Playground Lighting for Safer Play After Dark

Nearly all human development experts agree that unstructured play is crucial to children’s development. Unstructured play promotes interpersonal skills, conflict-management skills, physical activity, and creativity. The epicenter of many children’s unstructured play is, of course, the playground. From elaborate jungle gyms to simple swing-and-slide setups, most American schools and parks possess some iteration of a playground. Some ambitious parents have even built playgrounds at home for their own children.

Property Manager-Approved Solutions

 In many cases, especially in urban areas, the local park playground is one of the only nearby places to play. In the summer, it is common to see many children with their families playing until after dark on playgrounds. Here at Access Fixtures, we always strive to think of how high-performance lighting solutions can improve people’s lives. In this case, lighting public playgrounds can extend play time into the fall and winter months when it gets dark earlier. It can also extend summer play well into the evening and draw more use to local parks. Since all playgrounds are different, Access Fixtures is able to provide custom solutions to increase visibility and safety in and around playground areas. Access Fixtures works with municipal governments, home owner associations, property managers and non-profit associations to illuminate playgrounds and keep after dark play safe.

Types of Playground Lighting

Access Fixtures has many light fixtures that would be appropriate to light a playground. We have selected the best three categories for the job based on efficacy, lumen output, durability, and form factor. Read on below.

Playgrounds With LED Bollards

Bollard lights can provide a surprising amount of light for a small area such as a playground or a park pathway. Older-style bollard lights such as those with metal halide or fluorescent luminaires often struggle with breaking and longevity issues. Access Fixtures strictly provides LED bollard lights that come in a multitude of styles, wattages, shapes, and heights to meet any design desire. For playgrounds, especially in public parks, vandalism can sometimes be an issue. We recommend our VAND 72″ and 90″ bollard lights for playground lighting, for several reasons. These fixtures are vandal-resistant and lack a breakable exterior lens. For better ambiance and overall design enhancement, VAND bollard lights are available in custom RAL colors to match the color of playground equipment.

Playgrounds With Decorative Post Lights

Another playground lighting solution with a focus on ambiance is our collection of decorative post light packages. These post lights are heavy duty and meant for municipal areas, parks, and sidewalks. We carry multiple styles, wattages, Kelvins, and design options. We offer strong steel poles with these fixtures in a convenient package. The best thing about these decorative post lights is that they are available in so many housing options ranging from classic to ultra-modern. Poles are available at multiple heights and the fixtures throw light in a wide circle. Our decorative post lights are guaranteed to add a quaint, sophisticated touch to playgrounds and surrounding park areas while meeting local lighting requirements.

Playgrounds With APTA Area Lights

APTA LED lights are best in class when it comes to longevity and durability. Made for outdoor lighting projects such as tennis courts and public parks, the APTA is L70 rated at over 200,000 hours. Poles are available in multiple heights and come in steel, aluminum, and fiberglass. They are IP67 rated, meaning they are fully enclosed, dustproof, and waterproof. The APTA is a bold lighting solution for a playground when visibility is the main concern as these fixtures are available at higher wattages than the VAND and the decorative post lights. APTA area lights are available with a choice of many different optic types to distribute the light exactly where it is needed.

Need a Photometric Analysis?

All playgrounds are different. Varying equipment, light levels required, and other factors contribute to the need for unique lighting solutions. That’s where a photometric analysis makes all the difference. If you are a property manager or someone in charge of local parks and are looking to illuminate a playground, this can make the difference between ” just okay” lighting and truly incredible lighting. A photometric analysis runs potential fixtures through a computer program and creates a rendering of what the light levels would look like in a given area. The photo to the bottom right illustrates a photometric analysis Access Fixtures performed for a property manager looking to light a playground. We highly recommend a photometric analysis for this type of project due to the fact that there are no uniform sizes or dimensions of playgrounds.

All Access Fixtures playground lighting will be guaranteed to last for years and years of use. The bollard lights, post lights, and APTA area lights come with a five-year Access Fixtures warranty for peace of mind. If you would like to order a photometric analysis or to purchase playground lighting, contact us at 800-468-9925 or email [email protected]. We are happy to assist you with playground lighting or any other custom lighting project that you require.

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