You can give a child a stick and it can become something magnificent, maybe it is a wand to open up to magical worlds or could become a sword to do battle evil knights. However these days if you give a child a stick it would be met with disdain and disbelief at the idea a stick can be fun. So how do you get kids to use their imagination when their console games issue imagination for them?

The local park could offer such opportunities for children to explore their imagination, however when faced with playground equipment that has not been updated since a few decades before the turn of the century, there can be little inspiration. Thankfully there is a new breed of playground design emerging, and it is not just only in community parks but in school playgrounds too.

School playground equipment is being designed to incorporate imaginative play alongside learning. By allowing the child to imagine creates a sense of self importance and if this play can involve others, team play becomes drawn in. The development of social skills is of paramount importance, it builds self esteem and the ability to work alongside others and to offer differing view points. All of these skills help in the day to day learning requirements of a child.

On top of this, the new developments within playground design also cater for the education of children, especially the use of outdoor classrooms. These outdoor learning places are a perfect stage for storytelling and drama, the sense of space and the natural light inspires children to use the natural environment. The classrooms can be incorporated into a sensory garden, with planters of scented flowers, varying textures of shrubs and wildlife can be seen, from birds on the bird table to insects scurrying through the undergrowth. All of these factors work towards a child learning about the world they live in and how they interact with it.

The other side to imaginative play comes in the form of teenagers, not that these are the easiest bunch to please, but they need a place to socialise and school playground shelters, or youth shelters are an ideal meeting place. The new breed of school shelters emerging are geared towards the teenager and their use of mobile technology. There is blue tooth connectivity, in-built radios and LED lighting, all making them a much better place to hang out than the local unimaginative bus stop.

Getting children outside is much better for their self esteem than being indoors and not interacting with others, obviously there will be time for the games console but the better the park and school playground equipment, the happier the child and the in turn this will reflect in their education.