Some of the new playground equipment in London is quite imaginative. Now that the playgrounds are open around the city, my granddaughters and I are touring the burg looking for unique installations. The playground pictured features equipment from Big Toys of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
My granddaughters are playing on the Rock 'n Cross, a combination of a multi-rider teeter-totter with a dynamic overhead challenge. Hey, that's the company's description, not mine. I asked my youngest granddaughter how she liked it. "Not too much," she said. She found it a little frightening. The older girl was more positive. The big, high loop with equally-spaced handholds is one of the few monkey bar type installations she can still use. At ten, she now finds her feet drag on the ground most of the time. She also agreed with the company that the movement added an extra challenge.
I cannot help but wonder, what does a piece of equipment like this cost the city? And how long will it last? And are replacement parts easily available? Are the parts expensive? I noticed plastic collars on some of the equipment had grown brittle with time and cracked and chipped.
I'd like to see some research on these types of fancy playground "toys." I'm not convinced that some of these things are worth the cost. The city might be able to buy more equipment and keep more kids occupied if they went with equipment that was a lot less complex.
No comments:
Post a Comment