Letter: Forest Hills Park Tot Equipment Is a Mistake

Why is a lawyer planning the and not a competent playground professional who is qualified in accordance with the basis for DIN SPEC 161?

The Western Springs Park Board the 5- to 12-years old equipment with 2-to 5-years-old equipment on June 1^st.

According to the Handbook for Public Playground Safety, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has this to say about the topic of age-appropriate play: Preschool and School aged children differ dramatically not only in physical size and ability, but also in their cognitive and social skills. Therefore, age-appropriate playground designs should accommodate these differences with regard to the type, scale and the layout of equipment.

For preschool children 2-to 5-years-old, the best playground challenges involve climbing over, under and around things. School-age children, 5- to 12-years-old are working on gross motor skills, coordination, strength and balance. 12-year-olds can be nearly twice the height of a preschooler and can have more than eight times the grip strength. They are high-spirited, subject to peer pressure and fond of “goofing off” on the playground. These traits can lead to aggression and vandalism on the playground.

In addition, older children often forget that preschoolers are smaller and weaker and accidents can result. For this reason, it just makes good sense to have separate areas for preschoolers and older kids. Trying to blend kids of all ages into a single play area for economic reasons is irresponsible and self-defeating, since unnecessary risk is the quickest path to injuries and lawsuits. 

One way to short circuit an unpleasant outcome is to provide sufficient challenge for older kids, both physical and mental, to keep them engaged in their own space. Web climbers, natural rock-type climbers, fitness equipment and other age-appropriate components keep older kids busy and active. They can work on spacial skills, hand-eye coordination, motor planning and use their imaginations to create games.

Physical therapists, teachers, and professional playground experts and safety inspectors agree "in order for the large muscle groups to develop they must be challenged with appropriate exercises and equipment geared toward a more sophisticated gross motor movement pattern."

We challenge our students academically, why would we hold them back and baby them when it comes to their physical development?

I am not in support of the Western Springs Park Board phase one of tot equipment, and I certainly am not in support of the PTA financing it. Our children deserve developmentally appropriate play experiences.

Wednesday April 4th at 6:30pm the Forest Hills PTA will vote on this issue.

- Danielle Pender, Forest Hills parent