Play for All: Our Play Philosophy
Good play areas should welcome everyone—children and adults of all ages—offering diverse opportunities and experiences for all abilities. Play can encompass social, physical, sensory, and creative activities, ranging from loud and boisterous to quiet and introspective. Children can play alone, in groups, independently, or with a parent or caregiver.
The goal of inclusive play is not to provide specialized equipment that might stigmatize or segregate impaired users.
Play spaces should provide a mix of high and low challenge opportunities. Not all play features need to be accessible to all children. Some equipment may not be suitable for certain groups due to inherent risk factors. The key is to offer a variety of experiences, ensuring there is something for every user.
Why Play?
Play is vital to development.
Play is the way in which children experiment, explore, and learn.
Play is the occupation of children.
Play provides valuable knowledge that lasts a lifetime.
Play and fun liberate body and mind.
Builds motor skills, coordination, balance and strength.
Play interactions develop social skills: communication, cooperation, conflict resolution.
Children dare to try new things, developing courage and self esteem, particularly important for children with disabilities.
The right to play!
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child became law on January 1, 2020. It states that all children have the right to play in a stimulating, safe and accessible environment.
Article 2: All children have the same rights and equal value.
Article 3: The best interests of the child shall be taken into account in all decisions concerning children.
Article 6: All children have the right to life and development.
Article 12: All children have the right to express their opinion and be respected.
In addition to these four articles, we want to highlight two more of great importance from a play perspective.
Article 23: Children with disabilities have the right to a full and decent life as well as help to actively participate in society.
Article 31: Children have the right to play, rest and leisure.
Our approach to play
As designers of playgrounds and playground equipment, our goal is to inspire and evoke positive emotions that children can learn from. Do you remember the first time you went too high on a swing, spun too fast on a roundabout, or simply played peek-a-boo?
Our primary focus is to create fun and joyful experiences for children. How many of these emotions do you recall from your childhood? How many do you see in your own children or grandchildren when you take them to the park?
We don't just design fun equipment; we also aim to help children develop physically, socially, cognitively, and creatively. Our designs cater to all ages, genders, and abilities, ensuring everyone can experience the joy of play.
This is what we call Play for All.
1 Our Purpose
HAGS bring fun and joy to as many children as possible. Our goal is to make it possible to play for all.
2 Our Process
HAGS develops equipment and environments for children of all ages and abilities.
Together with our network we evaluate our products to make sure they will be as good as possible.
3 The Result
Valuable Physical, Social, Creative and Cognitive benefits that last a lifetime for the children that use our equipment.
Flexible playgrounds with possibilities to play for all – together or alone.
Accessible vs Inclusive
An accessible play space is a space which is barrier free, allows users access to move around the space and offers participation opportunities for a range of differing abilities.
An inclusive play space has a supporting infrastructure, which meets the wide and varying play needs of every child. All children will enjoy high levels of participation opportunities, equally rich in play value.
HAGS Play Pyramid
The HAGS Play Pyramid is built on years of international experience and insights from leading Child Development experts, ensuring maximum developmental benefits. It offers an intuitive framework for designers, specifiers, and buyers to create inclusive, accessible play spaces for all.
At the heart or base of the HAGS Play Pyramid lies a foundation rooted in Play Development Areas. From these areas, Play Experiences begin to grow, sprouting and branching out in various directions. As these Play Experiences evolve, they journey through different Play Enablers, each one enhancing and enriching the play journey. Ultimately, the benefits of play are shared widely, reaching as many different users as possible, creating a vast, inclusive landscape of play.
Development Areas
Physical
An inclusive HAGS playground will offer the opportunity of risk and challenge, excitement, and different ways of moving in order to improve motor skills such as balance, coordination, strength and dexterity.
Social
An inclusive HAGS playground provides opportunities for children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to interact positively and nurture mutually beneficial relationships.
Creative
Creative play is an important part of a HAGS inclusive playground. Children who have difficulty accessing physical play can gain a lot of benefits from creative play opportunities.
Cognitive
An inclusive HAGS playground supports a range of cognitive activities for children of all ages and abilities. Cognitive play experiences foster curiosity, understanding of the world.
Play Experiences
Play Experiences are also sometimes referred to as Play Values and describe the opportunity that an environment, object or piece of equipment brings to children’s experience of play. Play Experiences are crucial to a child’s development and enjoyment of the play facilities.
A space rich in play experiences creates opportunities for a variety of physical, social, creative and cognitive play, allowing users to develop their capabilities and expand on their own ideas and actions.
Physical
Physical play gives opportunity of challenge, excitement, improve motor skills such as balance, coordination, strength and dexterity.
