Universal Playground Design

Introduction

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) declared play as a fundamental human right of all children in 1989 (Ayataç & Pola, 2016; Brown et al., 2021; Moore et al., 2022). Play is not only fun for children, but it is also integral to their mental, physical, and social development (Ayataç & Pola, 2016). Outdoor play specifically has a significantly positive impact on their development (Moore et al., 2022). Despite this understanding, there has been an overall decline in children’s outdoor play (Moore et al., 2022). This may be due in part to playgrounds and outdoor play spaces not being designed to accommodate the different mobilities and abilities of children (Burke, 2013; Lynch et al., 2018; Moore et al., 2022). This article review will explore how playgrounds and outdoor play spaces can be designed universally and some potential reasons for why this is not currently being done.

Context

Play has several definitions which are often determined by the context in which it is spoken about (Lynch et al., 2018). In general, play can be understood as a time that “involves freedom of choice, which is intrinsically motivated, and personally directed, with no external goal” (Lynch et al., 2018). Outdoor play is the same but with higher levels of physical activity (Lynch et al., 2018). Playgrounds and play spaces are spaces that are intentionally designed to support children’s outdoor play. Play spaces are a broad term to define these designated spaces while playgrounds are a type of play space that often contains “play equipment that is purpose-designed and built for children to play on” (Burke, 2013). Playgrounds are commonplace and can be found at public parks, public schools, amusement parks, and even some fast-food restaurants (Burke, 2013).

The prevalence of playgrounds may suggest that all children have the opportunity to play at them, but that is far from true. Playgrounds and their equipment are often not accessible for children with different bodies, abilities, and mobilities preventing them from playing in the same capacity as ‘typical’ children. Some even argue that these public spaces are designed in ways that “maintain and extend the dominance of individuals without disabilities” (Stanton-Chapman & Schmidt, 2016). There are guidelines for designing accessible play areas such as ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) and ADA Standards for Accessible Design (Stanton-Chapman & Schmidt, 2016) but accessible spaces are not always inclusive (Ayataç & Pola, 2016). Even when following the guidelines, designing for children with impairments is often seen as an afterthought (Burke, 2013) and when considered, the thought is not always carried through. For example, a playground may have a ramp, meaning it is accessible to people in wheelchairs, but there are no play opportunities at the top (Brown et al., 2021; Stanton-Chapman & Schmidt, 2016). This results in the exclusion of some children and their families from the play experience.

Furthermore, physical disabilities are typically the only type catered to when designing accessible playgrounds. This excludes children with sensory or developmental disabilities as well as children who speak different languages or have different play cultures (Brown et al., 2021; Burke, 2013). The wide variety of children that use playgrounds is why it is important to design them universally. Universal design (UD) was coined by Ronald Mace in 1985 and is defined as “a way of designing a building or facility, at little or no extra cost, so that it is both attractive and functional for all people, disabled or not” (Moore et al., 2022). UD has seven principles which are equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and appropriate size and space for approach and use (Moore et al., 2022). Universally designed playgrounds are a new topic in research but there are still many resources that provide information on how to design a playground that allows all children to play. The following section provides a summary of each principle and how it can be used to support play.

Equitable Use

Equitable use refers to a design’s marketability to people with diverse abilities (Burke, 2013). Equitable use on a playground looks like balanced diversity of physical and social activities (Ayataç & Pola, 2016). It also includes avoiding exclusion and stigmatizing designs such as different entrances and segregated play equipment. In addition to this, an important component of effective play is challenge and complexity. A playground that provides equitable use will be designed for challenge and complexity that caters to all people ensuring equality in experiences (Lynch et al., 2018).

Flexibility in Use

Flexibility in use is a design’s ability to accommodate a wide range of preferences and abilities (Burke, 2013). Playgrounds that offer variety in sizes or larger play components allow children of different ages and abilities to use the space (Lynch et al., 2018). This is often seen on playgrounds by the variety of swing heights offered (Lynch et al., 2018).

Simple and Intuitive Use

Simple and intuitive use refers to the ease with which a user understands the design (Burke, 2013). The age and mental development of children affect their levels of understanding. Complexity in design is good for child engagement but too much or too little will result in children not wanting to play (Ayataç & Pola, 2016). A simple and intuitive playground should be stimulating and cater to differences in understanding (Lynch et al., 2018).

Perceptible Information

Perceptible information is the design’s ability to communicate information effectively (Burke, 2013). Play equipment should encourage curiosity but should also be easy to understand (Lynch et al., 2018). If a child cannot figure out how to play on the equipment, they will stop playing. Children have different sensory needs that should be catered to as well. Playground equipment should use contrasting colors for people with visual impairments and any information should be designed to be easily understood by others, e.g. the use of Braille, other languages, and pictures/iconography (Ayataç & Pola, 2016; Lynch et al., 2018).

Tolerance for Error

Tolerance for error reduces hazards and adverse consequences of accidents (Burke, 2013). Playgrounds are required to adhere to safety standards but small risks are important for a child’s development (Lynch et al., 2018). Overly cautious play spaces reduce a child’s opportunities to manage risk which supports their learning and builds character (Burke, 2013). One way to include tolerance for error is to make clear boundaries and sightlines (Brown et al., 2021; Lynch et al., 2018). Clear boundaries such as a fence or low hedging can help prevent children from wandering away from the playground and clear sightlines allow guardians to keep an eye on their children without closely following them around, which could remove the sense of autonomy from play (Lynch et al., 2018).

