With extreme temps becoming the norm, cities and builders find ways to adapt
For the past few summers, new heat records were set almost daily, across the country. The phenomenon suggests no single region is more prone to excessive heat than another. Most municipalities in North America are guaranteed to experience an unprecedented heat wave at some point.
Those high temperatures are especially troubling for little ones who, by virtue of size, are closer to the ground than the average adult and feel the impacts of extreme heat more. At the worst, heat waves on playgrounds can cause injuries, burns, or disengagement from play spaces if there is no way to cool off.
The following are playground-design considerations that parks and recreation teams can use in the offseason to give facilities a facelift for high-season activities, even without extensive resources.
Shade > Metal
Janelle Zwart, Project Manager at Earthscape Play in Ontario, Canada, spends a lot of time thinking about heat and playground designs. In fact, the topic comes up in “just about every project,” she says, whether the municipality in question has frigid winters or high desert temperatures.
Most adults remember the visceral feeling of using a metal slide in summertime, she says, and burning the backs of their legs. While playground materials like metal may be the problematic element of these memories, Zwart says available or historic materials are not all good or bad. It’s really a larger question of the environment.
“The stainless-steel slide example comes up quite often. We still use them because they’re exceptionally durable and look nice, but you have to be careful about orientation,” she says.
Even if available materials, like metal slides, can potentially become too hot for playground use during a heat wave, with improved placement or more shade implementation, the structures don’t need to be thrown to the wayside.
The question of shade is also important for Chris Evans, the Director of Miami’s Parks and Recreation Department and its 85 citywide playgrounds. In 2023, the city finalized a master plan to renew parks and recreation facilities for the first time since 2007, with new considerations for heat and climate-change adaptation.
“[The master plan] includes looking into playground surfaces, shade canopies, more trees, and more shade,” he says. “The most tangible thing we’ve done in any playground is include shade structures…. Back in the day, there was lots of metal and exposed surfaces [to the sun].”
Use Wood To Cool Down
At Earthscape, Zwart says most of the playgrounds produced are made of wood because it provides a cooler thermal experience than plastic or metal jungle gyms.
“[We use] pine pickled in white vinegar, [which] makes that product super durable, but not treated from a technical perspective,” says Zwart. “[It gets] smoother [and] doesn’t sliver at all. It’s not what you think of with childhood playgrounds [using] pressure-treated lumber.”
Plus, if the equipment has interior areas like structural towers for kids to run in and out of, the wood insulates internal temperatures and prevents them from becoming too hot, even if positioned in direct sunlight.
Jason Wood, a Construction Foreman at Paramount Landscaping, Inc. in Ontario, Canada, specialized in playground design and installation for 20 years prior to his current role as a landscape architect. He agrees with Zwart that wood beats out other playground materials for heat tolerance.
“Wood doesn’t store or hold heat,” he says. “We use a varnish on the wood [because] it protects it from water absorption and [from] users getting splinters.”
Wood also recommends playground elements like mulch finishes with light coloration to keep kids’ bare feet cool in the summertime, as opposed to elements like astroturf that lock in heat.
Embrace The Splash Pad
Playground surface materials are just as important as the structures atop them because dark surfaces, like rubber, attract more heat from the sun, and kids can burn their feet. This is especially worrisome when there are unshaded areas with dark surfaces that roast throughout the day.
Zwart says one trend that landscape architects are leaning into is splash pads, which keep surfaces covered with plenty of water. Though splash pads tend to be pricier than other playground amenities, this feature may be vital to help combat excessive heat.
Wood says water is a simple, often overlooked element that can make or break any playground design, especially in high desert temperatures.
“Drought issues tie in directly with water management, and one of the largest missed opportunities [on playgrounds] is the ability to store point-of-source rainwater for many uses within a play space,” he says.
He also says that finding ways to capture potable rainwater and use it in playground elements like splash pads is key to thinking about playground management for climate change.
Start Small
Zwart says updating playgrounds within established budgets is “always tricky,” but if a municipality is still considering the allocation of funds for a full facelift, there are easy-to-reach starting points.
“Look for a thermally comfortable site,” she says. “There might be some mature trees available. That’s the first go-to. Shade solutions add a lot of cost…. Careful site selection [with trees] can go a long way.”
Zwart envisions nontraditional materials, such as cork, debuting on the market to provide unique thermal solutions for playground elements like slides. She suggests keeping an eye out for playground vendors, the unique materials offered, and the reasoning behind those offerings.
Evans concurs that, from a city-planning perspective, allocating resources for parks and recreation improvements is the most difficult part of the process. Also, the current economic climate hasn’t often been gracious to city leaders attempting to enact upgrades.
“Since the pandemic, construction costs have risen…. The cost for a playground in 2018 is not the same as in 2024 or 2025,” he says.
For Wood, the first step for any cash-strapped municipality attempting to upgrade its parks in dealing with heat waves is implementing shade solutions because they tend to be the least expensive options. Once that’s accomplished, he recommends following through on water-collection solutions and wood mulching to replace hot ground surfaces.
Balance Indoor And Outdoor Programming
Evans knows the summer months will be brutal in Miami. Thus, the city works around the heat to create programming that reflects the season’s natural cycles. About 2,500 kids across the city enroll in summer programs, he says, and to mitigate heat risks in parks, visits to citywide pools and parks are grouped in the earlier part of the day, while indoor activities are planned during peak heat hours.
He says, it’s paramount to ensure that kids and families obtain some type of relief in parks, no matter the temperature.
“[Between] the high obesity rates and kids being plugged into devices more than each other, we always try to keep [connection] in mind with our programs.”
