Park Crews Can Up their Playground Game

Physical activity has long since been essential for human health, from strengthening muscles and bones to burning fat to even releasing endorphins during exercise. This is especially true for kids, whose bodies, minds, and natural skills are still developing and need the best augmentation during the formative years, but not all of today\’s kids get the workout and play that they need. The owners and crews of public parks, however, can upgrade their facilities to make for a better playground and place to get moving.

Kids and Exercise

It is no mystery that most think today\’s kids do not get enough exercise in their typical week. Kids from earlier generations did get enough, but that has become a downward trend: the parents of today\’s kids got an average of 8.2 hours of outdoor play per week, compared to just four for today\’s children. Common culprits include the Internet, television, and smart phones, which keep kids engaged an average of 4.5 hours per day (in children today aged 8 to 18). Parents are often concerned about this, and researchers found that while 83% of parents say that kids learning to use technology is important, nine out of 10 want their kids to spend their childhood outdoors more often. The numbers match this concern; under one-third of today\’s kids reach the definition of \”active to a healthy level,\” which is 25 minutes of calorie-burning physical activity three times a week.

Still, with the best park equipment and encouragement from parents, kids can get outdoors and exercise while having a blast.

Get the Kids Moving

Exercise boosts a child\’s brain development, studies show, and develop their gross motor skills, too. Playground equipment can help with this. A company or business can make sure that all local parks are fully equipped with anything kids would want: a plastic tire swing, a tube slide, a commercial sandbox (especially for the younger kids), a bike rack to enable more bicycle riding, slide mats, and more. Any of these features can get kids moving, from young children to teenagers, but one particular set of game equipment can stand out in a park: a gaga pit ball game.

What is this game? According to Gaga Center, this game is a variation of dodge ball that is somewhat safer than dodge ball but no less fun. The infrastructure is an octagonal pit with a flat floor where all the players are, plus one or two soft balls about the size of a soccer ball for play. Building a gaga pit ball game arena could be a huge investment for any parks equipment company and draw whole new crowds to the park.

The gaga pit ball game itself is geared to get kids and teenagers moving. Once the game starts and the ball is thrown into the pit, the kids rush forth and throw the ball at one another, aiming for each other\’s knees, shins, and feet. Striking the knees or below eliminates a player from the gaga pit ball game, and this also boosts safety, since no one has incentive to aim for the head. Kids can jump, run, twist, and otherwise work out to dodge the thrown ball and try to get it for themselves, and a second ball can be added to speed things up. Once one player is left, he or she has won the gaga pit ball game, which can often take as little as five minutes. Then everyone comes back in (or players swap in new ones) and the game can start all over again.

Getting kids healthy can be affordable and convenient, and any company that builds a gaga pit ball game or other attractive playground gear can draw in more crowds to a park and make it more of a local attraction.