Playgrounds can be found all over neighborhoods, towns, and schools and provide an excellent way for children in early and middle childhood to develop and work on physical growth in a safe way. Children go through a sensitive period which is a point in development when organisms are susceptible to stimuli in their environments (Feldman, 2017). Gross and fine motor skills are able to be developed further through play in an environment such as parks and are different for children in the early and middle childhood phases. Several senses are stimulated in this type of environment and provide different forms of play. The materials used to make playground equipment can have an effect on the senses, gross, and fine motor skills that are used. To further explain this the equipment that will used to express these points are swings, slides, and a rock climbing wall.
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Swings are a common piece of equipment that can be found in most parks and allow children to further develop coordination as well as gain a concept of how movement affects speed. Gross motor skills for early childhood on the swing are the ability to balance and have body coordination which are related to the development of the brain and neurons in the brain. In the early childhood phase they are able to sit in the seat of the swing and use their legs back and forth to propel themselves forward which. As the development of children go into middle childhood they are able to show the improvement of their gross motor skills of swinging by running and jumping into the seat of the swing or even jumping off the swing while they are in the air. Fine motor skills that are developed are in early childhood would be hand and arm coordination or even grip strength. Middle childhood children would be working on the motion of their arms and legs in a simultaneous motion when doing actions such as jumping off the swing. Senses that are stimulated are depth perception because of the feeling of height that a swing gives you. Visual senses are also engaged because swings provide a different perspective of the park as a child would be able to see from a different height then they are used to when standing. Also the sense of touch is engaged due to the grip needed to hold oneself on the swing, especially the higher you go. The type of play that swings provide are sensory, allowing children to engage their senses in a different way than with two feet on the ground. Mastery, because as child shifts from early childhood to middle childhood they are using the swing in a different way, going higher and learning to do flips and jumps off the swings. The type of material used for this swing set is metal, with a metal chain for the swing, and a rubber seat. The ground that it sits on is wood chips which can create a softer landing then gravel and all of the materials used for this swing set are safe due to the park being newer with the knowledge of the fact that children will be using it most often. Another common equipment that can be found in parks are slides which can help children develop a sense of balance. For both early and middle childhood slides help to stimulate vestibular stimulation which means that it stimulates the ear canal and fluid in it in order to help develop a sense of balance (Wiener-Vacher, Hamiton, and Wiener, 2013). Gross motor skills for early childhood would be climbing the stairs to get to the slide requiring them to balance from one leg to the other in order to climb. When actually using the slide posture control over their head and body as they go down the slide would be practiced. Children learn to keep torsos balanced as gravity pulls them down the slide. For middle childhood they may not even use the stairs but instead climb from the bottom of the slide up to the top in order to use it. This would take different types of muscles and coordination then just simply using the stairs. In middle childhood brain development and practice of motor skills would allow them to be more confident in comparison to early childhood to explore going down
Swings are a common piece of equipment that can be found in most parks and allow children to further develop coordination as well as gain a concept of how movement affects speed. Gross motor skills for early childhood on the swing are the ability to balance and have body coordination which are related to the development of the brain and neurons in the brain. In the early childhood phase they are able to sit in the seat of the swing and use their legs back and forth to propel themselves forward which. As the development of children go into middle childhood they are able to show the improvement of their gross motor skills of swinging by running and jumping into the seat of the swing or even jumping off the swing while they are in the air. Fine motor skills that are developed are in early childhood would be hand and arm coordination or even grip strength. Middle childhood children would be working on the motion of their arms and legs in a simultaneous motion when doing actions such as jumping off the swing. Senses that are stimulated are depth perception because of the feeling of height that a swing gives you. Visual senses are also engaged because swings provide a different perspective of the park as a child would be able to see from a different height then they are used to when standing. Also the sense of touch is engaged due to the grip needed to hold oneself on the swing, especially the higher you go. The type of play that swings provide are sensory, allowing children to engage their senses in a different way than with two feet on the ground. Mastery, because as child shifts from early childhood to middle childhood they are using the swing in a different way, going higher and learning to do flips and jumps off the swings. The type of material used for this swing set is metal, with a metal chain for the swing, and a rubber seat. The ground that it sits on is wood chips which can create a softer landing then gravel and all of the materials used for this swing set are safe due to the park being newer with the knowledge of the fact that children will be using it most often. Another common equipment that can be found in parks are slides which can help children develop a sense of balance. For both early and middle childhood slides help to stimulate vestibular stimulation which means that it stimulates the ear canal and fluid in it in order to help develop a sense of balance (Wiener-Vacher, Hamiton, and Wiener, 2013). Gross motor skills for early childhood would be climbing the stairs to get to the slide requiring them to balance from one leg to the other in order to climb. When actually using the slide posture control over their head and body as they go down the slide would be practiced. Children learn to keep torsos balanced as gravity pulls them down the slide. For middle childhood they may not even use the stairs but instead climb from the bottom of the slide up to the top in order to use it. This would take different types of muscles and coordination then just simply using the stairs. In middle childhood brain development and practice of motor skills would allow them to be more confident in comparison to early childhood to explore going down