffic before, during or after play or from contact with hazardous waste, emissions or conditions. These should include open green buffer zones as well as architectural barriers such as walls or fences.

Examine existing playgrounds that get heavy use. Solicit input from users of those playgrounds about what works and what needs improvement. This input should come from phone and mail-in surveys of households, town-hall call-in radio programs, town meetings and door-to-door surveys. Pay particular attention to information about accessibility issues.

Read CPSC DocumentŃ: Home Playground Safety Tips, CSPC documentŅ: Public Playground Safety Handbook and the ADA Accessible Play Areas Guide. Follow design specifications to the extent possible. If a choice has to be made about accessibility, choose the option that creates maximum accessibility for all, including the ability of caregivers to enter and leave all portions of all play structures when a child needs assistance or retrieval. Ensure the ability of all persons in the community to approach and mount or enter the equipment, not only so that children can use it but so that parents with disabilities and elderly child care providers are not excluded from interaction with their children or grandchildren while at play.

Provide braille and foreign language warnings and instructions on any signage designed to enhance the play experience or explain use of a piece of equipment. Make sure all signage is away from landing sites of slides, poles and zip lines, and outside the zone of use of any swings. Use pictorial instructions if costs of foreign language alternatives is prohibitive. Although foreign language signage is not required, it demonstrates the intent to include all members of the community.

Create a play surface which provides maximum protection against potential fall injuries. Provide 12 inches or deeper of shock-absorbing material under and around the zone of use of all play structures and equipment pieces. Zone of use for swings is twice the height from the top of the swing structure to the seat of the swing. Zone of use for all other structures is 6 feet on all sides.

Design separate structures for the three main age groups intended to use the playground: children ages 0 to 2, 2 to 5, and 5 to 12. Equipment for children under age 2 must include access ramps instead of stairs or ladders; equipment under 32 inches high; long run, low rise slides with well-padded landings; open spiral slides with curves less than 360 degrees; spring rockers and swings with full bucket seats.

Equipment for children ages 2 through 5 should include horizontal ladders less than or equal to 60 inches high for ages 4 and 5, merry-go-rounds with platforms less than 15 inches from ground height, ramps instead of ladders only, rung ladders with wide foot plates, single-file step ladders, slides not more than 6 feet high, spiral slides up to 360 degrees, swings with belts and full bucket seats, spring rockers and rotating tire swings.

For children age 5 through 12, include arch climbers; chain, cable or rope walks, free-standing climbers with flexible parts; fulcrum seesaws; horizontal, rung and step ladders; overhead rings; balance beams; log rollers; climbing walls and zip lines. Provide additional padding and deeper shock-absorbing play surfaces for older children. Never have play areas over 6 feet in height without an additional 12 inches of shock-absorbing material, including landing pads or other means of ensuring that children are not injured by falls.