Play Environments - Playground Equipment

Yesterday (3/14/09) I also was able to go to the mall in Green Bay. The mall has an area in which children can play in to relieve some of the tension that comes along with a day at the mall with parents and/or older siblings. The children here had the biggest age range with it being from one to seven. The demographics were also more mixed that I would have initially expected. The children were Caucasian, Hispanic, and Native American. I did not see any African American or Asian American children for the duration I was examining the play ground equipment. Also, once again the genders were both male and female.

I enjoyed this play area for one simple fact, it has benches all along the inside for parents and adults to sit and monitor their children without having to be uncomfortable. I know for me and a very near future-mother, that made a big impact. If there was nowhere for me to sit and monitor my child, I would walk right on by. Anyway, the equipment ranged from books with a bench for storytelling/reading, a large bear to climb on, and other structures for the children use as slides or climbing areas. The younger children would basically try to walk or climb on the smaller areas whereas the older children were a big more crazy in terms of running around and making a lot of noise. The older children wanted to play tag with one another or simple chase one another. The younger children would bring books by their adults or be set up on the slide and go down it. I genuinely do not enjoy the type of playground equipment they had for inside of the mall. While it could be seen as an improvement from what the mall used to have (nothing), I would not recommend for children to be left alone. It seems that the structures do not take into consideration the children's safety. The band-aid slide does not have any edges so if the child gets too far to the edge, they could easily fall over. While it is not very tall at all, younger children could get hurt. Also, structures for children to climb on and manipulate were of extremely hard plastic. It does not seem very resourceful in a mall setting or any setting. If the structures and equipment were softer it would account for less harmful consequences along with more manipulation by the children.

Also, children with disabilities again would have a very difficult time trying to optimize their play with this environment. It is a pretty small area in regards to children with disabilities. They would need more room to maneuver. Also, they could not climb on the structures as well and the added danger would discourage them. The access point is also something to consider because even though everyone has access to the mall equipment, some children cannot even make it to the mall. Once they are there, it seems that the children enjoy playing on the equipment because it could be the only equipment they are ever given access to. I do not feel that it is discriminatory against any culture, but rather tries to convey an open environment that is appealing to all diverse cultures.