I have always loved most playground equipment. The only one I never really enjoyed as much was the see-saw, but I think that’s more because I was a lonely, awkward child and I never really had anyone to go on them with.
I think I have two pieces of equipment however, that are both tied for the position of my favourite piece of equipment. The first of the two is the swing set. There’s just something about the swing set, I used to have one in my garden and I could spend hours on it swinging backwards and forwards.
I think I used to really enjoyed the sensation of swinging backwards and forwards, though I’m not sure if that’s a normal thing, or part of my sensory processing of Dyspraxia. I also found as I got older that the swing set was a good place to go and clear my head. The motion was calming and somehow it just seemed so peaceful that I found it a really good way to think things through.
My other favourite piece of playground equipment was anything that involved climbing as high as possible, usually either those “spider-web” looking climbing frames, or the old style climbing walls. I don’t think those climbing walls exist anymore, at least not in the same way. Someone probably decided that kids being able to free climb that high was a little bit too dangerous.
I always think it’s slightly ironic that my favourite childhood playground equipment, the one I’d always run to first, is the climbing frame. Only because as I’ve grown up I’ve become deathly afraid of heights. I’m not even sure what caused my fear of heights, but I’m trying to overcome it because it’s so frustrating.
I love heights, but I’m terrified of them. Or rather I’m afraid of falling. I have an idea of when my fear started, the specific event that triggered it, however that’s something I should probably work through with my therapist.
A Place of Mine 