Playgrounds
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64354)
United Kingdom
January 23, 2016 5:49pm CST
When I was walking through the park the other day I passed through the children's play area. It sent me down the nostalgia route again as I mused on how different it was from the playgrounds of my childhood.
The most important change is the surface on which the play equipment is set. The whole area is covered in rubberised chippings, so that if a child falls he doesn't hurt himself. In my day it was either tarmac or concrete. We got some injuries I can tell you.
The equipment itself is different too, among them wonderful climbing frames, which I would have loved as a child.
But where are those long see-saws that would catapult you into the air when your friend suddenly vacated the other end? Or the big tall metal slide where you could easily skid off the end and land on your bottom?
Both the seesaw and the slide that I saw yesterday were very small and no-one would come to any harm if they fell off.
And do you remember the 'Wizard's Hat'? It was a metal conical shaped apparatus that was fixed at the top so it could pivot round the central pole. There were narrow seats round the bottom edge, and you could either sit or stand on these as the contraption was propelled round at high speed, rocking to and fro as it did so.
We had some fun on that, and also a lot injuries as we fell off it. My knees as a child seemed to be permanently grazed.
It's a wonder we ever lived to be adults, but do kids have as much fun today as we did?
60 people like this
60 responses
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@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
Ending up with hot pants no doubt Judy!
3 people like this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
26 Jan 16
thats it , thats what happened to me
1 person likes this
@Iam_jauntyjen (5017)
•
27 Jan 16
hahahaha, reminds me of my childhood experience in the community playground.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
24 Jan 16
we dont have any parks with playground equipment anymore, only at schools or privately owned. I have a slide and a two seater swing for my grandchildren that were my own children's play things - People have offered to buy them, but they will see another generation's playing I hope.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Inlemay What - no play equipment in the parks at all? There is usually a play area in our parks even though the equipment is mostly plastic-type material as in the photo above.
That's good that you still have the play things from your daughters' time.
2 people like this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK some of the playground equipment got rusted and children were getting hurt - some are left unattended in the parks so everything was removed. You still get an odd playground on beach fronts - but nothing in the cities anymore. Anyway the family restaurants have made up for that - the kids have play area's outdoors at all our family restaurants however its only available to patrons
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218927)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Jan 16
I'm sad when I see kids cycling around today in helmets that look like they're NASCAR-ready. Do you remember the feeling of the wind in your hair? I do. I also see few kids playing pick-up football, baseball, etc. than back in the day. Everything seems to be organized by adults. Mwa mwa mwa. Who needs adults?
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Jan 16
@TheHorse Regarding the helmets - it is the same for riding horses - we took our chances and felt wild and free.
We went out to play and never saw an adult till it was mealtime. Now the children are chaperoned everywhere, but of course there do seem to be a lot of weirdos around now. Pity.
2 people like this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
24 Jan 16
As kids, we had Tarzan ropes hung from the huge trees, a basketball hoop, badmitton set up and horse shoes @jaboUK . No playground per se.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@nanette64 That was a bit different from us Nanette, but no doubt you still had fun.
2 people like this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK Oh yeah and we were very strong, healthy kids. Back then there was no such thing as obesity.
2 people like this
@allknowing (136541)
• India
24 Jan 16
We had playgrounds in our school some for kids and some for grownup children. The children's playground had sand underneath and there were swings and the seasaw.
The adult playgrounds were for playing netball and throwball - those were the names given to those games.
3 people like this
@allknowing (136541)
• India
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK It was a convent school. We played in that sand as well.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@allknowing The playgrounds I'm talking about were in public recreation grounds, we didn't have any in school - not my school anyway.
I didn't play netball until secondary school, but that was an organised activity.
You were more advanced than us if you had sand in your playground.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jan 16
wizard's hats were my favourite too - another deadly but fun ride was just a cable on a pole - you ran round to lift yourself up so it swung you round trying to let go before it smashed you into the pole but not too fast so you fall over
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Jan 16
@jaboUK yes it did look like a maypole
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Jan 16
@arthurchappell Ha - you are the only person so far who remembers the Wizards Hat
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Was the other thing you mention a bit like a maypole?
