Outdoor Play Equipment
Metal Swings and Outdoor Play Equipment
Swings are an important aspect of the outdoor play area. In addition to these are other important outdoor play equipment that includes slides, jungle gyms, bridges, sandboxes, and teeter totters. When choosing outdoor play equipment, it’s important to keep some safety factors into consideration. This will help ensure that your child or children has a safe and enjoyable experience.
In the early part of the 20th century, outdoor play areas were unsafe. Playground designers mistakenly believed that children needed to play on equipment that stood great heights. Slides and other play equipment saw heights reaching up to twenty feet. With those great heights came serious accidents. It is a scientific fact, that the greater the height of the play equipment, the faster the speed of the child when he or she falls. This leads to more serious accidents. When choosing a swing set and other equipment, the most important aspect to consider is safety.
No matter what type of swing set you prefer, you should make certain that there is a clearance distance of at least 9 feet, in both the front area and back region of the swing set. This clearance will result the likelihood of accidents and ensure that there is ample space to move without becoming in contact with a swing in action. There should also be a clearance of at least eight to nine feet between the ground and the top of the set.
Always read through any literature and safety standards that come with your swing set to ensure that you erect the set properly and follow the proper guidelines for clearance and safety. If you are concerned about the clearance area behind a swing set, you might find that the best option is to place the swing set about eight feet in front of a fence. This will lessen the chance that others will come in contact with the swing while it’s moving. When set up properly, swings are a wonderful addition to the outdoor play area.
Swings are an important addition to a child’s play area. One of the first and foremost areas to consider is safety and design. You should ensure that you place play equipment, such as jungle gyms, and teeter totters in areas where they are separate from other areas. If you design specific places for sit down play, such as sand boxes, you must make sure that these areas are separate from areas designed for active play. Inadvertently placing sandboxes or merry go-rounds close to slides and swing sets can cause a variety of different accidents. It is best to keep these areas separate.