Playgrounds for Kids Past vs. Present
I remember when I was in elementary school what our playgrounds consisted of. We had your typical twirly slide connected a platform with a ladder of tires attached together on the other side to climb up. Connected to the platform was a bridge. And if you stood on one side and had a friend stand on the other and jump, you could get some serious air. On the other side of the bridge was another platform and twirly pole to climb up and one of those arched poles with steps to climb. From there was more platforms acting as steps getting lower and lower and on the lowest one we had one of those sliding mechanisms to go back and forth on, somewhat like a zip cord.
Separate from the playground was our swings and a merry go round, which I thought was the greatest thing ever. But many many children got hurt on that merry go round. We would get the merry go round going as fast as we could and hang on to the poles at the end so that our bodies were drifting mid air above the ground, we would pretend we could fly. But more than once someone would accidentally let go and actually go flying into the air and get hurt.
I remember one specific time a kid named Sam did that and he flew into the wooden small wall that bordered the swing set and merry go round. He was bleeding from his face and there were cuts and bruises on his arms as well. Now-a-days playgrounds for kids have themes and are all about safety, which is obviously change for the better. Some of my favorite playgrounds in the present are the pirate themed ones, with the front looking like a ship and a telescope and pirate flag at the peak of the playground. School Daz Inc has one just like it on their site.
