KOMPAN PLAY INSTITUTE

EQUALITY IN PLAY
Survey on playground use in children with disabilities
Equality in playground for
children with disabilities
Jeanette Fich Jespersen and Stine Magnussen, KOMPAN Play Institute

Equality in physical activity – why? disabilities on a survey. 54 families with almost inaccessible, and 86% of them
„Physical activity (PA) participation is children aged 6-16 years from across found their closest playground to be
widely recognized as a critical com- the island of Funen, Denmark, partici- below averagely accessible. 46% of the
ponent of health and development for pated in the survey. All the children had total group of respondents found the ac-
disabled and non-disabled children.” cognitive disabilities, 11% of the children cessibility of their nearest playground to
Frontiers in Public Health, National used walkers or other assistive devices be below average.
Institutes of Health, USA 2016. for walking, and 26% of the children The inequity in access is grim. But the
were wheelchair users. 36% of the usability of the actual play equipment
Today, politicians and tycoons alike wheelchair users could move around is worse. 93% of the wheelchair users
voice their support of social equal- without a wheelchair (e.g. using other estimate the usability of the play equip-
ity. They do so on an informed basis: assistive devices such as walkers). ment in their nearest playground to be
Equality is the way to healthier and below average. In comparison 59% of
more sustainable societies and one The main target of the survey was to: the total respondents score the usability
of the 17 global goals of the United establish an understanding of children as below average. Again, wheelchair
Nations. But not everyone is equal when with disabilities and users have less than half the chance of
it comes to outdoor play. their peers to find the playground equip-
1. the extent of playground use and its ment of their nearest playground usable.
Leisure activities are the hardest to affiliation with playground proximity
access and use by citizens with dis- 2. the accessibility and usability of fa-
abilities1. Children with disabilities use vourite playground activities, and
public sports facilities far less than their 3. the success criteria for the pre- Play between children with
typically developing peers. A nation- ferred playgrounds disabilities and typically de-
wide Dutch study concluded that 74% veloping children support
of the total population of 5-17yearolds Inequality in proximity and playgrounds the areas of self-efficiency,
with disabilities are physically inactive2. 57% of the wheelchair using children tolerance and empathy of
Since physical inactivity3 is one of the never or rarely visit a public playground. both user groups5
four biggest contributors to premature 43% of the non-wheelchair users never
death4, the accessibility to public leisure or rarely visit a playground.
areas such as playgrounds, is crucial. 47% of all the families visited a public The most popular play activities
Apart from the obvious health benefits, playground less than once a month. The and their usability
there are considerable social-emotional proximity of the playground is decisive Swings and slides are the top scorers
benefits: Play between children with for the frequency of use. Most respon- in popularity. Seesaws and sand play
disabilities and typically developing chil- dents use the playground 1-4 times a come second and are both equally inte-
dren support the areas of self-efficiency, month, and 71% of them live within 5 resting.
tolerance and empathy of both user minutes walk of the playground. When asked what activity their child
groups5. 6% never visit a public playground. All would like to do but could not access in
of those who never play in a playground the playground closest to home, 43%
Survey of outdoor play and play- live more than 15 minutes walk from it. answered swings or slides. There can
ground use and preferences be more reasons for this, one of them
Playgrounds are well-known to motivate Playground accessibility and usabi- most probably being the inaccessibility
physical activity in children efficiently, in lity of the playground in the first place. But a
a fun way. The KOMPAN Play Institute Children in wheelchairs have less than lack of swing seats that can hold child-
wanted to know more about children half the chance of their peers of being ren lying down may very well be another
with disabilities and playground play. We able to access and use their nearest reason.
cooperated with parents of the pupils playground. 71% of the wheelchair
at Nørrebjerg School for children with users found their nearest playground

1 Disability Statistics - Barriers to Social Integration, Eurostat 2015

2 Physical Activity Card, the Netherlands, Active Healthy Kids, June 2017, www.activehealthykids.nl
3 Physical Activity for Health, World Health Organization, 2010, The WHO definition of physical inactivity for children aged 5-17 years is less than 60 minutes a day moderate to vigorous activity.
4 The Lancet Series on Physical Activity, 2012
5 Frontiers in Public Health, Sept. 2016, vol. 4, art. 187, Ross et al.
6 The Relationship between built park environments and physical activity in four park locations. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 2008; 14(3): E9-E16, Shores KA, West ST.
7 54 families with students aged 6-16 years from across the island of Funen participated in the digital survey. All the children had cognitive disabilities, 11% of the children used walkers or other
assistive devices for walking, and 26 % of the children were wheelchair users. 36% of the wheelchair users could move around without a wheelchair (e.g. using other assistive devices such as wal-
kers).

2
Favorite playground characteristics Success criteria for equality in Figure 1: Weighted average score of ‘Ac-
When choosing what playground to visit, outdoor play cessibility’ to the nearest playground for
a decisive factor is accessible surfacing. 57% of the children in wheelchairs users with and without wheelchairs.
It is almost equally important that the rarely or never visit a public playground. 10 being fully accessible.
child has favorite play activities in the When it comes to their local playground,
playground. Additional well-liked play- 86% of them cannot use the playground 10,0
ground characteristics are the variety equipment. In weighted numbers,
of play equipment, and the fact that the wheelchair users have only about half 8,0 6,9

Weighted average
whole family has something to do in the the chance of their peers to find the play 6,0
playground. equipment usable.
4,0 3,1
Concluding on equality in If that should be changed, the KOMPAN 2,0
playground play Play Institute survey reveals some suc-
The surveys give us a good insight into cess criteria: 0,0
some of the driving factors for play- 1. For increasing the frequency of use,
Wheelchair users
ground success for families and children local playgrounds should be acces-
with disabilities. sible. Non wheelchair users
1. Proximity plays a huge role in play- 2. Playgrounds generally should have
ground use for the children with accessible surfacing. This addition-
disabilities and their families. The ally helps care givers or grandpar- Figure 2: Weighted average score of ‘Usa-
closer these families live to a play- ents with mobility impairments who bility’ to the nearest playground for users with
ground, the more prone they are to bring children to the playground. or without wheelchairs.
use it. Distances of more than 10 3. Playgrounds should have acces- 10 being fully usable.
minutes’ walk to the nearest play- sible play equipment that is usa-
ground are prohibiting for use. ble for children with disabilities.
10,0
2. On a scale from 1 to 10, 71% of the A KOMPAN Play Institute study
wheelchair users find their nearest shows that this means ground level 8,0
Weighted average

playground almost inaccessible. based activities8. 5,9

86% of them find their closest play- 4. The variety of play activities and 6,0

ground below averagely accessible. activities for the whole family make 4,0 2,9
In weighted numbers, wheelchair playgrounds additionally attractive
users are less than half as prone to to visit and use. 2,0
find their nearest playground both 0,0
accessible and usable (Fig. 1 & 2).
3. Access is a success criterion for Wheelchair users
the choice of playground, but the Non wheelchair users
variation in play activities and the
fact that the child likes the play-
ground are almost equally impor-
tant. Something to do for the whole
family is another important point.

8 Truly Inclusive? White paper from the KOMPAN Play Institute, Jeanette Fich Jespersen, 2018

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