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Play value - the influence of playground equipment

How playground equipment can influence children

Research from the KOMPAN Play Institute shows that playground equipment influences preschooler’s development positively.

Important developmental domains such as social, cognitive, and language development are not the usual centre of attention in playground research. So the KOMPAN Play Institute set out to investigate to what extent play structures with a wide variety of activity panels influence these important developmental domains. Play panels provide extra play value and can be used to advance the growth of children’s social-emotional and cognitive development.  Read the findings of the KOMPAN Play Institute to know more about what kind of playground equipment educators and park planners should invest in for their particular user groups, and why. 

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Play value - The influence of playground equipment

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Definitions of ##cognitive## play

Definitions of cognitive play behaviours

  • Functional play: Play which centers around enjoying the physical sensation that a certain activity provides, e.g. sliding

  • Constructive play: Manipulating objects to create something, e.g. building with Lega

  • Explorative play: Focused examination of an object, e.g. examining stones on the ground

  • Dramatic play: Symbolic, pretend play, e.g. playing doctor

  • Games: Paying games that have ruled, e.g. hide-and-seek

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a children's play area with children playing on the playground.

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The cover of a book about playground equipment

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