Social development involves learning the knowledge, skills, and values that enable children to relate to others effectively. The ability to get along with others and adapt to new situations is referred to as social competence.
Friedrich Froebel was a German educator in the early 1800s who is considered the founder of the kindergarten movement. He developed a series of play materials he called Gifts that included geometric building blocks designed to teach children about forms and their relationships in nature.
Softline Solutions is a provider of rubber surfaces and rubber products. Using recycled materials, Softline Solutions offers products for playgrounds, daycares, running tracks, schools, and other facilities.
Bill Michaelis is a leading play advocate who has written, taught, and consulted extensively in the area of play and its applications to creativity, learning development, self-esteem, and healthy living for all age groups.
Co-authored by Bill Michaelis and John M. O'Connell, The Leader's Handbook, Learning Leadership Skills by Facilitating Fun, Games, Play, and Positive Interaction is a practical guide for play leaders geared toward training them to manage all age groups and effectively lead games play and team-building activities.
Todd Lehman is the founder and executive creative director of Cre8Play, a custom design playground manufacturer. The goal of his company is to design and build playgrounds to "play in" rather than "play on."
A Protective Barrier on a playground structure is defined as "An enclosing device around an elevated surface that prevents both inadvertent and deliberate attempts to pass through the device." Protective barriers are required to protect children from jumping or falling from elevated surfaces.
In the context of playgrounds, "shock absorbing" refers to the properties of the protective surface that assist in preventing or minimizing injuries. Shock absorbing is also referred to as "impact attenuating" as it relates to playground surfacing.
Free Play LLC is a design studio that creates abstract sensory play equipment for interactive learning and unstructured playing. Through these abstract structures they seek to "give kids not just a physical workout, but a cognitive one, too, as they decide what to do with each structure."
Known as the "father of baseball" in Battle Creek, Michigan, itself the home of amateur baseball, Arch Flannery promoted physical education, amateur sports, and civic recreation for over 40 years. For his achievements the Flannery Softball Complex in Battle Creek was named in his honor and he was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Recreation and Parks Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
