How to Adapt a School Playground for PE
If your school is short on space for teaching PE, then the obvious solution is to use the school playground. Unfortunately, many school playgrounds aren’t ideal for the modern PE curriculum, however, with some adaptations and the installation of the right equipment, you could have a dual-purpose space fit for both play and PE lessons. Here we discuss the best approach to adapt a school playground for PE.
Put down the right foundations
When adapting your playground to teach PE, the starting point has to be the surface. Most school playgrounds tend to be surfaced with asphalt or tarmac. Though these are hardwearing, they are not ideal for a wide range of PE and sports activities. Running and jumping on hard surfaces is not always good for the joints and when students do activities in which they may fall, there is an increase in the risk of injury. Hard surfaces, on their own, therefore, can limit the PE activities you can teach outside.
Thankfully, today, there are several alternative playground surfacing options that are more suitable for a wider range of physical activities. These include wetpour surfacing, a surface made from cushioned rubber that protects pupils from injury while providing the support required to play many different sports. Another excellent option is artificial grass. Again, this has a cushioned surface, is suitable for all kinds of ball and field sports and has the advantage of never going bald, getting muddy or needing cutting.
Layout courts and pitches
The second part of the adaptation process is to create the courts and pitches for the sports you want to deliver as part of your curriculum. Which you choose could be determined solely by the curriculum or by taking into consideration the type of sports that children like to play in their free time. Catering for both can increase the benefit and the enjoyment that children get from the playground.
Installing courts and pitches is easier and less expensive than you might think, as it basically requires the laying of playground markings. These can be laid over almost any type of surface, even your already installed hard surfaces if they are in good condition. There are various options to choose from, including football, futsal (five-a-side football), rounders, netball, basketball, cricket and tennis. For schools with very limited space, there are also multi-court options that enable you to overlay three courts or pitches in the same space, each with different coloured markings.
At the same time, you should also consider installing playground markings that can be used for training and skills-based PE activities. We even have a multi-skill zone marking that combines five essential training activities.
Install the right equipment
After deciding on your surfacing, pitches and courts, the next stage when you want to adapt a school playground for PE is to find the right equipment. There is a wide range of excellent sports equipment available, including that which can complement your markings, such as basketball and netball hoops and football goals. There is also a football-hoop combo, which is great for soccer, hockey, netball and basketball, as well as freestanding ball catchers, climbing walls, ball walls for practising football, tennis and cricket, and a range of brightly coloured wall targets.
Adapt a school playground for PE with a gym
One of the most important requirements of PE is to improve children’s physical fitness. One way to help achieve this is to install a safe to use outdoor gym, such as the AllGo+ Gym. Similar to what you may have seen in public parks, the AllGo+ only uses children’s body weight, making it safe for the school playground as there are not lots of heavy weights around that children can injure themselves with. Instead, it allows children to build up strength and stamina using monkey bars, circle steps, press-up bars, leg risers, flat and inclined sit-up benches, step-up stations and fast feet floor markings.
The AllGo+ can be used for fitness and circuit training classes and for use by children during their free time. For additional safety, usage instructions are permanently fixed to each component.
Conclusion
For schools that are lacking space for internal or external PE lessons, making full use of your playground is the only alternative. Today, you can create a purpose-built playground that is suitable for both PE and playtime use, provided you have appropriate surfacing, the right markings and the most suitable equipment. Hopefully, from reading this post, you’ll be better informed about how to adapt a school playground for PE.
For more information about all our wide range of surfacing, markings and sports equipment, visit our Products page.