Spinning and Rolling
Sliding
Swinging/Rocking
Climbing
Crawling
Balancing
Jumping
Walking/Running
Hanging (from the arms)
Pointing and Touching
Social
Social play gives opportunities to interact positively and nurture mutually beneficial relationships.
Cooperating
Sharing
Communicating
Turn-Taking
Competing
Creative
Creative play is great for Children who have difficulty accessing physical play as they can gain a lot of benefits from this type of play opportunity.
Growing and Planting
Making Marks
Building and Arranging
Sound Making
Imagination and Storytelling
Cognitive
Cognitive play experiences foster curiosity and understanding of the world.
Playing with Numbers
Playing with Literacy
Problem Solving
Concentrating
Remembering
Planning and Tactics
Play Enablers
To access different Play Experiences, some users need Enablers. Collaborating with 'Fundamentally Children,' we've identified 10 Enablers. The HAGS Play Pyramid surpasses conventional 'Play Frameworks' by providing a practical tool that identifies these Enablers. This helps buyers and specifiers better match products to their specific play space requirements.
10 Play Enablers and Examples
1. Highly stimulating or significant challenge
Encourages children to challenge themselves, including playing at heights, applicable to the products intended age range. This would also include play experiences such as hanging, climbing and spinning. Great for children with ADD/ADHD.
Example product: UniPlay Swixy - Climbing builds gross motor strength, core stability and coordination and develops risk assessment skills and confidence.
2. Ground level, wheeled or transferable access
Can be enjoyed by children in buggies or wheelchairs, or with mobility issues (e.g. callipers or crutches).
Example product: Inclusive Seesaw Dennis - Different parts of the brain are stimulated simultaneously. This builds pathways that improve learning potential, spatial awareness, rhythm and more.
3. Passive access
A child can be placed onto the equipment without needing to do anything themselves to enjoy it. Great for children with global development delay.
Example product: Dragonfly Seesaw - Rocking provides children with a fun movement experience. It also challenges and develops children’s vestibular system.
4. Multi-sensory play patterns
Engages children's senses together, encouraging them to use sight, hearing, touch, and other senses. Great for children with Autism, ADD/ADHD or Dyspraxia.
Example product: UniPlay Labyrinth - Pointing and touching refines fine motor control and develops hand-eye coordination. it also promotes multisensory stimulation.
5. Sight not required
Can be played with by children who are blind or with visual impairments without reducing enjoyment.
Example product: Omega Basket Swing - Swinging provide children with a fun movement experience. It also challenges and develops children’s vestibular system.
6. Hearing not required
Can be played with by children who are deaf or with hearing impairments without reducing enjoyment.
Example product: UniMini Adventure Trail Bridge - Balancing builds core body strength, coordination and develops risk assessment skills, and builds confidence when walking on uneven surfaces.
7. Low cognitive demand
Can be enjoyed by children with learning difficulties. Great for children with global developmental delay or downs syndrome.
Example product: Slide Portland - When sliding, children experience height, movement and the thrill of speed and risk. Stimulates the vestibular system and sense of balance.
8. Adult accessible
There is room for an adult to engage and support a child's play on this equipment. Great when adult support is required e.g. for children with muscular dystrophy.
Example product: Trampoline Big - Jumping is great at challenging, stimulating, and developing the vestibular system and proprioceptive system.
9. Calming
Low levels of sensory stimulation or excitement - great for children with anxiety or sensory processing disorder.
Example product: Playhouse Eddul - Equipment that doesn't cause excitement, frustration or over-stimulation - lower levels of challenge involved.
10. Solitary play
Can be played with alone - great for children who have autism, social anxiety or who need some time out.
Example product: Rocking Toy Bruno - Can be played with alone with no loss of enjoyment, and isn't designed to encourage simultaneous multi-person use.
In summary
The HAGS Play Pyramid deliberately doesn’t provide a ‘scoring mechanism’ since the diversity of users will have varying needs and aspirations (e.g. some Enablers may work in opposition. Increasing the Challenge Enabler might reduce the Calming Enabler).
It does however empower designers, specifiers and buyers to determine the best combination of products. By mixing different products with various Enablers, the overall play space can cater to a wider range of users, ensuring inclusivity without eliminating all challenges.
Planning an inclusive play project?
1. Free design consultation
Our free design consultation service offers personalised guidance tailored to your specific needs and preferences, ensuring that every aspect of your project is considered before implementation.
2. Turning your design into reality
We specialise in transforming your digital design concepts into tangible realities, leveraging cutting-edge technology and expert craftsmanship to bring your vision to life with precision and finesse.
3. Step by step support
With step-by-step support, we accompany you through every stage of the design process, providing guidance, feedback, and assistance to ensure a smooth and successful execution of your project from start to finish.
