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Outdoor playgrounds offer children the chance to encounter acceptable risks as part of a stimulating, challenging and controlled learning environment. In fact they are a great source of learning risk-based behavioural skills. BUT, it is essential to balance these benefits with the need to keep children safe from serious harm. How do you do this? Purchase your outdoor playground equipment from a reputable supplier with a proven safety track record. Beware of playground equipment not built to the relevant South African National Standards. Not only is it important to use materials that are certified fit for the purpose but also the design needs to have structural integrity and meet safety standards. Questions to consider when assessing a design include: What is the maximum distance a child can free fall Can you get access to children wherever they are on the equipment to help if necessary? Are handrails at the correct height and angle? Are barriers erected to prevent long distance free falling? Can children climb on these barriers to increase their potential falling distance? Are the rails and bars for grabbing, a suitable diameter? Are there bolts which protrude which could pose a safety hazard? Are the gaps between railings, and the planks in platforms, at the correct distance to prevent the trapping of clothes, heads, hands and feet? Are the ends of all pipes and tubes closed off to prevent fingers getting trapped? Is there enough free space around the equipment to ensure safe use? These are just a few of the questions that need to considered when assessing the design of your outdoor play equipment - you can purchase the full specification SANS 51176-1:2010 at the SABS website for your own information or you can ensure that you purchase equipment from a supplier who specifies that their equipment meets this standard. If you are unsure, contact us - we can help you. Pick one of our SANS approved existing designs or work with us to design your own!

One study by Common Sense Media found that today's children are subject to 10 times the amount of mobile screen time than in 2011. In the battle between nature and gadgets, the latter wins the majority of the time. Attention grabbing games are designed to keep children wanting more; parents find it an easier and cleaner way to entertain their children so they can get on with their own tasks. Its not easy to be a parent under these circumstances but it is your role to look after the well-being of your children until they are old enough to do so for themselves. You wouldn’t dream of letting your child eat chocolate cake and ice cream all day. Use of technology falls into the same category - its just not healthy! As a parent, you need to teach your child a healthy balance between physical activity and playing with screens. There are consequences of taking the easy way out. Children as young as 8 are consulting chiropractors with neck and shoulder issues normally associated with adults who spend all day hunched over a keyboard and cell phones and play games in the evenings. When this happens hour after hour, day after day the neck and shoulders start to ache, develop pinched nerves, or even become numb from a lack of circulation and movement. Children who don’t move are at risk of becoming obese which brings a whole host of health hazards including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, social anxiety and asthma.

Follow this link to read more about how play can: Relieve stress. Improve brain function. Stimulate the mind and boost creativity. Improve relationships and your connection to others. Keep you feeling young and energetic. The authors make suggestions on how to rekindle play in your life, how play improves the quality of your love relationships—as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends and, more interestingly, how play can boost productivity and innovation in your work environment. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw Invest in a jungle gym to create outdoor 'play' opportunities for your whole family

In February, the Rustics Jungle Gyms team installed custom designed metal play systems at the newly renovated Engen Tugela 1-Stops, North and South bound. The Engen Tugela 1Stop operates 24/7 and is centrally located on the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban, 2km from the Tugela Toll Plaza towards Durban. Working with Rene Brett, Director of Viridian Consulting Landscape Architects, Andre Hayward of Rustics Jungle Gyms, designed and installed a state-of-the-art play system at both service stations. The design was based on the Tarantula play system but with a few modifications to optimise the use of the space provided. According to Andre, “The design was the easy part! Installing within very tight timescales on opposite sides of a highway during the storm ravaged month of February was something else.” “The distance between sites meant that we had to very organized at the beginning of each day. If even a bolt was left behind, it meant a round trip of 32kms to deliver it to the other site on the opposite side of the highway. Popping to town to buy another one was also not an option with Ladysmitrh being the closest at 30kms away. Luckily, this level of organisation is run of the mill for our installation teams who often work in extremely remote rural areas. “The weather also played a major part in this installation. Torrential rain fell every afternoon at about 13:30 and flooded the whole site. The area is also prone to lightning strikes, so any sign of a storm meant the teams were pulled off site until it passed. “Despite the challenges, we managed to complete our installation within time and budget constraints with our sense of humour intact.”

Rustics Jungle Gyms worked with Rene Brett Director of Viridian Consulting Landscape Architects to design, build and install a super new playground at Eikestadt Primary School in Stellenbosch. The centre piece of the design is the Tarantula play system; a 10m x 10m metal structure which incorporates four huge arches, a slide, a spiders-web climbing net, a set of straight monkey bars, a set of twisty monkey bars, seven hanging tyres and three hanging knotted ropes and two fireman’s poles. Placed around this structure is a set of four balance beams creating a balance tree and a double wavy slide race over a crawl through tunnel. Lots of space for running and free play complete the adventure. The playground was purposefully designed with no fixed entry or exit points to encourage free play.