Low Physical Effort

Low physical effort refers to a design’s ability to be used comfortably with minimum fatigue (Burke, 2013). Outdoor play typically involves physical activity but enacting low physical effort reduces the amount of physical activity needed to begin playing (Lynch et al., 2018). The key idea is that children should not have to spend extra or unnecessary energy in order to play (Ayataç & Pola, 2016; Lynch et al., 2018). This may include accessible routes to play equipment and a variety of equipment offering variation in challenge levels (Brown et al., 2021; Lynch et al., 2018).

Appropriate Size and Space for Approach and Use

Appropriate size and space for approach and use refers to a design’s ability to be used by all people regardless of their body, mobility, or ability (Burke, 2013). Play equipment should support the differences in abilities as children age as well as differences associated with disabilities. This could include variety in heights and sizes of equipment and spaces without equipment that allows for imaginative play.

It may be difficult to accommodate the wide variety of needs that come with designing playgrounds for children but it is important to consider as many needs as possible. Play has an important role in the development of children and designing play spaces that allow the greatest variety of children to learn and grow should be the goal of all playground designers and stakeholders.

Discussion

Despite these considerations and ideas, most playgrounds are not universally designed. I believe the reason for this is that playground designers are not aware of universal design enough to familiarize themselves with these suggestions. I also believe the misbelief that accessible design is the same as UD contributes to the exclusive design of playgrounds. Playground designers most likely follow the guidelines for accessible design without realizing that accessibility on its own does not mean everyone can enjoy the playground or play in the same capacity. Also, sometimes playgrounds that are designed to be more accessible do so but at the expense of fun and the actual components of play. One article states that technical legislated approaches to accessible design result in technical modifications to equipment and a dismissal of the elements important to effective play (Burke, 2013) such as freedom of choice and challenge (Lynch et al., 2018). Similar to sacrifices made for accessible design in other spaces, accessible playgrounds are often boring and unusable for children without certain disabilities (Stanton-Chapman & Schmidt, 2016). This swings the pendulum in the opposite direction so there is a different group that the playground is not designed for. I believe understanding the difference between accessible and universal design would help relieve this issue. It reminds playground designers to consider all the children that may use a playground including those with or without physical disabilities and/or sensorimotor concerns as well as differences in languages, cultures, ages, and bodies.

Another reason found in the articles for exclusive playground design is the lack of consistent policy about universally designed play spaces. The article “From Policy to Play Provision: Universal Design and the Challenges of Inclusive Play” found that sixteen out of eighteen surveyed European countries did not have a play policy (Lynch et al., 2018). The two countries that did have play policies did not have any information on universal design and the policy that included information on accessible design did not have any direction on how to achieve that (Lynch et al., 2018). The lack of policy leaves the inclusion of universal design in the hands of designers who are not always knowledgeable about the importance of universal design. A 2022 study about playground professionals’ UD implementation practices found that few study respondents believed UD knowledge was necessary for public playground design and one-third of the respondents said UD was not applicable to public playgrounds (Moore et al., 2022).

I believe the best way to increase the number of universally designed playgrounds is to continue to research the topic, educate the stakeholders and designers of playgrounds, and advocate for clear and concise policies that understand and support universal design. While I do not intend on becoming a playground designer, I would like to go into education design. Understanding UD and how it can be incorporated into playground design will allow me to advocate for play spaces that all children can enjoy. The articles reviewed in the paper were all published within the last ten years with three of them being since 2020. The articles are also from journal topics ranging from architecture to leisure to disabilities. This gives me hope that universal playground design will continue to be researched in multiple fields. I have already seen newer playgrounds designed to intentionally support effective play. I hope in five to ten years we see more research on UD incorporated into play spaces.

Conclusion

When children in Ireland were asked what matters to them, play was consistently highly ranked (Lynch et al., 2018). Children of all ages and abilities love to play and in return, play supports their mental, physical, and social development. Public playgrounds specifically provide children with a social space to challenge themselves, enhance their skills, and spend time with children that are different from them. Hopefully, the future of playground design includes universal design and more children will have the opportunity to play together.

References

Ayataç, H., & Pola, İ. (2016). No “Obstacles” In Playgrounds That Are Not Only Accessible But Also Inclusive. ICONARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning, 4(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.15320/ICONARP.2016120233

Brown, D. M. Y., Ross, T., Leo, J., Buliung, R. N., Shirazipour, C. H., Latimer-Cheung, A. E., & Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K. P. (2021). A Scoping Review of Evidence-Informed Recommendations for Designing Inclusive Playgrounds. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 2. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fresc.2021.664595

Burke, J. (2013). Just for the fun of it: Making playgrounds accessible to all children. World Leisure Journal, 55(1), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/04419057.2012.759144

Lynch, H., Moore, A., & Prellwitz, M. (2018). From Policy to Play Provision: Universal Design and the Challenges of Inclusive Play. Children, Youth and Environments, 28(2), 12–34. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.28.2.0012

Moore, A., Lynch, H., & Boyle, B. (2022). A national study of playground professionals universal design implementation practices. Landscape Research, 47(5), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2058478

Stanton-Chapman, T. L., & Schmidt, E. L. (2016). Special Education Professionals’ Perceptions Toward Accessible Playgrounds. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 41(2), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796916638499