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Was the other thing you mention a bit like a maypole?2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
26 Jan 16
lol I often think the same thing. We stood on the seat of our bicycles, jumped off roofs and yes I hung upside down off any bar available. NO safety net for us and I have the scars and memories to prove it.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
26 Jan 16
@jaboUK The world has changed and much of the fun is also gone.. Children are expected to know how to read at 4 and kindergarten is no longer just a fun time it is hard work. I say let kids be kids, they will be grown up long enough and let them get exposed to germs, and dirt and yes a little danger.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
27 Jan 16
@BelleStarr I agree completely. And what about the amount of homework the older children seem to have? I can't remember it ever taking me more than an hour, usually a lot less.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
26 Jan 16
@BelleStarr We weren't wrapped in cottonwool were we? So we've got a few scars, but so what?
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
24 Jan 16
Yes janet.... I remember those as well, sssooo much fun....did you used to use it in ways it was not meant to be used... for example...work up as high as you could on the swing... then when it was at its highest point up front, jump off... or use the see saw as a balance beam and walk from one end to the other, and try and remain standing as the high end crashed to the ground as you walked on it....??
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@sueznewz2 They were big, and climbing up them could cause a problem if somebody else decided to come down at the same time!
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK yes .... we did that too.... lol's.... and lije you said in your post...they were nice big/high slides weren't they ... and fast too....
1 person likes this
@bluesa (15022)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
25 Jan 16
@jaboUK . I am not certain kids today do. I remember the long, high slides, and sliding onto grass only to plop hands onto thorns growing along with the grass when you slide off at great speed. I remember the round about, that spun like crazy, and getting dizzy and sliding off and hitting my head, but still, surviving. Janet, it was rougher, tougher times, but it was loads of fun too. :-)
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
24 Jan 16
Nope. Kids do not have the freedom we had when we were little. We learned to be self-reliant by being on our own.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@ElixabethWallace You are right, we had so much more freedom then. Our mothers would not see us for hours on end, and didn't worry - there was no need.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@ElizabethWallace That was true for us too.
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@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK We were raised "by the village" so to speak. We were expected to respect all adults, and did so.
1 person likes this
@just4him (317089)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
24 Jan 16
I'm not familiar with the wizard's hat. I agree about the surface at the park or schoolyard. The slide looked like it reached to heaven, from the standpoint of a child that is. We had two sizes, the smaller one for the toddlers and the big one. The teeter totter at the schoolyard was awesome. My friend and I would see how high we could make each other bounce in the air by hitting it hard on the ground. Had to hang on real tight to the bar. Then there were the swings and who didn't try to see if they could make it high enough to go over the top, though it never did. The park had hard packed dirt, the schoolyard had concrete. Yes, those were the days. The kids today don't know what they're missing.
3 people like this
@just4him (317089)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK Yes it was hard. I remember coming to a sudden painful stop at the bottom of the slide. But it was fun and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything, not even the playground equipment they have today. The kids today have it soft.
2 people like this
@rebelann (112877)
• El Paso, Texas
24 Jan 16
Don't be sad @jaboUK I didn't know about them when I was little so I wasn't sad and back then the Army bases we lived on only created sand boxes for kids but we did have swimming pools that were free for any military person to swim at so perhaps you can think of that as a plus. I used to love to go swimming.
2 people like this
- I can't believe you've never been on a seesaw or roundabout
. I thought every child would have done that, even those today who are mostly on their computer games.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
24 Jan 16
Our playgrounds (as children) had wood chippings, sand or dirt. Boy if you managed to get scraped that sand sure did burn! I've not been around a playground in a long time but I know that the local playground updated the equipment they use.
I hope the children still have a lot of fun, afterall they are none the wiser to what we were used to as children.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK It is true, my niece and nephew hardly have their nose out of their video games. I don't think they've been to a playground in years. Of course the nephew has grown out of it.
I guess the people in charge of the design of the equipment are trying to make it as safe as possibly, albeit a little boring.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@ScribbledAdNauseum I expect they do still have fun when they can tear themselves away from their video games etc.
But the equipment I saw yesterday just seemed rather tame, apart from the climbing frame.
