The schoolyard is more than a simple relief from classes for kids. It’s an equalizer, a social space, and another classroom. On any given day, a child may learn more during recess and lunchtime than they do in a classroom, simply because of the nature of learning. Whether it’s climbing, making friends, or even meditating, the school playground boosts child development and learning in tremendous ways. Here’s an in-depth look at just how that works.
Using Equipment Builds Motor Skills and More
The most obvious way in which school playgrounds boost child development is through the physical act of playing. Elementary and even middle school kids are still developing strong bones, muscles, tendons, and motor skills. And, sadly, far too many children don’t spend enough time playing outside anymore. Once, kids across the country rode their bikes, climbed trees, and hopped over fences on a daily basis. Today, many kids sit inside staring at screens instead.
The playground is one of the few spaces virtually every kid has access to for about an hour each day. Your playground equipment supplier has structures that can challenge kids of all ages. These children can climb ladders, pull themselves up onto rock walls, and pump their legs swinging. They can enhance their motor skills while racing up and down slides, and they can grow stronger with each jump onto and from the platforms.
Free Play Fosters Creativity
Of course, learning and development stretch well beyond the physical. One of the biggest problems with kids getting too much screen time is that it inhibits creativity. Most apps, streaming services, and even television shows spoon-feed information to viewers. This means that when the time comes to come up with solutions to problems or overcome challenges, many kids aren’t equipped to meet those demands.
Free play outside counteracts that issue. Children who play without structure, with a mix of kids they may not know well, in an outdoor environment, have to think outside the box. They pick teammates, collaborate with others to complete projects, and come up with ideas for games. The best playgrounds will foster this creativity with themed play equipment, sensory areas, and graduated challenges. Many kids leave the playground feeling like they’ve just accomplished a job well done… because they have.
Outdoor Play Stimulates the Imagination
In addition to the creativity required of problem-solving and overcoming challenges, playgrounds also stimulate the imagination. While many parents and educators are hyper-focused on the importance of STEM subjects, math, science, tech, and engineering are useless without an open mind. Kids may learn the skills and the lessons, but they can still fail to innovate and progress if they lack imagination. Outdoor play can change all that.
Fortunately, ample time on the playground can bridge the distance between academics and imagination. Kids with free time outside create entire worlds in their heads and with their classmates. In just 15 minutes, they can become captains of their own pirate ships, astronauts exploring space, and knights slaying dragons. The books they read come to life when they’ve got the time and space to visualize them. That wild imagination allows them to innovate and create new pathways in their STEM subjects.
Open Play Builds Social Skills
One of the biggest benefits of kids going to school every day is the social aspect. Far too many children who stay at home for their education suffer from insufficient social skills. This means they won’t learn to collaborate with people different from them, to ask for help from people they don’t know, and to help others in need. Social skills are the foundation of any functioning society, and kids need time together to build those skills.
You might think they can get those skills from the classroom, but the reality is that in the classroom, the teacher is ever present, facilitating communication. At some point, kids have to venture out and apply what they learn in the real world. The playground is an ideal safe space for kids to do just that. They make friends of strangers, rely on each other for help, and lend a hand when it’s needed. Basically, they mimic the way they’ll behave, ideally, as adults.
The Break Allows for Absorption
Finally, but no less importantly, school playgrounds do indeed offer kids a break from all the hard lessons they learn in class. Kids in a single day might be struggling with multiplication tables, biology lessons, and learning a new language. It’s tough to take all that information in and move into the next lesson without losing some of what they’re supposed to be gaining. Without breaks, kids may move forward without actually having absorbed any of the information.
The 15-minute recess breaks, plus a longer lunch, allow kids to take a brain break. This time lets them shake off the stress and exhaustion of classroom time and feel free. They can run, swing, jump, climb, and in the meantime, the math, language arts, and science they learned sink in. Then, when they go back into the classroom, they return fresh and ready to take in more. The playground, in short, is both a respite from one type of learning and an opportunity to learn in new ways.
Ultimately, school playgrounds offer more than just rest from school, although that rest is important too. These open, outdoor spaces with challenging structures and access to nature help kids develop strong muscles and bones, skills for climbing, and a talent for making friends and working together. It’s a great middle ground between classroom learning and staring at a screen. It’s the place where kids come together and learn from each other, some of the most important lessons they’ll learn during their young lives.
