Indoor playgrounds are a growing trend because these play areas have become a boon for childcare for companies, helping kids blow off energy while holiday shopping in the mall, or working as a way for daycare to help keep kids focused.
But where did the idea of indoor playgrounds come from? How did indoor playground equipment develop or come to be? Let’s take a look at the history of indoor playground equipment for sale.
The First Indoor Playground
The first indoor playground is probably a lot older than you would expect. The first recorded indoor playground can be traced back to a gymnasium in Germany in the 1920s, where ropes, bars, and ladders were set up for kids to climb on.
Kids being kids, they loved crawling, climbing, and exploring and jumped right in. The success of this would lead to the idea spreading across Europe.
The Adventure Playground in California
This trend was mostly a European idea before making its way to the United States in the 1950s with the opening of the Adventure Playground in California, known for its wooden structures and open-ended play.
However, the idea didn’t catch on as quickly as many thought it would.
The 1980s Indoor Playground Revolution
But it wasn’t until the 1980s that indoor playground equipment really took off, thanks in large part to a company called SoftPlay, founded by Bill Kitchen. SoftPlay was one of the first companies to create modular soft playground equipment, bringing their products to malls across America and popularizing the concept of indoor playgrounds – https://bestonplayground.com/commercial-indoor-playground-equipment-for-sale/.
The Rise of Soft Play Structures
In the late 1990s, a new trend in indoor playgrounds emerged: soft play structures. This shift was largely influenced by a combination of safety concerns and advances in technology that allowed for the creation of large, colorful, and dynamic soft play structures.
These playgrounds often feature different themed areas, from pirate ships to castles, with slides, ball pits, and climbing structures. The combination of safer spaces that were padded and made kids much less prone to injury and the bright colors and imaginary themes made them incredibly popular with kids and parents alike.
What’s the Future?
Today, indoor playgrounds continue to evolve and offer new and exciting ways for kids to play and explore in a safe environment. Since malls are less common in many places, as is at-work daycare, the demand isn’t quite as high as these used to be.
Many of the same indoor playground equipment structures for kids or designs are now used for “Sheltered Outdoor Play Spaces” where rubber padding takes the place of gravel or sand with outdoor playgrounds that increasingly have these set up underneath shaded areas to provide shelter from heat and sun.
These blurred lines might be the future of “indoor” playground equipment, but there’s no question it will continue to find its niche.
Today, indoor playground equipment from Beston Playground Manufacturer continues to evolve with advancements in safety and design, offering endless opportunities for imaginative play. So next time you take your kids to an indoor playground, think about the history and evolution that led to those colorful structures and slides.