Rustics Jungle Gyms supplies outdoor play equipment designed and manufactured for the South African environment |
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Welcome to our November Newsletter. This month we discuss the importance of selecting the correct equipment for the age group of the children who will be using it, and we make some recommendations. We have been bringing delight to children with our Jungle Gyms since 2005 - our latest custom-built tree house is no exception - according to the children it was the "Best day EVER!!!!" when the tree house was finally done and they were allowed to play. Read more about this project below. Happy Reading! |
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Selecting Age-Appropriate Outdoor Play Equipment |
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Children are developmentally different in size and ability. Selecting the right playground equipment for your age group is critical to making sure the playground is fun, accessible and safe for the children who will use it.
The Dangers of selecting the wrong equipment
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When children who are older use equipment that is designed for younger kids, they often become bored. The adventurous side of them comes out and they decide to take risks to make the equipment more challenging, thus using it improperly. The end result is almost always either damaged equipment or an injured child. The opposite is true with younger children. When they approach difficult equipment, they can have difficulty reaching and climbing, and are often intimidated. They may attempt to scale the equipment, only to freeze half-way, without being able to get out of the challenge either forwards or backwards. |
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Selecting age-appropriate playground equipment Playground Equipment for Pre Schoolers (2-5 Years) Two-year-olds represent the lower age limit of the preschool group. These children are new to the playground, and like having a place of their own, sized appropriately. These youngsters have a limited attention span. For this audience, the best playground challenges involve climbing over, under and around things |
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Older pre-schoolers enjoy dramatic play and imitating others. Social skills are just developing, and a desire to be like the “big kids” may result in conflicts and exposure to physical risk. Supervision is quite important at this age.
Appropriate play areas for children ages 2 - 5 could include: areas to crawl; low platforms with multiple access such as ramps and ladders; ramps with pieces attached for grasping; and shorter slides (usually no taller than 2 meters). |
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Playground Equipment for School Age Children (5-12 Years)
Children ages 5 to 12 are learning and building skills rapidly. They are working on fine motor skills, gross motor skills, coordination, strength and balance. Their social skills are becoming more evolved and elaborate games and competitions abound on the playground.
Developmentally appropriate play areas for school-age children could include: rope or chain climbers on angles; climbing pieces; monkey bars; and cooperative pieces such as tyre swings, slides and fireman’s poles.
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A family in Nahoon wanted to replace an existing structure with a tree house jungle gym that would continue to be a place for their children to play and hang out as they grow older. Janette says, “The whole experience was great. "Toni and her team were brilliant from the start. They never made promises they couldn't keep and were very careful to manage our expectations since it was a custom design and it wasn't clear what would /wouldn't fit in the tree. They were eager to listen to our ideas and had wonderful ideas of their own to add, and ultimately made it happen. They also worked very quickly and efficiently - all of their workers were very polite and friendly." Janette, Nahoon |
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Rustics Jungle Gyms’ work is of excellent quality, they are professional and really know what they are doing. You will be left with a structure that is not just fun for your kids for years, but that will last, look beautiful and is safe. Janette, Nahoon |
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""Best day EVER!!!!" was the response from the children when the tree house was finally done and they were allowed to play." |
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Whatever your playground requirements, we can help At Rustics Jungle Gyms we have been designing, manufacturing and installing wooden and metal jungle gyms since 2006. Our success is based on: - safety - our outdoor play equipment is built to South African National Standard by-laws
- delivering a quality product at a fair price
- building equipment that will last - our quality and built-in resilience to the harsh South African environment give a longer life span
- honesty, integrity and our willingness to go the extra mile to give you what you want
Don't take our word for it.... read our reviews |
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