Bishan Park Part Two - Round and Round

In the last 3 or so years, I began to notice more and more of such new generation merry go rounds making their presence felt at public playgrounds. It's a great addition and I applaud the people who had decided to add this feature to our playgrounds. The children love it, it provides them with just the sensation that many children yearn for, precisely becuase this sensory input is necessary for the maturation of their nervous system (and that includes the brain)!

Children sit at the edge of this new-age merry go round and they get spun around, either by their parents or other children. The more "gungho" ones will attempt to stand or walk around the "spaceship" as it spins around. You can also lie down either on your stomach or on your back, this will help you experience movements in different planes. As you see, you can encourage the children to let their imagination runs as they play on this equipment...outerspace, submarines, carnival rides etc can be themes. You are building play ideas and facilitating creativity!

When there are more children playing on this equipment, their social skills get to be challenged. "Faster!" "That's too fast!" "Stop!" "My turn to spin!" Watch out for where your child falls about when interacting with others, do a mental record of what happens and this can be a perfect situation to be taken away from the playground and into the learning space. Sit your child down in a calm, relaxed and happy mode and you can re-play the social situations and teach your child various ways of responding to such social challenges as bullying, taking turns, and being assertive. They would love role playing the various scenarios!

I feel that children as young as a year old can enjoy this big flying saucer, just make sure you have a hand on them and run along... get some of that vestibular input yourself!



This is another feature of these 21st century playgrounds. Another item that I think adds to the varied sensory experiences provided by these playgrounds. Children stand on it, hold on tight and get either spun around by another person or if their ability to plan their motor movements are good enough, they can spin themselves.

Encourage your child to think of different ways to play with a piece of equipment before you go in and tell them what to do. This way, you get them to be active player and thinker. Active thinking is what we want as it builds neuron connections in the brain. And who knows, your little one may make your day by coming out with the most ingenous way of playing. Let him or her knows she's good, rejoince and celebrate!