Everyone experiences play in different ways. It’s the reason why there isn’t just one type of spray feature or just one type of pool. Aquatic environments are always changing and adapting to new trends and regulations in the industry. Likewise, aquatics facility directors and operators are constantly evaluating updates that will deliver increased value to their guests and members. In order to provide features that appeal to a wide variety of individuals, facility staff needs to choose what combination of elements will allow for limitless play for their intended audiences.
Providing options for guests to engage with a facility in different ways is a crucial component of play value. At Life Floor, we talk about this concept often because it’s a central tenet of why we design safety surfacing to be interactive and engaging. Play value directly influences guest perception of a facility and can be a determining factor of whether or not guests will return. For example, if a child has a better experience at a park farther away, parents may be more inclined to return to that park even if it is more inconvenient.
One way to increase play value is to provide experiences for different age groups. Any type of water play for infants and toddlers can be seen as risky from their perspective. For instance, interacting with a simple spray feature on a splash pad is often a new and exciting experience. For older children, riding down high-speed water slides, scaling lofty towers, or getting drenched under tipping buckets can be seen as more exhilarating ways to interact with aquatic environments. These different features help shape children’s development at different stages.
Awareness of how specific age groups prefer to interact with water features can be meaningful when determining how to zone a facility properly. Lopesan’s Costa Bavaro Resort is a good example of zoning for different development stages in a child’s life. At this facility, large landscaped “islands” separate the larger risky play area, equipped with slides and high platforms, from the adjacent splash pad, where smaller children may feel more comfortable. While these zones are located on opposite sides, they are also connected across one large aquatic play area. This integration allows children the freedom to move from one area to the next, encouraging them to balance safety and adventure. When an aquatic play area offers this range of features, guests can gradually choose to engage with riskier play elements, which ultimately helps to boost both decision-making skills and self-esteem. Accommodating a variety of preferences also increases play value and enables families of all ages to enjoy these spaces for longer periods of time.
Social interaction is another crucial part of play learning. Just as it may be difficult for a child to play house alone, it is important for them to be able to collaborate with other children in aquatic environments as part of their experience. Spray features, water tables, and interactive activities that contribute to this social play can elevate learning in both creativity and problem solving. Children are able to boost their communication and social skills as they practice working together and learning to share or compromise as they explore these environments together.
Diversity of play is encouraged by maximizing the creative options available; however, these options don’t have to be limited to the spray features, slides, and towers on site. The design of a facility’s floor can also enhance play value by giving children the opportunity to creatively invent games based on the patterns and images below their feet. When an aquatic surface is also cushioned and slip-resistant, children can more confidently run, jump, and explore to fully enjoy all that a facility has to offer.
By engaging with visitors more holistically across all features of an aquatic design to accommodate different age groups and comfort levels, facility supervisors, operators, and decision makers can create more encompassing parks filled with limitless possibilities for play. The experiences they offer can encourage important developmental milestones for children while also creating long-lasting family memories along the way.
