Did you know that space can stimulate or disturb person’s development and even has a direct impact on his/her mood? Person’s environment is created not only the space development, but also by scents, sounds, and shapes – depending on the size of this space, it will have a positive or negative impact.

Playground is one of the most important landscapes with which a child living in a city comes into contact. For a child, it is easily identifiable due to its closeness, repetitiveness, and stability. It is a defined space determined by objects (devices, benches), borders (solid or contractually set fences), texts (statute of using devices on a playground), distance (distance from home and other objects characteristic for a child), and land development method.

This space is particularly important in child’s development because studies show that children of pre-school age spend up to 80% of their active time on interactions with physical environment. [1] It is here, on a playground, where they shape their basic social competences, starting from communication and ending on learning creativity. Playground is quite often the first place, where the process of communication with “stranger” (another playing child) occurs. It is also a place that should be in favour of learning tolerance (e.g. for disabled people or children of other nationalities or with different social status).

The perfect play space should consist of specific zones that correspond to various needs of children [2]:

• Adventure type play zone – children autonomously shape their space (build new structures, change the functions of existing elements, and destroy them)
• Drama play zone – allows to play roles
• Imaginative play zone – develops sense of imagination
• Muscle strength development zone
• Manipulation games zone – develops psychomotor co-ordination
• Contact with nature zone – allows to learn the processes of nature, develops the sense of touch and smell
• Outdoor play zone – allows to play sports or games in greater number of children

Standard playgrounds, especially those currently created on artificial surfaces, possess only the muscle strength development zone and neglect the remaining needs. They are designed while ignoring the goal of mental or social stimulation of their small users. Therefore, it is so important to implement on playgrounds elements that develop various senses and skills of the youngest ones. Creative and interdisciplinary playground, which additionally can be used to integrate various social and age groups, can be a perfect development platform for a young man.

We invite you to reject diagrams and thinks about playground’s space in a wider perspective!

 Fragment of text comes from the thesis of the founder of Park Interakcje Company, Elżbieta Legoń-Szpunar, titled “4S regime or what does a playground communicate? The influence of space on the behaviour of playground’s recipient.” The thesis was defended on the University of Wrocław at the Institute of Journalism and Social Communication.

[1] Bańka A. Społeczna psychologia środowiskowa, Warszawa 2002, s. 339

[2] Bańka A. Społeczna psychologia środowiskowa, Warszawa 2002, s. 342