Primary School PE: Creative Playground Ideas for Schools in the UKs

A playground is the heart of all schools. As Albert Einstein said, ‘Play is the highest form of research’ that is not only enjoyable but also highly productive. It supports physical health and helps boost academic excellence in the classroom. A playground is a place where children learn new things and develop the trait of overcoming obstacles with persistence. Providing access to a safe and well-planned playground should be a priority for Primary School PE. As such, below are some playground ideas for primary schools that will help you make your outdoor space more functional, engaging and exciting for kids.

A] Inspiring Playground Ideas for Primary Schools

1. Traditional and Vibrant Playground Markings

Some people still believe that playgrounds have to be structured conventionally with a couple of swing sets, slides and a see-saw. But, over the years, playground designs have evolved to improve children’s skills in a way that they find interesting and exciting. One of them includes marking the playgrounds with vibrant markings – Inspired Playgrounds. As kids love bright and eye-catching colours, this would be a great way to increase their participation in physical exercises. The bright sport markings would add a touch of colour even to the most mundane playgrounds.

2. Sandbox

Young children tend to adapt and learn from their surroundings. By placing a sandbox in the playground, you could inspire and encourage their imagination and creativity. Sandbox not only provides tactile & sensory experiences, but also helps develop motor skills (eye-hand coordination) and cognitive skills such as problem-solving and strategic thinking. Building different shapes from scratch independently can also ignite a sense of freedom. In addition, based on your needs, the sandbox can be custom-made in all shapes – round, rectangle, square, or octagon.

3. Climbing Frames/Walls

Preschoolers are full of energy, and whether at home or at school, they love climbing onto things, especially a piece of furniture. Climbing is a great activity that helps develop gross motor skills and can help kids hone spatial and directional awareness. It also improves balance and hand-foot coordination, which helps boost agility. Be it a wall-mounted climbing frame or a free-standing climbing wall, these can make Primary School PE fun for kids and is one of the best ways to keep kids physically active every school day.

4. Wallboards and Tabletop Games

Having some board games around the playground is equally important. As a break from regular physical activity, tabletop games can help boost cognitive skills and improve concentration and focus. It can help enhance their memory and promote strategic thinking, decision making and problem-solving. As an engaging playground game idea, wallboards and tabletop games can also help improve social skills and is a stress-free way to create a happy environment at school.

5. Playground Markings Mazes

If you are looking for a creative school playground idea, then adding a maze marking is an excellent choice. As kids grow older, they seek out more challenging activities. A maze marking is a great way to challenge their intellectual ability and can help improve mental agility, logical thinking, and memory skills. Completing the maze can provide them with a sense of accomplishment, which is a reward in itself.

6. Outdoor Obstacle Course

For challenging playtime, an outdoor obstacle course is another amazing playground idea for primary schools. It provides a full-body workout and teaches kids the important lesson of risk-taking where they can test their limits and proactively work on overcoming each obstacle. Persistence is the key to mastering the obstacle course and this is another lesson that they would learn, which can prove to be mightily useful as they grow older. Improving self-esteem and confidence is another benefit of this game, and it helps foster teamwork.

7. Different Playground Zones

To make the best use of the PE and Sports Premium funding allotted to your school, investing in different playground zones can be highly rewarding. This will help boost physical education in primary schools while adhering to the operational guidance and public health advice endorsed by Public Health England (PHE). A diversified playground can also make it easier for PE teachers to monitor and supervise kids in small groups. From traditional game zone with swings & slides to mindful zones with tabletop games to free play zone such as sandbox, there are vast options available to create an engaging school playground.

B] Inspired Playgrounds – Creative School Playground Ideas

If you are looking for ways to restructure your outdoor space, then Inspired Playgrounds is just what you need. With the right physical activity solutions, we can help make PE lessons fun and enjoyable, thereby helping make preschoolers more active and healthy.

What We Offer

You get a fully installed playground with 5 activity stations and access to a whole day of leadership training and staff CPD with our every own web app. We also provide a Young Leader Incentive starter pack (16× T-shirts and hoodies) and 80x Inspired Schools trophies. Along with this, you get 3 months training day and review with:

• Refresher day for leaders and teaching assistants for the CPD.
• A one-to-one programme with target groups and lunchtime supervisor training.
• Periodic review meeting to evaluate the key deliverables and suggestions/feedback on the changes needed. With a 9-month review system, our team would meet the PE coordinator to discuss the projects, data, execution and success strategies that we have promised to deliver. With leader and teacher resources, we set out different challenges for the students and simple ways for the teachers to use markings in classrooms.

1. Fitness Stations: These are versatile and can be used in different ways. We do not follow a one-size-fits-all approach, rather our PE lessons are designed to suit individual needs and can be tailored to suit the kids’ activity levels. Some of the things that we provide includes:

• Formation of after and before school clubs
• Imparting healthy lifestyle lessons for students, parents and elderly.
• Extra sessions for talented/gifted students
• Special clubs for target groups with low activity levels
• One-on-one training for kids (if required)
• Active learning breaks with the TA and the whole class.
• Refresher sessions before PE class re-opens.

2. Staff Training: This is a helpful session for Primary School PE’s where they learn innovative ideas to inspire and encourage their students.

• We’ll guide them on how to use markings in different ways quickly with lesser resources.
• We’ll train them on how to use the Inspired Schools web application.
• We offer lunchtime supervisor training along with teaching assistant training.

3. Wider Community: Every primary school in the UK can play a vital role in creating a healthier community. This could be achieved by introducing special parent-student workout sessions at school, which will promote a healthy lifestyle and ensure families remain active and healthy. A pensioner programme can also be added for the elderly. Plus, schools can enrol parents for a pre-school workout session with kids.

4. Data Tracking: We also offer data tracking, so schools could easily keep termly reports of physical activities performed by students. This will help them encourage and motivate their students for different projects. We also provide records of data on the activity levels of the entire school. More importantly, this report can be used by the school to tick-off all the Ofsted boxes and to show how they are spending their PE and Sports Premium.

Have a query or want to learn more about how we can help? Connect with us today!