After visiting two playgrounds in the state of New York, I am able to analyze both playgrounds and the individuals present. I visited a playground in Central Park which is located in New York City. I also visited a playground in my hometown, White Plains, which is located in Westchester county. I was present at each playground at around 4:30 PM.
The playground in Central Park had a lot of equipment for kids to use. It had a tire swing, a blacktop playground area, a concrete maze, a slide, and numerous sets of swings. The equipment itself appeared to be very clean and well-taken care of.
Although it was not a colorful playground, it looked fun. Each and every single tree at the park had leaves. This made the playground appear very green, healthy, and scenic.
Central Parks playground was not as diverse as I thought it would be. New York City being an extremely diverse city, I went to the park thinking that I would see parents and children of all different races and ethnicities. I only saw Caucasians and Asians. I did not see any Latinos, and I only spotted one African American mother with her son. Everybody present at the park was dressed in normal everyday clothes, nothing fancy or expensive.The blacktop area of the playground where the concrete maze was located looked like a fort. I believe the “fort” is a good idea because many young kids build them at home using pillows and couches.
Now instead of making a mess at home, parents can take their children to the park where they can play in a “real” fort.At the concrete maze area, there were six mothers and three fathers present. There were also seven boys who appeared to be under ten years old. Two of these boys were playing with their father, two were under supervision of their mother, and the other three were playing together around the fort. At the top of the “fort,” there was a group of five girls playing together who also appeared to be under ten years old. I heard the youngest one of these girls refer to herself as a princess. I also heard one of the mothers speaking a European language with her son.
Two of the mothers were sitting down talking to each other as their kids played. One of the fathers was reading a newspaper as his son played. Another father had a professional camera and was snapping pictures of his boys playing. One little boy under eight years old was riding a small two-wheel bicycle around the blacktop while his grandmother supervised him. Lastly, one African American boy under ten years old was crying because his mother told him it was time to go home.Over at the tire swing, there were two boys over five years old and one girl under five years old. Both parents were present and they all seemed to be related in some way.
The mother was watching them as the father was pushing the children on the swing.The swings seemed to be popular with both boys and girls. There were three girls and three boys over the age of ten. The girls were on the swings as the boys pushed. There were also three girls and one boy under five years old. Three mothers were present with the younger ones as they were pushing them slowly and safely.
The slide did not seem to be popular with the kids as only two boys over the age of ten were occupying it. Two girls over the age of ten were playing together over by the fence, seemingly isolated from everybody else.A group of six boys over the age of twelve were hanging out by a tree.
Apparently they had just gotten out of school since they each had a backpack on. They were not doing anything dangerous or crazy, just talking to one another.All the parents at the playground in Central Park were definitely over the age of thirty. All the children present were being good, physically active, and having fun.
The parents were making sure their kids were having fun as well. Some dads were playing and running around with their children, pushing them on the swings, etc. Two of the moms had water bottles for their kids so that they could stay hydrated. I am not sure if no pets were allowed, but there were not any present. Many strollers were visible.The playground in White Plains, also known as Kittrell Park, is very different compared to the playground in Central Park.
It is more diverse, has different equipment, and has age disparities.Kittrell Park offers a playground that includes monkey bars, multiple slides, a hopscotch area, two basketball courts, a pool, a chess table, and many park benches. This playground was very diverse. One could see all types of races and ethnicities here. There were Latinos, African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, and even Muslims.
The pool itself was closed, due to the fact that it is no longer summer. There are eleven brown, wooden benches available for people to sit on. Only two of the benches were occupied during my visit. One was taken by a man and a woman who were talking, both were Latino and in their teens. Another bench was taken by an African American man, roughly around the age of twenty-five.
He was listening to music through his red Beats by Dre headphones.The chess table is made out of concrete and is located in between two of the park benches, but no one was occupying it. There was also no one using the hopscotch area. There were two boys between the ages of twelve and fourteen riding their scooters around the park.The two concrete basketball courts are separated by a tall black fence, and both were taken. Both courts are very clean, and it seems like the paint is well cared for. On one court, a pick-up game of basketball was taking place. There were eleven men playing and all were over the age of eighteen.
There was five men on one team and six on the other team. Six of the men were African American, two were Caucasian, two were Latino, and one was Asian. The way they remembered who was on their team was: one team played with shirts on and the other with no shirts.On the other basketball court, a pick-up game of soccer was being played. There were fourteen boys and one girl all between the ages of sixteen and twenty. There were three teams of five, and two teams played at a time. Whenever a team got scored on, they would step off and let the team that was sitting out come in and play.
They used orange emergency cones as goals on each end of the basketball court under the rim. There were eight Latino boys, one Latina girl, three African American boys, and three Caucasian boys. One of the boys father was standing by the black fence watching the boys play soccer.Over by the monkey bars, there were two boys and one girl under the age of ten. They were of Muslim decent and their parents were standing by watching them. They were all speaking the English language and knew how to clearly speak it. All five individuals were wearing normal everyday clothes, not name brand.
There are three different slides available for use at Kittrell Park which differ in sizes. One was a small size which went straight down. Another was a medium sized that went straight down but was covered all around, similar to a tunnel. The third slide was the biggest of them all and looked like a spiral. Only the big spiral slide was being used by three Latino boys under the age of twelve. There were no adults supervising them.There are few trees here at the playground in White Plains, but they were in good shape. Free street parking is also available for those who want to drive to Kittrell Park.
The playground overall is in excellent shape and is enticing to whoever walks or drives by it.Overall, both playgrounds I visited have been different in many aspects. There were significant age disparities, one was more diverse than the other, and the available equipment varied in each one. Although, both playgrounds appeared well cared for.In conclusion, I do not believe that gender has an impact on kids who play in playgrounds. Kids go to playgrounds to have fun and be physically active. If a boy and a girl want to play together or use the same equipment, there is no problem with that. As long as children are happy, they are free to play with whoever they choose.
Age may separate them into different activities, but definitely not gender.
