Nine focus groups with 49 child care providers (55% African American) were assembled from 34 centers (inner-city, suburban, Head Start, and Montessori) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Three main barriers to children’s physical activity in child care were identified: (1) injury concerns, (2) financial, and (3) a focus on “academics.” Stricter licensing codes intended to reduce children's injuries on playgrounds rendered playgrounds less physically challenging and interesting. In addition, some parents concerned about potential injury, requested staff to restrict playground participation for their children. Small operating margins of most child care centers limited their ability to install abundant playground equipment. Child care providers felt pressure from state mandates and parents to focus on academics at the expense of gross motor play. Because children spend long hours in care and many lack a safe place to play near their home, these barriers may limit children's only opportunity to engage in physical activity. Societal priorities for young children—safety and school readiness—may be hindering children’s physical development. In designing environments that optimally promote children’s health and development, child advocates should think holistically about potential unintended consequences of policies. [Authors' abstract]

Compilation of articles and documents that synthesize the literature related to children’s contact with the outdoors and nature and, in many cases, highlight children’s contact as it relates to educational settings. Some articles investigate linkages between the design of children’s school environments, children’s outdoor and/or nature-related behavior, and their physical activity and weight. Some articles examine topics related to children’s outdoor spaces. 50p

Summarizes how to design and maintain playgrounds with safety in mind. Discusses surfaces, equipment, siting, spacing structures, and more. 1p

Handbook explores outdoor spaces such as small athletic fields, vegetable gardens, and playgrounds that provide opportunities for physical challenges, exercise, sensory and fantasy play, organized sports and upsupervised free play. Features the District of Columbia public elementary schoolyards. Explains the qualities communities and parents should look for in schoolyards. Includes an assessment tool to rate your elementary schoolyard, and advice on how to plan and develop a quality schoolyard. 31p

DLR Group discusses ways that innovative and flexible outdoor spaces enhance the educational and social experience. Provides examples of patios, plazas, courtyards, amphitheaters, pathways, creative water and turf play environments, outdoor learning spaces, and outdoor dining. Includes case studies and photographs.

Case study of the campus landscape plan for the Wheeler School, founded in 1889, an independent co-educational K-12 day school in Providence, Rhode Island. The center campus comprises gathering space for upper school students; table seating/outdoor dining adjacent to the student union; open space for recreation and games; state-of-the-art play equipment; wood play structures; and a synthetic turf field for ball playing. Includes photographs.

Guidebook for designing and building natural schoolyard environments that enhance childhood learning and play experiences while providing connection with the natural world. Intended for parents, teachers, school administrators, designers, environmentalists, and community volunteers. Explores the ways in which landscape design, architecture, child development, and nutrition converge in the schoolyard. Profusely illustrated. 288p.

Addresses many factors that need consideration during the process of school site selection, planning, development, and use. The guide examines not only the site selection and planning processes, but also playground planning, recreation and athletic fields planning. Specific considerations include analyses of the surrounding community or territory; building access and security; the surrounding natural environment and available support services; landscaping, utilities, and vehicular traffic; and playground equipment and safety. Final sections provide athletic field layouts for track and field events; football, soccer, and baseball fields; and basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts. Fourteen references are included. 67p.

Reviews the work of the Royal Bank of Scotland's Supergrounds Program from its initiation in Sept 2004 through June 2010. The program gives grants to schools to improve their outdoor space and playgrounds. By the end of the Program's sixth year, 895 schools will have a new Supergrounds, giving 223,053 children access to improved outside spaces to learn and play. Over 7% of all schools in Scotland and 3% in England have received an Supergrounds award to date. The evaluations show that having a Supergrounds project increases the average time children spend learning and playing outside by 1 hour per week, per child. 13p.

Briefly describes the more than 200,000 yearly playground related injuries in the United States. Statistics for types and severity of injuries, including deaths, are given, as well as costs, groups at risk, and risk factors. Includes four references. 2p.

Each year, about 200,000 children are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for playground equipment-related injuries - an estimated 148,000 of these injuries involve public playground equipment. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) offers consumers this simple checklist to make sure the public playground is a safe place to play.

Cities capitalize on existing schoolyards to provide more opportunities for physical activity.

Description and photos of the outdoor play and learn area at All Saints School in Norwalk, Connecticut that promotes play and an understanding of the physical sciences and energy conservation. The environmental activities within the playground are dovetailing with a school STEM curriculum being taught in the classroom.

All state and government construction projects will soon have to bring their projects up to compliance to meet the 2010 Standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act — a requirement that includes school exteriors like playgrounds, pools and outdoor signage. For projects that start on or after March 25, 2012 the 2010 ADA standards will apply automatically.

When designing classrooms, designers should look at spaces that welcome interaction with the environment and encourage the free reign of energy and imagination--the playground. Describes numerous schools around the world that can inspire the classrooms of the future.

Looks at the safety of playground surfaces and equipment today, and what playground owners and operators can do to ensure both are up to industry standards.

Describes playground inspections to address safety and maintenance issues. Poorly maintained playground equipment can cause injuries, but it can also lead to lawsuits. Proper maintenance, in accordance with manufacturers' instructions, will help prolong the life of the equipment.

