Project Case – The Playground on Egernvej, Denmark. Image © Kompan
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https://www.archdaily.com/1032023/the-why-what-and-how-of-human-centered-and-successful-playground-design
By Jeanette Fich Jespersen, MA, Head of the KOMPAN Play Institute, Head of the steering committee of the World Playground Research Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Vice-president of International Play Association, Denmark.
“No, I don’t want to go to that playground. It is boring!” This may sound like something no child would ever utter. But children do have strong opinions on what playgrounds they like, from quite early on. The reason why not only parents and caregivers but also city planners and architects should listen and adjust is more critical than ever.
Designing for Childhood Under Pressure: Why Playgrounds Matter Now More Than Ever
Childhood today is under pressure: Never have so many children suffered from physical inactivity – only about 15% of the world’s 11-17-year-old girls take the minimum physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization, WHO*. A rapidly growing number of children do not thrive, they feel lonely, and their well-being at school is under threat, the OECD’s** annual PISA*** measure shows.
Policy recommendations, from UNICEF and the WHO among others, agree that outdoor playgrounds are crucial contributors to ease these childhood problems: Children move and make friends in playgrounds and outdoor play spaces. So, how do we best design for outdoor play for and with children?
GALAXY™ playground equipment. Image © KompanA Child-centered Approach
At the heart of designing for children lies a profound respect for designing for change: Children’s changing needs happen at an intense pace as they grow through different developmental stages at a rate like no other time later in life. The built environment architects, planners, and decision makers need to be mindful of the needs of the less vocal group of children.
Play Panels – PCM003222. Image © Kompan
Children grow, gain life skills, and insights through their interactions with their surroundings. Much of their interactions happen through play or playful activity, which is why play is a child’s right, stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and recently endorsed additionally by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Project Case – Apelviken, Varberg. Image © Kompan
The main areas of child growth through play are within their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional areas of development.
So play is a keyword for child-friendly city or neighborhood planning, in particular for park and green space planning. Since urbanization and parental fears have bereaved children of the time, space, and permission to play freely at their own pace outdoors, the need for outdoor playgrounds is so much bigger than in previous times.
The real play specialists are the children. — Jeanette Fich
Jespersen
Themed play. Image © KompanOverarching Considerations for Playgrounds
There are three overarching considerations to make when designing environments for children’s outdoor play, to harvest the immensely positive effects of outdoor play on children’s development:
Involve children and caregivers in decision-making around playgrounds and play spaces, e.g., location and activities. Select and make measurable the purposes you want to meet with your play solutions, for instance, “more active play for 9-12-year-olds”. Choose play solutions that are tested with children and documented to deliver on the purpose set in point 2. 
Project Case – Natural playground at Tucker Ranch, Florida. Image © Kompan
Consideration 1 is often viewed as time-consuming, complex, and costly. But in a design process, the smoothness and success of the playground design process are hugely increased when based on solid user involvement and insight. In child participation processes, children’s age-related capacity to communicate, understand, and put into context is important to consider. When children and adults communicate, there is an authority imbalance that needs to be respected in the way questions are framed, the way adults listen and encourage children to express their opinions. In short, adults who interact with children benefit from knowing about child development, communication strategies, and questioning techniques.
Project Case – Aurasaurus Playground, Australia. Image © Kompan
Consideration 2 implies that planners have a purpose with the play planning: School-aged children’s physical or social-emotional health and well-being, for instance. This will imply a series of success criteria that the play solution should meet. For instance, the ability to play alone and with others, in thrilling as well as deep play activities that tick the boxes for play retention.
ELEMENTS™ Mont Blanc PCE210321. Image © Kompan
Consideration 3 is about the play content of the design: If the purpose of the playground is to tackle, e.g., physical inactivity in tweens (the why), then effective physical play motivation and physical activity solutions should be chosen for the design. For play equipment choice, it would mean that equipment can be proven to live up to children’s expectations and scientific recommendations on what creates, e.g., play retention, play duration, and, not least, play motivation for active play for tweens.
Project Case – Early Learning Village, Singapore. Image © KompanTick-boxes for play success
Playground equipment design is a specialist discipline. But the real play specialists are the children. Involving children actively in the design process and building on valid research data on childhood today are fundamental for creating successful and motivating play designs. In the KOMPAN Play Institute, apart from the three recommendations above, we recommend that playgrounds be:
Age and ability appropriate in play equipment choice. Equipped with play units that have been designed and tested with children for appeal, playability, retention, and inclusion. Designed with a variety of play function areas: wild and quiet play, make-believe and thrilling play, for instance. Designed with a minimum of five different play equipment types, to offer play for as wide a variety of play preferences as possible. Aesthetically pleasing, also for children, and invites long stays. 
© Kompan
By following the growing amount of cross-disciplinary research in playgrounds, the KOMPAN Play Institute has gathered a valid backdrop for more focused play equipment innovation and research. Our whitepapers and reports can be found at www.kompan.com, for free download.
To learn more about KOMPAN, visit their website.
Notes:
*The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 180 minutes a day of non-sedentary activity for toddlers, and from 6 years old, children should take a minimum of 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity. Active Play is among the most successful to increase child physical activity.
**OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
***PISA – Program for International Student Assessment
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Shaping Spaces for Children, proudly presented by KOMPAN.
At KOMPAN, we believe that shaping spaces for children is a shared responsibility with lasting impact. By sponsoring this topic, we champion child-centered design rooted in research, play, and participation—creating inclusive, inspiring environments that support physical activity, well-being, and imagination, and help every child thrive in a changing world.
Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.