June 8th, 2012

Lessons Learned on a Playground

 

One afternoon at the Eagle Lake playground, my daughter was on the swings, and my son stood on a raised platform and stared at the monkey bars in front of him. Finally tall enough to reach the first rung, he grabbed the bar and quickly grabbed the next, but hesitated to continue to the third and his hands slipped. He fell four feet down to the mulch and, thankfully, missed hitting the platform with the back of his head. He was more shocked from the fall than hurt. He didn’t cry, but I could see he was discouraged. I was never good at crossing the monkey bars, or climbing a rope. And, after years of watching my son play on the playgrounds, I have a solid hypothesis why, but won’t get into genetics here.

Typically, I would let him feel the pain and check him out for bleeding, then, send him on his way, but this was an opportunity for him to get back up to the platform and try again. And, I wanted to let him know falling to the ground was far better than a fall against the steel platform. I put him back on the platform and encouraged him to try again, to not focus on the end and go as far as he could because the fall is fun, too. The pain he felt was gone. He made it to the sixth rung with no help from me and fell, landing on his feet. Two lessons learned: how to fall and to not turn back.

Playgrounds are made to test a child, stretching their physical confidence as they jump, reach and climb around the obstacles in their way. These confined areas are also a great place for a parent to observe their child and take notes on their development, physically and mentally. Toddlers can give a parent a decent workout, chasing them from one side to the other over an hour of running, tumbling, and swinging (click here for recent article). Helping them navigate the obstacles in place, we give them the lesson needed to perform these acts on their own, but we need to remember to walk away or they’ll never learn how to pump their legs to swing, or alternate hands and feet to climb. Then, from the sidelines, a parent can watch their child play and interact with other children, determine if they are a leader, follower or both, and assess what skills are next on the list to introduce or perfect.

There are many types of playgrounds and playground philosophies. I believe in all of them, and simple walks in the woods, where fallen trees, thickets and other boundaries are meant to be tested. Obstacles present opportunities for children to stretch their creativity for problem solving. These are essential in the development of a child, encouraging exploration of their physical world and the world that is growing inside their mind.