As in all things, planning is the key to success - installing a playground is no different. Good planning will result in an exciting well used, playground with a great return on investment. Read our planning tips below. The site How much space do you have for your playground? Is there a slope? - The best places for playground equipment are on level ground, although slope can play an important part in creative designs when it is taken into consideration. Check for drainage conditions – it is important to ensure that there is no standing water on the play area. The Load Work out an average number of users and design with enough equipment to keep all children busy. Decide the age range of the children so you can install age-appropriate structures. See our previous newsletter Safety Make sure to use a qualified, experienced equipment designer, manufacturer and installer to ensure that the equipment installed is designed to South African National Safety standards using appropriate materials (see our newsletter on safety and using appropriate materials Do you need a fence to keep inappropriately aged or unsupervised children off the equipment? The Future • Can you afford to install everything today or will you need to add equipment in phases over time? Make sure you plan the full layout before the first installation. Call us for playground planning advice

"We have installed the Rustics Jungle Gyms’ Baby-T Play System and Eye-X unit at our new KFC Maitland in King Williams Town. This is our Franchise Group’s first jungle gym in the Eastern Cape. Our customers are very pleased to have a playground in the area that is safe and secure for their children. "I would definitely recommend Rustics, we heard about them through word-of-mouth and their reputation precedes them. Everything was quick and easy to arrange. "The owner, Toni is wonderful to work with - she made our experience effortless and really enjoyable. We trusted her to work independently, within a tight timeline, and she and her team managed efficiently without any hiccups." Kerre Rothman Property Development Administrator

How unhealthy is a lack of sleep? Research in children 6-12 years old suggests that children who get less than nine hours of sleep per night have significant differences in certain brain regions responsible for memory, intelligence and well-being compared to those who get the recommended nine to 12 hours of sleep per night. According to a new study led by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers, such differences correlated with greater mental health problems, like depression, anxiety, and impulsive behaviours, in those who lacked sleep. Inadequate sleep was also linked to cognitive difficulties with memory, problem solving and decision making. "Sleep can often be overlooked during busy childhood days filled with homework and extracurricular activities. Now we see how detrimental that can be to a child's development." Tips for getting a healthy night’s sleep? Establishing a consistent bedtime routine is important. The routine should ideally start at the same time every night. Dim the lights Stop use of electronics/screens at least an hour before bed Limit caffeine Take a warm bath Do a quiet family activity such as reading a short book If your child wakes up during the night, walk them back to their room with as little commotion as possible Set a wake up time for when the child is allowed to leave his or her room. The child can play quietly until that time if desired. Getting enough exercise Exercise can improve your child’s sleep - it helps them: Fall asleep faster because their muscles are exhausted and their mind makes them sleep quickly to relax them. Sleep longer - Exercising and moving muscles result in rupturing of the muscles (which is normal and needed for growth) and fatigue. Thus, requiring the body to sleep longer to get fresher. The longer period of sleep is needed for the children’s body to grow properly Better quality of sleep – exhaustion means sleep is better and more refreshing. Reduced screen time – less time for screens, means less blue-ray exposure which can be the cause of difficulties in falling asleep and affect quality of sleep. Order a jungle gym to improve your child's memory and intelligence Sources: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220730125455.htm, https://paediatrictherapy.com.au/exercise-kids-sleep/

All playground equipment is naturally subject to deterioration through ordinary use, sun, rain, wind, and temperature changes but there are ways to optimse the length of the life of your play system. We have listed a few of them below to help you get the maximum value out of your outdoor equipment. In our experience, the number one rule is to ensure that children are supervised while they play. A Rustics jungle gym is designed to inspire children to use their imagination, but this must be managed to not only keep danger levels within acceptable levels but also to ensure that equipment, accessories and components are only used for their designed purpose. Each swing is designed to accommodate one child in the sitting position. This is how it should be used. Supervision will reduce unnecessary damage to the equipment from overzealous play. A fence around the equipment will prevent unauthorized, larger children from playing on any equipment not specifically designed to carry their weight (or enthusiasm). We have been called to repair jungle gyms that have had the slide broken off from the mounting. This is only possible if the slide is physically lifted from the ground while bolted to the fixed frame. This would not happen if the equipment was being used by the correct people in the appropriate manner. Random checks should be done on all playground equipment to ensure it is in proper working order before allowing children to play on it. For example, any ground that gets kicked out from the bottom of the slide needs to be replaced to prevent a hole forming which will undermine the support of the slide. Carry out routine maintenance as prescribed by the manufacturer. See this link to the October newsletter which discusses the regular maintenance checks which need to be carried out at different intervals to ensure not only the safety of the equipment but also its longevity. If you would like further advice on how to maintain your outdoor play system, Give us a call on 043 748 5880 or drop us an email

