When our kids were little we took them to parks and they climbed all over play structures of various kinds. At the time, structures made out of wood were quite popular and there were lots of variations on tree houses. We participated in the fundraising for a new play structure at our children’s elementary school. There is something about being a grandfather, however, that has led me to paying more attention to play structures. We go to parks a lot these days. Our grandson from South Carolina is visiting us and one of the things he wants to do is to play with his cousins. Another thing he wants to do is to go to parks. And when he says go to a park he means finding a play structure.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a half dozen different play structures that we have visited during the time he has been with us. All of them feature different places to climb. Several have climbing walls made to simulate rock climbing with good places to put hands and feet. A few have ropes or chains that can be held to assist with climbing or descending. Metal bars and overhead ladders are popular. Most of there play structures are made of metal and plastic.

There was a trend when our children were growing up of making play structures where the equipment was static and the children moved. This was in contrast to the playgrounds of our childhood that featured merry-go-rounds and swings. The updated play structures featured tube slides that were hard to fall off of.

I remember kids flying off of the merry-go-round when I was a kid, but I don’t remember injuries from them. I can remember several children who suffered broken arms and other injuries from swings. My father used to delight in saying that despite our having a trampoline in our back yard the only insurance claim for an injured child came from a neighbor who broke an arm jumping off of a swing.

I have a friend who was a school nurse for most of her career and she says that the most dangerous thing on the school yard in terms of injuries is the monkey bars. She has seen lots of injuries from falling from the climbing structures.

Childhood, like the rest of life, is filled with risks. And our five grandchildren have different attitudes about taking risks. We have one who seems to be nearly fearless when it comes to climbing. He has take a few falls, but without significant injury. We have another who wants to look and study before he tries a new form of play. He doesn’t seem to be very big on risks at this point. Although we keep our eyes on him and stand by ready to assist or to prevent a fall, he seems to be less likely to take a fall than some of his older family members.

One of the things that affects the play value of a climbing structure is how busy it is with other children. When a structure is mobbed with lots of children, it seems less appealing for our grandkids. We notice that it is common for children to be playing with minimal or no adult supervision. Although most play structures post rules that include suggested ages of children who are allowed to play, adults seem to routinely ignore the upper age limits. When we have our preschool and early elementary grandchildren with us three or four or more junior high kids on a play structure designed for younger kids can make the experience much less enjoyable.

Because we pay close attention to our grandchildren and their parents expect such of us, we are aware of other children who seem to be allowed to play without supervision.

Who knew that I would become so interested in play structures and the children who play on them?

Men my age who are paying attention to children playing in parks are seen as a bit suspect these days. There are enough stories about children who are abducted and injured by predators to keep adults wary of strangers in the park. On several occasions I have been approached by concerned parents who ask about what I am doing taking pictures at the park. When I point out that I am photographing my grandchildren and not other children they seem a bit relieved, but it is clear that I am seen as suspect by some adults. That makes me sad. I have been an advocate for safe places for children and careful screening of adults for my entire career. All children deserve safe places to play and they deserve to be protected from predatory adults. I wish I wasn’t seen as suspicious because of my age and my love of children. However, I understand the concern of adults and I try not to take their inquiries personally. I share with them a concern for the safety of the children.

My passport to the play structures, of course, are my grandchildren. I adhere to the rule that all adults must be accompanied by a child to enter the area where the play structures are located. I tell my grandchildren that I need someone to hold my hand when I am crossing a street or a busy parking lot, instead of telling them that they need to hold someone’s hand. We belong together and we help each other to be safe.

As was the case for us when we were children and for our children when they were younger, our grandchildren love to swing. I can still give a pretty good underdog push to a swinger even though our grandchildren know how to pump their own swings and I make jokes about it not being nice to call me a dog. There is a wonderful feeling of going fast but having a level of control that makes swings really fun play.

For a few more years I’ll keep scouting parks for play structures and remembering which parks have the most interesting features. I’m lucky to have grandchildren who frequently take me to the park.