Want a playground that’s a winner with the kids?

Here’s what you need to consider when planning your project.

Great play spaces are expertly crafted, by people who understand child development, safety standards, inclusive design, and the power of adventurous play. And, that’s what we do at Safe Play every day!

In this article you’ll discover:

• The essential elements of the best playgrounds
• How to guarantee kids keep coming back for more
• Ways to build more challenge into your play space
• How to provide opportunities for kids to test their limits
• ‘Risky play’ and navigating the balance between compliance and adventure
• The team’s top equipment choice for a winning playground for all ages

There’s increasing research that supports the value of unstructured play in contributing to helping shape capable, confident, resilient young people (read more about that here). So, thoughtfully designed play spaces have never been more important.

Across our design, sales and installation teams, everyone agrees, children thrive when they’re trusted to explore, stretch themselves, and gain independence – within a space that’s carefully designed to keep them safe.

And above all, your playground should be fun – engaging kids in active play and discovery, at every age and stage.

Let’s have a look at how we design to balance inclusion, safety and fun at Safe Play. We’ll drawing on insights from the team and the real-world projects shaping the future of play across Australia.

What are the essential elements of the best playgrounds?

The most used and loved playgrounds are defined by variety, layered challenge, and the freedom to play in different ways.

Our team consistently highlights three core elements:

1) Layered challenges for all ages

Good playgrounds grow with children:

• Toddlers need easy access routes and gentle challenges
• Middle-years kids need opportunities for manageable risk
• Older children seek height, speed and bigger payoffs.

Abbey, from our Sales Team, puts it perfectly, “Start low and build the confidence – and the heights – as they grow.”

2) Multiple ways to play

Children should be able to choose how they engage: independently or with others, imaginatively or physically, quietly or actively. Equipment that can be used from different directions or in different ways keeps kids coming back.

3) Inclusive, sensory-rich spaces

Musical panels or quiet nooks – sensory elements help all children feel comfortable, supported and motivated to explore. These elements create a space where every child can discover something new every time they play.

How to guarantee the kids keep coming back, again and again.

What makes a play space irresistible? Variety, imagination, and the freedom to choose your own adventure.

While cubbies, shopfronts and imaginative play areas always spark excitement, playgrounds that win with the kids also include challenge-based elements: ninja courses, skill-based components, and climbing features that reward persistence.

In Abbey’s experience, “Even a slide becomes more exciting when the only way to reach it is through a challenging route – it makes them feel like an explorer.”

With open-ended play opportunities, kids keep returning – building skills, strength and confidence along the way.

How do you build more challenge into your play space?

Any of these sound familiar?

• Kids only use one or two features.
• They climb where they shouldn’t because the intended equipment isn’t engaging enough.
• Everything is low, repetitive or reliant on adult assistance.

When a playground looks boring, kids look elsewhere for excitement.

Part of our process in a school environment includes assessing whether each year-level play area genuinely prepares students for the next. Every playground should include a spectrum of difficulty levels so children can progress safely and confidently, building the required skills as they go.

What about providing opportunities to test their limits?

Risky play builds important skills like independence, decision-making and self-assessment. Our job is to design spaces where those qualities can flourish safely, minimising risk of serious harm.

We do this by:

• Offering multiple routes to the same destination (easy, moderate and challenging).
• Using height and movement in ways that stretch confidence gradually.
• Adding protective elements like barrier panels that help kids feel secure even when trying something new.

Navigating the balance between compliance and adventure.

A great playground achieves both safety and excitement. Using clear fall zones, appropriate surfacing and compliant equipment, we can focus our creativity on bringing the challenge and fun.

Safe Play’s Director, Kent, explains that “good playground design doesn’t choose between safety and challenge. It delivers both. Compliance, safe fall zones, surfacing, and equipment standards all stay absolutely rock solid. Within those boundaries, we create opportunities that stretch children in positive ways … these moments of uncertainty and achievement are often where the real magic of play happens.”

This is where experience matters. Safety is never compromised, it’s built into the structure so that adventure can flourish freely.

Is ‘risky play’ the real risk?

The biggest misconception around ‘risky play’ is that it means unsafe play. But, what if a lack of exposure to managed risk and healthy challenge is the biggest risk of all?

Kent points out that “When kids climb a little higher, balance on something new, or find their own way through a play space, they are building confidence, resilience, and problem-solving skills. They learn what their bodies can and cannot do, and that is incredibly important.”

• Most injuries happen on boring equipment when kids are trying to create their own challenge.
• Good playground design minimises unsafe improvisation by providing intentional challenges.
• Managed risk stretches children in positive ways, building important skills, resilience and confidence.

What’s our top equipment recommendation for winning playgrounds?

Across our team, we all agree that climbing cubes are a standout. Why? They’re the perfect example of “choose your own difficulty.”

• There’s up to four ways to climb – each requiring different skills.
• Kids can graduate from ground-level play for beginners to 3-metre heights for the confident.
• They’re versatile, with add-ons like incline nets which offer even more ways to progress.

And once they’ve conquered the mountain, the top platform gives kids a moment to pause, assess and decide their next move. Every ascent, route and choice builds independence.

A few of our recent favourites

We asked our team to share a bit about their recent favourite projects that embraced risk, challenge, or exploration:

Abbey’s Pick – Holy Spirit Primary School

Students helped choose the equipment – and unsurprisingly selected the most adventurous options: flying fox, monkey spin, and even a 2.4-metre warped wall. It’s now the landmark playground in their community, giving kids a sense of pride, achievement and capability.

Kent’s Pick – Horsham Special School

A Mega Cube design created opportunities for safe height, exploration and sensory-rich play, tailored to the needs of students with diverse abilities. The result? A playspace that empowers every child to explore at their own pace.