Playground

#playground#slide#swing#sandbox#outdoors

Swings that beckon, a slide with a queue and other children wanting the same thing right now. The playground is full of sharing and waiting, and the visual support below prepares a child for taking turns before you go.

Playground

A playground with a blue slide and two swings on green grass.

Playground with slide and swings

A play tower with a red roof, a blue slide and two swings stands on a bed of sand.

Playground with spring rider

Outside stand a play tower with a slide, a swing set and a blue spring rider shaped like an animal.

Playground

A playground with a slide, swings and a sandbox

Playground icon with seesaw

An icon inside a rounded frame shows a play tower, a slide, swings and a seesaw.

A girl sits on a swing between a red slide and a climbing frame.

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Girl swinging at the playground

A girl sits on a swing between a red slide and a climbing frame.

About this visual support

Outdoors the rules change. At home the child often decides alone, but at the playground the swing must be shared, the slide waited for, and the noise from everyone else fills the head. What looks like pure joy holds a lot of invisible demands to take turns.

Pictures help by making the invisible rules visible. When the child has seen in advance that you swing for a while, then let someone else have a go, the waiting becomes less of a surprise and more of something predictable. The preparation takes the edge off the disappointment when it is not their turn straight away.

Try going through the pictures already on the way there, so expectations are set before the gate opens. Point out what you will start with and what comes next. With Routined you can build a short playground routine that the child recognises from one time to the next, which makes every visit feel safer.