Physical activities are among factors used to promote growth and development during childhood. Direct and implied benefits of these activities include enhancement of physical, emotional, mental, and psychosocial health, which is significant to learning. Gubbels, Van Kann, and Jansen (2012) argue that advancement in technology has transformed the contemporary society to be more lawless, undisciplined and permissive. In effect, the prevalence of these factors among young generations both in the early and middle childhood, is largely destructive to proper growth and development. Consequently, most preschoolers portray sedentariness due to overreliance on technologies. However, several pre-school playground equipment have the potential to assist children achieve comprehensive development of physical skills that include both gross and fine motor skills as well as reduce the propensity towards developing obesity and other lifestyle diseases (Afshrlahoori, 2007). Playground/outdoor activities assist children in establishing significant human relationship with others while identifying their place in the playground (Cardon, Van Cauwenberghe, Labarque, Haerens, & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2008). This paper examines the various types of equipment in outdoor playground setups and how these materials help gross motor skill development in early and middle childhood.
Outdoor play is important because children who regularly involve in several activities tend to be fitter, develop strong immune systems, play more creatively, have more active imaginations, report lower stress level, and demonstrates greater respects for themselves and others. Playgrounds should be equipped with different tools that assist children to participate in the outdoor play. The tools and playground should be clean, friendly, and inviting, with appropriate management and storage. Below are some of the materials and equipment in the outdoor playground that assist children in participating in physical activities.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Suspension Bridge
The main function of the tools is to achieve balance in early childhood development. In this case, suspension bridge assists children to acquire stability and balancing skills. On the other hand, depending on how the child move from phase of the bridge to another phase, balance is achieved. Separately, the gross motor skill that is realized in early childhood include locomotor skills, which makes the child to focus, while in middle childhood strengthening of core muscles is realized. Additionally, in both early and middle childhood development, Suspension bridge helps children to acquire concentration as a finer motor skill.When children are plying using suspension bridge, a sense of balance is stimulated that detect the change in the body position. The activities used by the children include movement between two slides of structure, standing with friends over it, and jumping on it. The material used to make suspension bridge include wood and rope tied across while the ground is covered by grass to increase safety.
Trolley slider
This tool is mostly used to promote the development of muscle skills. For instance, in early childhood, balance and coordination are the gross motor skill that are achieved, while in middle childhood it enhances reflexes and control movements. On the other hand, Trolley slider is described by Afshrlahoori (2007) to be therapeutic for those children with autism. This is because, the sliding motion makes them feel good and allow their body to coordinate with their position. Consequently, the fine motor skill achieved in early and middle childhood development is coordination. Furthermore, when a child is playing using Trolley slider, the sense of balance is stimulated, which enhance brain and body coordination to ensure balance is achieved during sliding. Finally, this equipment is made of metals that are extremely smooth. The ground, on the other hand, is covered with either sand or grass to increase the safety of the child.
Stepping or Hoping Pod
Stepping or Hoping pod is used for hopping and skipping. In early childhood development, balance is acquired a gross motor skill, while balance and coordination are realized in the middle childhood stage. Besides, children in both early and middle childhood stage tend to gain balance, coordination, motor planning, upper and lower strength. Moreover, as the child grows it develops fine cognitive skills that assist them in solving various problems (Afshrlahoori, 2007) . The sense balance is stimulated when the child is hopping and skipping from one pod to another. Additionally, fine motor development is associated with body coordination to maintain balancing from one stepping pod to another. The bottom ground of pods is covered with sand, while the pods are made of plastic pods arranged in in a raw. Other pods are convenient for resting as they are filled with air that provides comfort.
In conclusion, outdoor playgrounds are important in childhood development as they trigger physical activities. Besides, physical activity is a modified lifestyle behavior connected with healthy body weight and reduced risk of chronic health conditions, mostly in childhood obesity. In this case, outdoor play is regarded as a significant environment to foster these skills. Moreover, the playgrounds offer both early and middle childhood preschoolers to participate in different kinds of games, which encourage them to advance into the next stage of development. Cardon, Van Cauwenberghe, Labarque, Haerens, and De Bourdeaudhuij (2008) argues that outdoor play environment develops advanced fine motor and manipulation skills and, therefore, lack of physical activities can danger the health of the child .
References
Afsharlahoori, F. (2007). Study on Outdoor Playground Equipment and Children’s Social and Physical Development. International Association of Societies of the Design Research. Chiba University Press. Japan.
Cardon, G., Van Cauwenberghe, E., Labarque, V., Haerens, L., & De Bourdeaudhuij, I. (2008). The contribution of preschool playground factors in explaining children’s physical activity during recess. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity , 5 , 11. http://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-5-11
Gubbels, J. S., Van Kann, D. H. H., & Jansen, M. W. J. (2012). Play Equipment, Physical Activity Opportunities, and Children’s Activity Levels at Childcare. Journal of Environmental and Public Health , 2012 , 326520. http://doi.org/10.1155/2012/326520
