Playgrounds

The enjoyable playground has always correlated in our minds with laughing children and toddler climbing on monkey bars throughout the years. A place to meet other children, to play on play structures, and to have a good time—there is not a town or city that does not have their own playground, if not several of them for different locations in the area. When families live in crowded cities with small apartments, or even small limited back yards, a city park becomes a special outing for the entire family. But this enjoyment was not always there for the enjoyment of the child.

Who would know that the early history of the playground was associated with women's suffrage, but in actuality an offshoot of the missions was the Mother's and Children's Movement. Continuing on until the 1920's, protection from the children's labor while simultaneously supporting schools, playgrounds, and kindergartens. Social policies for the family, the children and the woman were improved due to its series of social reforms. By 1905, the children were the main focus for their improved lives in slums and removing them from factories as labor. Part of this was the development of parks and playgrounds for these little children.

It was during this time that the National Playground Association was developed, whose only mission was to promote the playground itself, while simultaneously the states themselves began to sponsor their individual recreation programs. New Jersey, in 1907, was the first state to begin their playground commission with fifteen states following suite within three years.

Most parks have the basics for children to play on, such as see-saws and slides, swing sets, tire swings, mini trampolines, and sandboxes. Brightly colored paint and heavy-duty plastic have replaced the old metal bars over the years, with less injuries to the children and less old rust on the hands. Play structures change with the time, and change to the needs and wants of the community and of the children.

Companies like Little Tykes or Kettler began to focus on the products of the children and their parents, with unique trikes to adult bicycles. All Kettler products are manufactured to high standards of quality and safety, from uniquely engineered features on Kettler toys, making them more exciting for children while also making them more safe, to the metal tubing used to manufacture swing sets--while being chemically treated to prolong the useful life of the swings.