Although balance doesn’t mature in children until the age of 12, improving balance and sensory processing skills early in life will help children to excel and will help those with challenges such as dyslexia, Down Syndrome, ADD and ADHD improve dramatically. Research shows that balance skills help children to develop better language, improve reading and writing skills, improve concentration and body control. What is Balance? Balance is the ability to maintain control of a particular body position whilst performing a given task with minimal postural sway. Maintaining control of body positioning requires good static and dynamic balance, reducing the energy required to perform a host of tasks and activities whilst minimising fatigue. Static balance is the ability to maintain control of a position whilst remaining stationary – for example, standing on one leg or balancing while reaching for a fireman’s pole. Dynamic balance is the ability to maintain balance and control of the body whilst moving, such as walking along a balance beam, jumping, swinging, climbing or transferring from the steps to the slide. What if a child doesn’t have balance? Children who do not have good balance are: at a much greater risk of injury. They may stumble and fall as they seek to move quickly without the necessary skills of recovery. more likely to find it difficult to sit still and pay attention. Lack of balance may present with fidgety, restless behaviour and an inability to maintain focus and concentration. This obviously has a big impact on learning.

In today's busy, competitive world, parents tend to fill every minute of their children’s’ day with structured activities—extra lessons, multiple sports practices and matches, chores etc. Sound Familiar? Well you could be doing your children less of a service than you think you are. Medical research is starting to show the importance of unstructured play to the development of our children. Unstructured play allows children the freedom to explore, create and discover without predetermined rules or guidelines. Because unstructured play involves trying out different strategies without particular goals or serious consequences, children get to practice different activities during play and see what happens. This experience results in them being able to react to circumstances in a faster and more flexible fashion. Unstructured play enhances their creativity, imagination and hence problem-solving abilities. If this unstructured play is together with other children, it results in improved self-control, strengthened negotiation and social skills, and better overall emotional intelligence. Who wouldn’t want those skills in their children? Outdoor playground equipment is just one of the many ways we can provide our children with unstructured play opportunities and help them to practice the physical and manual skills, intellectual skills, social skills, and emotional skills required to become successful adults. If you would like to explore the use of playground equipment for your children’s unstructured play, please give us a call, drop us an email

Children are developmentally different in size and ability. Selecting the right playground equipment for your age group is critical to making sure the playground is fun, accessible and safe for the children who will use it. The Dangers of selecting the wrong equipment When children who are older use equipment that is designed for younger kids, they often become bored. The adventurous side of them comes out and they decide to take risks to make the equipment more challenging, thus using it improperly. The end result is almost always either damaged equipment or an injured child. The opposite is true with younger children. When they approach difficult equipment, they can have difficulty reaching and climbing, and are often intimidated. They may attempt to scale the equipment, only to freeze half-way, without being able to get out of the challenge either forwards or backwards. Selecting age-appropriate playground equipment Playground Equipment for Pre Schoolers (2-5 Years) Two-year-olds represent the lower age limit of the preschool group. These children are new to the playground, and like having a place of their own, sized appropriately. These youngsters have a limited attention span. For this audience, the best playground challenges involve climbing over, under and around things RUSTICS RECOMMENDS: Older pre-schoolers enjoy dramatic play and imitating others. Social skills are just developing, and a desire to be like the “big kids” may result in conflicts and exposure to physical risk. Supervision is quite important at this age. Appropriate play areas for children ages 2 - 5 could include: areas to crawl; low platforms with multiple access such as ramps and ladders; ramps with pieces attached for grasping; and shorter slides (usually no taller than 2 meters). RUSTICS RECOMMENDS: Playground Equipment for School Age Children (5-12 Years) Children ages 5 to 12 are learning and building skills rapidly. They are working on fine motor skills, gross motor skills, coordination, strength and balance. Their social skills are becoming more evolved and elaborate games and competitions abound on the playground. Developmentally appropriate play areas for school-age children could include: rope or chain climbers on angles; climbing pieces; monkey bars; and cooperative pieces such as tyre swings, slides and fireman’s poles. RUSTICS RECOMMENDS: Need help selecting the right equipment for your playground? Call us 083 538 5684 or email Caroline@rustics.co.za