SKL Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) When my kids were tots, I didn't let them go "up the slide" because it was inconsiderate to other children. As they grew more aware of others' needs, I dropped that rule. That said, I think a big point of playgrounds is to give kids experience with things like that - you know, if you're at the top of the slide wanting to go down and some kid is climbing up, is there nothing you can do about it? You could politely ask the climber-upper to let you come down. If the climber-upper is too young to understand, presumably his mom is around somewhere and you could politely ask for her assistance. Imagine school-aged kids learning how to politely ask an adult to cooperate with them! And I think this is much more likely to happen naturally if everyone's parents aren't there "ready to step in." It's not always easy to find the right balance. When my kids were little, the closest park was about a mile away, so I would usually drive them to various parks on the way to and from errands. Once they were about 2 or 3 years old, I would walk around the perimeter of the park so I wasn't up their butts. However, I was able to visually check in periodically. There was one time another mom gave me hell for not being in close proximity to my 3yo (who was simply walking in a completely safe part of the park at the time). I didn't feel "safe" [safe from meddlers] sending them to the park alone (together) until they were about 6yo. Which, I had to keep quiet about, because a lot of people thought that was way too young. (By contrast, when I was a kid, nobody's parents ever went to the playground unless their kid was a baby in diapers.) It is frustrating that it's so hard to find opportunities for our kids to take age-appropriate risks these days. They of course internalize society's fears, so that even as tweens / teens, they are still nervous about doing certain things on their own. Edited November 29, 2023 by SKL 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathyl Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) nm Edited May 30 by kathyl 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathyl Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 4 hours ago, MercyA said: There's a video making the rounds right now about all the dangerous things Gen X kids survived: https://www.facebook.com/reel/335233145560978 ........ This really brought back some memories. Thanks. And we did survive. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Those rubber swings - I hated them! Don't they squish your pelvis into some weird contortion? And they make it harder to swing standing up, double swing, etc. 😛 But I guess they are better than no swings. Apparently swings are way too dangerous in many people's opinion. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreyaO Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 https://www.govisland.com/things-to-do/recreation/the-yard It's basically a junk yard. Every child I know who has been there absolutely adored it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 4 minutes ago, FreyaO said: https://www.govisland.com/things-to-do/recreation/the-yard It's basically a junk yard. Every child I know who has been there absolutely adored it. YES! If I ever win the lottery, I want to build an adventure playground with junk and loose parts and even the ability to build fires in safe areas. A playground where kids can check out wood and real tools and build things. A playground that is just for big kids 5+. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 (edited) Where I live, a new law has been passed that all new playgrounds must have that smooth rubber-y surface over them (no wood chips, etc). It's safer (according to the experts), and also more accessible for wheels. The problem is that when older playground equipment needs to be replaced for safety, the newer surfaces are so cost-prohibitive that smaller towns are financially forced to just get rid of the playground altogether; they can afford a new swing set but not a whole new playground. I'm not sure what the perfect solution is, but - this is definitely a law with unintended consequences, and it's making playgrounds LESS safe (the town's insurance company is the one who decides when a fixture is officially "unsafe"). (My own kids grew up playing in our neighbor's back field . . . VERY similar to the junkyard playground, haha! Who knew it was cutting edge?!) Edited November 30, 2023 by Lucy the Valiant 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said: Anyone else have those glorious castle playgrounds? I loved those even into mid teen years. My high school was a K - 12 public alternative school. We had an enormous and very complex wooden castle, it probably took up close to half a city block. The high schoolers would play a form of tag/hide and seek/Calvin Ball at top speed during lunch and occasionally take out a younger student. It's gone now but it was wicked fun. Edited November 30, 2023 by Eos 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 3 hours ago, SKL said: Our only ER visit prior to age 15 was from 3yo busting her head on a bench in the pool locker room. (Floor was carpeted, so I don't know what caused the fall.) Hold up. Carpet in a pool locker room? That would concern me more than tall slides and merry-go-rounds, for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I really like the newer playgrounds. The all ability playgrounds are such a nice concept and I don't know if it was intentional but making a slide big enough for a wheel chair also is great for when kids want to climb up the slide because now there is room. Then some of the newer playgrounds (that aren't all abilities) the structures are much more open ended, where the play structure is built so there isn't one way to climb (climb outside, inside whatever). The ziplines are fun even for adults as are the ropes obstacle course play structure. We have a lot of playground options nearby. I think there was a time where safer = more boring but I think we are moving beyond that. At some point people did realize we can have both safe and fun. Oh yes we have https://notawastedword.com/adventure-playground/ nearby. Children can borrow saws, nails, hammers, paint and other tools to add to the playground as they so choose. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 13 hours ago, FreyaO said: https://www.govisland.com/things-to-do/recreation/the-yard It's basically a junk yard. Every child I know who has been there absolutely adored it. Nice! My husband was stationed at Governor's Island when it still belonged to the Coast Guard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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