Outdoor Play Areas

About this pattern

Outdoor play areas provide resources and space for children and adults to play, rest and socialise. Playgrounds should provide less structured, natural materials and resources to stimulate the imagination and encourage creative play. Objects that can be moved and creatively adapted generate more engagement and creativity amongst users. Accessible playgrounds and those that include sensory features, such as plants that smell or feel interesting, ensure access for users of different ages and abilities. Playgrounds should provide several different areas for children and adults to group as well as to run and move.

Outdoor play areas should be well shaded for access on warm days and allow for sunlight in winter. Unshaded artificial surfaces can get excessively hot during summer and should be avoided. In addition, adequate infrastructures of care should be made available – for instance water drinking fountains, seating to rest and accessible toilets. Outdoor play areas should be centrally located and there should be enough of them in a given area for locals to access easily on foot.

Pattern Conditions

Enablers

• Planning for ongoing maintenance and management costs, including maintaining play structures as well as seasonal garden management. In New South Wales the government led initiative Everyone Can Play (https://everyonecanplay.nsw.gov.au/) provides guidelines for playground accessibility.
• For adaptable shade cover allowing summer coolth and winter sunlight, deciduous trees and screens should be considered where appropriate.
• Designing for accessibility ensures that all community members can make use of a playground space, including children and adults, people with mobility restrictions, visual impairments and so on.
• Designing for passive (e.g. sitting) and active (e.g. running, climbing, bike riding) recreational activities makes playgrounds useful for a broader range of users and in a range of heat conditions.

Constraints

• All playgrounds must meet Australian Standards (https://www.kidsafensw.org/playground-safety/playground-standards/)
• Play areas that do not provide shade will have limited use on sunny days; similarly, dense shade will limit use in cool seasons.

Commoning Concerns

Ownership: Local Government; the community of users.

Access: For all people if designed for maximum accessibility.   

Use: Active and passive play by children and adults.  

Benefit: Gives children access to ‘natural’ outdoor space to play; encourages creative play and collaboration among all age groups. 

Care: Local Government generally has formal authority; local communities, however, play an important role in ongoing careful use and can also be responsible for or engaged in periodic maintenance (if they feel a sense of ownership).

One commoning concern is providing shaded seating for carers, who may often be grandparents; another is encouraging a sense of ownership among locals and other users.