Developmental Skills Learned on Swing Sets

Many people grew up with swing sets in their yards. They were a fun and exciting way to play outside with your friends in the safety and comfort of your own backyard. For parents, it makes it easy to keep an eye on the kids while they stay entertained. But aside from being fun and convenient, swing sets can actually aid in a child's development in many ways. Here are just a few of the developmental skills that children can learn on swing sets in Alpharetta.

Muscle Strengthening

Swing sets encourage children to climb, swing, and complete a number of other activities that strengthen their developing muscles. This encourages good health and strong muscles, and regular play on a swing set can help keep your child active to reduce the risks of childhood obesity.

Coordination

The simple motion of pumping your legs back and forth in order to make a swing move can actually be quite difficult for young children with limited coordination. Daily play on a swing set can help to develop a child's body coordination. Other elements of a swing set--like ladders, bridges, monkey bars, and climbing walls--also require coordination and higher-level motor functions, encouraging rapid development of these skills in your child.

Confidence

Many elements of a swing set can challenge a child and push them outside of their regular comfort zone. Think about how high the monkey bars seemed to you as a child. Even seemingly simple features like climbing walls, fireman poles, and tall slides can seem daunting to a small child. But by regularly playing on the swing set, they will naturally begin to challenge themselves to climb higher and complete tasks that they were formerly too afraid to complete.

This type of development can help to increase a child's confidence in themselves and teach them to overcome their fears and face challenges. These are invaluable skills for the real world, and they can start with swinging just a little bit higher on that swing set.

Imagination

A swing set can be a great place for children to experiment with imaginative play. Many kids like to imagine that the swing set is a pirate ship, tree house in the jungle, or spacecraft. The swing set provides a great backdrop on which they can project their imagination and further develop it. Such imaginative play should always be encouraged.

Social Skills

Swing sets are often popular toys among the neighborhood children, and your child's friends may want to come by fairly often to play on your swing set. This can teach your child very important social skills. Obviously, since it is your swing set in your own backyard, your child may feel that it is their own property and that they should be given special privileges. This provides them with an excellent learning opportunity about sharing and playing well with others.

Your child will also learn patience when playing with other children on your swing set. Sometimes, another child may take a longer time to climb the ladder or to work up the courage to go down the slide. Your child will have the opportunity to not only learn to patiently wait for their friend but can also learn how to encourage and help those who may not be as brave as themselves.

Having a swing set in your yard is a convenient and safe way to allow your child to play and be active outdoors. But in addition to being a fun toy for your kids, it is also a great learning tool. Start looking at swing sets in Alpharetta and see for yourself all of the skills that your child will develop as they play.

Source : articlesbase.com