Balance equipment
Balancing play equipment for playgrounds, schoolyards & more
Balancing Equipment Buying Guide: How to Choose the Right Playground Balance Equipment
Kids love to show off their skills through play. Whether it’s a wobble bridge, balance beam or spring beam: balancing equipment constantly presents new challenges and trains not only balance and a sense of equilibrium, but also concentration and coordination. To help you choose the right balancing equipment for your playground, we answer the most important questions about “buying playground balance equipment” here:
- Which balancing equipment is suitable for which age?
- How safe is balancing equipment?
- The right impact protection for balancing equipment
1. Which balancing equipment is suitable for which age?
As a rule of thumb: the older the child, the wobblier and more unstable the balancing equipment can be. But even very young children love walking across the suspension bridge at the playground while holding mum or dad’s hand.
Balancing equipment for nurseries and preschools: For younger children in nurseries and early preschool, simple balancing units for sitting with handholds are ideal. This keeps the centre of gravity low and makes it easier for children to keep their balance. The whole body is involved in the balancing movement.
Balancing equipment from 3 years: Children from about 3 to 4 years can usually stand on balancing equipment on their own. For preschools, wobble bridges, spring beams and fixed balance beams or stepping posts are suitable. Handholds are only needed on very challenging balancing elements.
Balancing equipment for schools: From primary school age, there’s no stopping them. From around 6 years, kids control their bodies so well that they can balance on almost any piece of playground equipment – nothing is too difficult anymore! Popular choices include wooden or plastic balance beams or permanently installed slacklines. Complete climbing and balancing courses with monkey bars and climbing walls are also perfect for challenging and developing young balance artists.
2. How safe is balancing equipment for children?
Thanks to their low fall heights, balancing units are among the safer pieces of playground equipment. Because they are used by many children on public playgrounds and schoolyards, they are exposed to high loads. The advantage: low heights, well-thought-out construction and professional installation ensure the necessary safety. When buying balancing equipment for a schoolyard or playground, be sure to note the following:
- Manufactured according to DIN EN 1176-1: Only then is the equipment approved for public playgrounds.
- Professional installation with correctly installed foundations: If you install it yourself, we recommend final approval by qualified specialists.
- Adequate impact protection
- Robust, high-quality materials and workmanship: rounded corners and edges, recessed screw heads
Our tip: For wooden balancing equipment, we recommend using post shoes for a long service life.
If you need more information on playground safety, please contact us. You can reach us personally on +49 5357 181 81.3. The right impact protection for balancing equipment
A clear layout of the equipment in the schoolyard or playground, plus the correct safety distances around each unit, makes play much safer. The same applies to impact protection. For all balancing equipment, the fall height is equal to the standing height. This determines the required impact protection.- Up to a fall height of 60 cm, no impact protection is required.
- From 60–100 cm, at least 1 natural ground surface is required.
- Only from a height above 100 cm must special materials such as sand, wood chips or bark mulch be used.
With the right balancing equipment, you invite children on your adventure playground to immerse themselves in imaginative role play. Who can cross the wobbly suspension bridge without falling into the “gorge”? From popular classics like wobble bridges and balance beams to the latest slackline trend, you’ll find all balancing equipment in the Sport-Thieme playground equipment shop.