16.04.2012 - Ausgabe: 2/2012

Climbing improves intelligence

The use of rope play equipment in schools.

The race in question is to reach the summit of the huge Spacenet installed by the Berliner Seilfabrik company in this primary school’s playground last summer. Competitive climbing is all the rage with the children at the moment but things can change quickly. In six months‘ time the children may be using the pyramid as a spaceship or a building site. While on themed playgrounds the scenario is pre-determined – aircraft, pirate ship, Pippi Longstocking – open designs afford children more scope to give free rein to their imaginations.

Break time is a vital recovery period for the pupils and therefore also for learning. In a brief period of time the exertion and stress of the last two school lessons must be worked out. Unfortunately many school playgrounds continue to look like car parks today: empty expanses of concrete or asphalt with a few trees and plant containers around the edge. This kind of layout causes accidents and violence among pupils. Groups who are quietly occupying themselves are bumped into and disturbed by children who are running. A structured site and play equipment creates spaces and stimulates active and more peaceful activities. Rope play equipment is one solution. The modules offered can be combined in different variations according to the customer's wishes and site conditions.

Differences in terrain are no problem for ropes; in fact, they can even enhance play value. Pupils climb mountains and then slide or run back down again. The modular character of much equipment means existing trees can be retained – which is good news from an environmental standpoint and because old trees provide lots of shade and enhance the microclimate. On especially narrow sites there is still space for a balancing course built from ropes. On small sites the play volume is increased through the installation of equipment with external frames. The steel core of the ropes allows them to cope with the extreme stress to which they are subjected twice per day at break times. Although some apparatus may appear very high to us adults, exceptionally few accidents occur while children are using rope play equipment. Children see the risk and only venture as high as they are able to. Moreover, it is easier for teachers to supervise play on net-like structures than on huge wooden towers, for example, since there are few concealed areas.
The design of the playground or open spaces is particularly important in primary schools because children in this age group have a greater need for movement. Rope play equipment has an especially high play value and offers a greater range of play opportunities for more children than playground staples such as the swing and the seesaw. Functional play such as climbing, jumping, crawling, sliding, swinging, rolling, twisting and balancing is possible, as are role and rule-based games played in a group.

But an active break is not just necessary for children to relax and have fun – it also helps their physical development. Stimulating play equipment which encourages movement also helps to prevent problems such as poor posture, weak concentration, challenging behaviour and excess weight. Climbing on ropes improves balance and enhances risk assessment skills. Social competence is also improved through communal play, which in turn enhances academic performance. Children who are especially good climbers also perform well in the classroom.

Rope play equipment can be used in PE lessons as well as during break times. Or how about an outdoor classroom, with ropes for sitting on instead of chairs?
Installed alongside paths, ropes can also fence off areas and be used for play at the same time. Used throughout the site, they form a common thread in the design. If the ropes are selected in the colour of the school building a harmonious overall effect is achieved. While the need for a well-equipped and designed playground in primary schools is now common knowledge, there are significant uncertainties and theory deficits in the sphere of secondary school playground design. Juveniles do not play as much as children and do not engage in role-play games, for example, at all. Children’s behaviour changes at puberty. Nonetheless, juveniles are happy to incorporate play equipment into their favourite break-time activities: communicating and observing. They constantly use fences and steps as seating rather than the benches installed for this purpose. And if they do use benches, then they sit on the backrests in order to set themselves apart from adults. Planners can take advantage of this knowledge to respond better to the needs of secondary schoolchildren by using multi-purpose objects. Rope elements such as balancing courses or climbing nets can also be installed on open spaces in secondary schools. The juveniles' remaining urge for movement will be satisfied by swinging, climbing or dangling their legs during a conversation. Rubber mats which can be hung in the Berliner Seilfabrik’s rope equipment are perfect for lounging around on.

When planning areas for children to congregate care should be taken to ensure that elements are incorporated for both groups and individuals or pairs. Centrally placed high elements can serve as a stage on which boys can present themselves to girls and other boys. A few raised features on the edge enable adolescents to gain an overview of what is going on during breaks and the view into the distance relaxes the eyes after a taxing lesson. Several places for communicative activities should preferably be in the sun during the morning, because this is a key factor in encouraging people to settle. If sufficient area is available it is definitely worth establishing open-use spaces with an even surface. Such areas can be used for football or skateboarding. If the net landscapes are in the adjacent areas the players can be watched. The steel ropes used make the kind of vandalism that frequently takes place in secondary schools, such as scratching with knives and lighter damage, impossible to perpetrate. And the investment is most certainly cost-effective because the equipment lasts for decades.

Max came first this break by getting to the top first. He is very proud of his achievement and heads off to his maths lesson with renewed self-confidence.

Alena Kniesche, Berliner Seilfabrik
Photos: Berliner Seilfabrik

 

Trunks
Gerald Hüther, neurobiologist: “There are lots of parents who are afraid that their children are not learning enough and who clearly subscribe to the old way of thinking which holds that the more you pour in, the more stays in. The old received wisdom is that brains are like containers which must be filled up with knowledge – and the earlier the better. At the moment we are being persuaded that these so-called cognitive skills – i.e. languages, mathematics, natural sciences – are the be-all and end-all. But the real question is whether children can actually get to grips with physics, mathematics and biology at all if they have not first had learning experiences that show them how wonderful it is to be able to discover something. It doesn’t have to be the same as maths. A nice example is provided by children who are very good at maths at an early age – the best in primary school – who are also usually the ones who excel at climbing and balancing on beams. In other words: the best preparation for maths is not to practice maths but to climb trees. Because these movement patterns stimulate something in the brain, i.e. connectivity patterns for three-dimensional calculation.“
(Source: Climbing enhances mathematical skills – a conversation with neurobiologist Gerald Hüther, www.3sat.de/vivo/154278/index.html)