3 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
27 Jan 16
If they ever make it outside, I'm sure they'd have as much fun doing whatever, as we did. I'm not familiar with the Wizard's Hat, but it sounds similar to an older merry-go-round near our house when I was smaller. On that, there were bars to hang onto and some of us would sit while others would stand. Someone of course had to get off periodically to keep it going around and to get it started. There was even a section in the middle where one or two could stand, where all the other bars came together. It also wiggled some when it went around fast, although I don't know whether it was supposed to do that or not.
We still have the taller metal slides that kids could fall from in our neighborhood parks, along with other older equipment.
Even with the current ground coverings, a child can still get hurt. There is a public area in my town, that has been there quite a while. It has the softer rubberized covering too, but it has wood chips underneath the swings and various other places around. My daughter kicked off her sandle's to swing one day when she was about ten. Somehow she got several medium sized wood chips embedded in the bottom of her foot. The largest being about the size of a dime or a bit bigger, course it was longer too. The doctor used a needed, I think, to work them out of her foot once we realized there was a problem.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
27 Jan 16
@MarshaMusselman What you are talking about in your first paragraph I would just call a roundabout, and yes we had them too.
I realise that injuries can perhaps occur, but they are not nearly so likely, thank goodness.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
28 Jan 16
@MarshaMusselman What I would call a merry-go-round is what you would see at the fair - a carousel with horses to ride on.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
28 Jan 16
@jaboUK We called them merry-go-rounds, but they were all different. The one in the school yard nearby was unique, and I've never seen another like it since.
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
24 Jan 16
I also kind of lived in those days and it was fun
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Missmwngi Yes, nobody worried if you fell over and grazed your knee, we just took it as normal and carried on having fun.
2 people like this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
24 Jan 16
@jaboUK Oooh yeah and the surprising thing is,getting it treated was not as quick as nowadays lol
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Missmwngi Getting it treated was usually my mum washing it in dettol and putting a plaster on it.
2 people like this
@paigea (36317)
• Canada
24 Jan 16
There are teeter totters (see saws) at the park near us. My husband made me fall off it a couple of years ago and that made my great nephew cry.
And made my late niece mad at my husband.
Any way I have to say there are some amazing parks still in some communities. There are some high slides some great climbing equipment, digging toys, all sorts of things. It often seems a community will fund raise and volunteers will erect the equipment and then the city will provide the maintenance.
The city closest to us built an outdoor Gym for adults. I think it is great as it has all sorts of equipment to exercise on and it is right by a children's playground. The first thing someone said is the city is going to be sued when some one hurts them self. The second thing she said is they should have put a roof on it so we could use it when it rained. (when it rains here it is a huge storm with big wind). I pointed to the children's playground right there and said they don't have a roof. Anyway adults forget that being outside and using what\s available is worthwhile.
And made my late niece mad at my husband.
Any way I have to say there are some amazing parks still in some communities. There are some high slides some great climbing equipment, digging toys, all sorts of things. It often seems a community will fund raise and volunteers will erect the equipment and then the city will provide the maintenance.
The city closest to us built an outdoor Gym for adults. I think it is great as it has all sorts of equipment to exercise on and it is right by a children's playground. The first thing someone said is the city is going to be sued when some one hurts them self. The second thing she said is they should have put a roof on it so we could use it when it rained. (when it rains here it is a huge storm with big wind). I pointed to the children's playground right there and said they don't have a roof. Anyway adults forget that being outside and using what\s available is worthwhile.2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Paigea Yes. there are still plenty of seesaws and slides etc. around, but they aren't as big or as exciting as the ones we used to play on. The climbing frames though are great, much better than anything we had.
An outdoor gym for adults sounds great - I came across some of that equipment on the beach in Spain recently. I had a go on it and enjoyed it - I would definitely use it if there was anything like that near here. As you say, it's fun being outside.
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15505)
• United Kingdom
23 Jan 16
Kids don't have as much fun as all the good stuff in playgrounds have been removed due to the compensation culture we have now.
Councils are too afraid (rightly in my opinion) about getting sued if a kid stubs its toe.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 16
@Mike197602 It's such a pity that people sue at the drop of a hat nowadays, a lot of the fun is gone.
2 people like this