Highlights how an urban Boston charter school created play and exercise areas on their small site, formerly six-acre industrial property.

Children in poor and minority neighborhoods often lack adequate environmental support for healthy physical development and community interventions designed to improve physical activity resources serve as an important approach to addressing obesity. In Denver, the Learning Landscapes (LL) program has constructed over 98 culturally-tailored schoolyard play spaces at elementary schools with the goal to encourage utilization of play spaces and physical activity. In spite of enthusiasm about such projects to improve urban environments, little work has evaluated their impact or success in achieving their stated objectives. This study evaluates the impacts of LL construction and recency of renovation on schoolyard utilization and the physical activity rates of children, both during and outside of school, using an observational study design.

Discusses essentials of playground design, including design that minimizes fall heights through landscaping and equipment shape, regular inspection and maintenance, and equipment that is intriguing even though it is safe and age-appropriate.

Reviews 2010 additions to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that cover recreational facilities. The types of disabilities that recreation planners need to plan and design for, are discussed, as are typical changes needed for swimming pools, playing fields, and other specific areas. Cost effective changes and examples of recreation facilities that are already in compliance are included.

During 2008 and 2009, a group of nine Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) from Canterbury met as a Community of Practice to investigate the way that play in the school playground contributes to the social competence of students. While the original concern was around the needs of students who were unable to manage their behaviour in the playground, the focus shifted to question how the school playground can be viewed as an important learning environment for all children. It was soon found that there is an enormous body of research around bullying and physical violence and play in early childhood, but very little concerned with the design or physical structure of playgrounds or the role of adults in the playground. This paper was born out of the work of the Playground Focus Group, but also reports on issues confronting schools in relation to play and school playgrounds.

Describes seven principles of proper school playground management. These cover compliance with standards, safety and security, age-appropriate design, accessibility, regular assessment of conditions, emergency planning, and managing of documentation.

Discusses the evolution of playgrounds towards the incorporation of nature and inclusion of the disabled. A variety of natural features and inclusive designs are detailed.

Discusses shade structures for athletic and recreational facilities, noting attention to climate, potential vandalism, aesthetics, self-installation, water resistance or porosity, and orientation toward the sun are discussed.

Reviews wood-carpet wear mats that are placed under playground swings and sliding boards, thus preventing the continues digging out of the playground mulch by human feet. The added safety and amount of staff time saved in grooming playgrounds equipped with these mats is emphasized.

Laments the frequent neglect of outdoor learning environments, and advises on creating a safe outdoor environment by describing standards, listing resources, and outlining general principles for layout, safety, accessibility, equipment, and environment.

Discusses the restoration of and return to playgrounds that offer environments where children can not only play, but also engage in creative endeavors that nurture development. Concerns over liability and accessibility had discouraged these types of facilities, with an evolution toward those that were less challenging and perceived as safer. Restoration projects for several adventure playgrounds are discussed, as are accommodations for the disabled and creative playpiece design.

Discusses advances in playground design, with emphasis on safety, including age-appropriate play zones, fall heights, shock absorbent surfaces, and security.

Advises on creating satisfactory contemporary playgrounds, addressing surfacing material, maintenance requirements, safety, accessibility, and the typical life span of today's playground equipment.

Reports on the difference in playground upper extremity fracture rates in school playgrounds with wood fiber surfacing versus granite sand surfacing. The research determined that granitic sand playground surfaces reduce the risk of arm fractures from playground falls when compared with engineered wood fiber surfaces.

The restorative potential of green outdoor environments for children in preschool settings was investigated by measuring the attention of children playing in settings with different environmental features. Eleven preschools with outdoor environments typical for the Stockholm area were assessed using the outdoor play environment categories and the fraction of visible sky from play structures, and 198 children, aged 4.5-6.5 years, were rated by the staff for inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive behaviors with the ECADDES tool. Children playing in large and integrated outdoor areas containing large areas of trees, shrubbery and a hilly terrain showed less often behaviors of inattention. The results indicate that the restorative potential of green outdoor environments applies also to preschool children and that environmental assessment tools can be useful when to locate and develop health-promoting land adjacent to preschools.

Profiles La Crosse, Wisconsin's Crowley Park/Emerson Elementary School playground, a facility shared between the school and a city park that exhibits sustainability in design, bidding, rainwater management, an outdoor classroom, and energy-efficient night ligting.

Discusses shade structures at recreational and athletic facilities, including playgrounds and stadiums. Solid and cloth structures are addressed, as are budgeting, durability, and design.

Describes a variety of playgrounds with accessibility features. Some focus on accommodating the disabled only, while others on accessibility for users of all abilities. Surface playgrounds and swimming pool design are addressed.

Reviews current trends in intergenerational playgrounds, including safe and accessible equipment, gardens, stimulation of physical activity, and inclusion of nature. Examples from across the nation are cited.

Profiles the playground at Moorside School in Newcastle, Great Britain. The playground was selected as the best external learning environment by the British Council for School Environment (BCSE). It features flexible activity areas, a stage for storytelling and performance, and wild areas for unstructured exploration.