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Admin moved page What is the history of the playground? to What is the history of the playground
Sadly, kindergartens were banned by the Prussian government that came to power in 1851, suppressing the idea and spread of playgrounds in Germany for decades. In the 1880s, playgrounds did appear again in Germany, which were then called sand gardens.<ref>For more on how the concept of playgrounds firs evolved, see: Frost, Joe L. 2010. <i>A History of Children’s Play and Play Environments: Toward a Contemporary Child-Saving Movement</i>. New York: Routledge. </ref>
In 1859, in Manchester, England, the Victorian population in the city realized the difficulties they had with children running on the street and the dangers that could cause accidents. Industrialization had made cities crowded, noisy, and polluted. The city decided that year to build the first purpose-built playground that was not attached to any school. The idea was to keep children busy and give them some space away from crowded urban areas. Nevertheless, many people did not see the purpose of playgrounds, as streets were often not that busy in many other cities and there were spaces for children to play in neighborhoods. In 1886, Boston created arguably the first playground in the United States, and others followed as far as California.
In 1886, Boston created arguably the first playground in the United States, and others followed as far as California. However, the idea did not prove popular among many residents in the United States, and many saw funds for public playgrounds as a waste. Things only began to change more substantially as the automobile began to be introduced. In 1901, one of the first reports to publish accidental deaths caused on streets was published. The number of children killed astonished people and soon created a movement to create play areas designated for children. Additionally, educational theories in the United States were beginning to see the relevance of Fröbel's ideas on the importance of play and education. These two effects combined to create a playground movement within the United States in the first decade of the 1900s, culminating with the founding of the Playground Association of America in 1906 (Figure 1).<ref>For more on how playgrounds spread in the United States, see: Doell, Charles Edward, Fitzgerald, Gerald B., Bank, Theodore P. <i>A Brief History of Parks and Recreation in the United States</i>. Literary Licensing, LLC. </ref>{{Mediawiki:TabletAd1}}
====Spread of Playgrounds====
Playgrounds were seen as important educational tools when they were first developed. People also saw that they kept children away from increasingly busy streets, particularly as accidents harming children began to rise in the early 20th century. While early playgrounds were formal, by the 1940s they became less so and began to be seen as a form of free or less structured play. New equipment developed but materials use for playgrounds only began to change in the 1970s and 1980s, as injuries again became a concern. Some of the equipment known well in playgrounds, such as swings, have been around for centuries, but other equipment became designed and invented for playgrounds. Today, playgrounds are also seen as part of the battle to fight child obesity and keeping children engaged and away from harmful activities.
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====References====
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[[Category:Wikis]][[Category:United States History]] [[Category:19th Century History]] [[Category:20th Century History]]
