Being a kid has so many perks, but one of the best is all the time they get to spend playing. Besides being fun, this is a vital part of a child’s development, both physically and mentally. Normal play activity teaches kids important coordination and motor skills, while creative free-form play further develops their ability to take risks, make decisions, and practice social interaction. Free-form play is also vitally important in helping children develop their creative thinking abilities. But many traditional play areas are too constraining and don’t do enough to promote this. Instead, they remove the creative and risk-taking factors that are so crucial to child development.

Parent’s and teachers know that overcoming fears and risks is an important part of childhood, whether these are physical, like a fear of heights, or social, like making new friends. Formal research backs up these observations and shows that taking measured risks and overcoming them is a crucial part of healthy development. In the past, kids used to have more access to unstructured, creative play when they were able to run around in the woods; sticks and stones became blank canvases for the imagination, and they had the creative space of nature in which to explore and learn.

But most kids today, particularly in urban and suburban environments, don’t have as much access to this kind of free-form play. Unfortunately, most standard playground equipment is not designed to promote creative play. In fact, it can even be quite difficult to use this equipment in a creative way; after all, while swings sets and slides are great for developing kids physiques and motor-skills, they really do very little to encourage imagination or social interaction. Rather, the key design consideration of most traditional play areas has been extreme safety, with a deliberate avoidance of any risk factor, whether that comes from gravity, or other kids.

When kids are limited to traditional play structures, it’s more difficult to gain confidence in their physical abilities, or learn important boundaries that can actually help keep them safe in the real world. Ideally, outdoor play areas should strive to balance safety with risk and promote coordination and collaboration, all in an environment that encourages kids to be creative and explore boundaries. Kids need to learn how to overcome risks, find safe limits, and socialize with others and free-form play areas are the ideal place to do this. By protecting kids from inhibitors like peer pressure and stress, they open up new opportunities for them to flourish mentally, physically, and socially.

If kids can overcome their fears and take control of their play area, they feel confident and empowered. With a philosophy of free-play, kids are immersed in an environment whose abstract design encourages imaginative and creative play, allowing kids to create their own individual worlds. Unlike the typical playground, Soft Play’s free form designs are inspired by sculpture, architecture, and nature to form a play area that supports the innate curiosity, wonder, and fun of childhood. These unique play elements work with gravity to promote balance, counting, and creative play while encouraging kids to take risks through climbing, jumping, and crawling. Parents are now able to interact naturally and play with their kids in these spaces, rather than just standing there pushing a swing, helping them to enter their child’s imagination and be a part of their development. To learn more about our unique and empowering play areas, visit www.softplay.com/softplay-products today!