According to WHO – 85% of tween girls are inactive! They have also found play is the number one physical activity for children, including tweens. But do tweens get motivated by the same play activities as toddlers?
Kompan, as part of their ongoing Play Institute research, has worked with Thea Toft Amholt on her doctoral thesis. Her research presents the science behind where tweens are most active on the playground, what they play, and why they use playgrounds the way they do.
In the study, 150 tween girls were monitored on school playgrounds. The data collected is convincing. When specifically designing playground equipment for girls - tween girls can in fact be very active.
Download the whitepaper "Climbing Activates Teen Girls", from our research page, or watch Thea Toft Amholt talk about her full PhD project about "Motivating Playgrounds".
Four considerations for activating tween girls on playgrounds
1. Consider tween girls as a special target group when designing playgrounds
2. Consider climbing equipment: Spacenets, PCM structures, and GALAXY structures
3. Challenge the tween girls with high play equipment
4. Consider chill areas such as platforms