Investigating Children’s Play Preferences and Safety in New Zealand Playgrounds

Authors

  • Rebecca J. Sargisson
  • Ian G. McLean

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.23.2.0001

Keywords:

children, playgrounds, injury, risk, challenge, accident

Abstract

Debate on the issue of safety standards in playgrounds centers on the tradeoff between allowing children to manage their own risk, and protecting them from harm. The behavior of children was monitored on 56 playgrounds during the summer on the North Island of New Zealand. The most-commonly featured play items were swings, slides and climbing apparatus. Swinging was the most popular play activity for all children, followed by spinning (roundabouts, spinning tops), and climbing. Accident events were rare, with a risk of minor injury of 0.1 per child per hour. Failure to provide shade contributed to the under-use of slides, which were frequently hot to the touch. Older children still use playgrounds, although older girls seem poorly served by the emphasis on skate parks and sporting activities. The needs of children to experience risk and challenge should be balanced against safety when designing playgrounds.

Published

2023-01-23