Whenever I step onto a soft Upcycle tire ground on a new playground, Inam instantly taken back to the playgrounds I grew up on.

For starters, the ground was usually bare soil where children trampled the grass away, ugly green material that was supposed to mimic grass, or asphalt. I remember giant metal slides that would burn your exposed skin. We would bring a towel or some other cloth as a barrier. It also helped us slide faster. Slides today are much easier to slide down and not nearly as hot!

Instead of the bold, brightly colored jungle gyms with curves and sometimes rings to grab with little hands, we had simple, straight grey/silver ladder shaped monkey bars. Our swings were the traditional thick bendable strap secured on either side by chains. We would swing high and jump off mid air or sit on the seats and twist them sideways facing a friend and lace our legs through the friend’s seat, as they did the same to us. No dangling feet as a third and sometimes fourth person pushed us on the swings. The swings seem shorter today.

At one playground, there was a strange “swing”. It dangled from a thick wooden plank that jutted out from a climbing structure that had a slide attached on the other end. A brave child could lay on their stomach and crawl to the end of this extended wooden plank that held the “swing”, risking a serious fall.

This “swing” consisted of four very thick chains attached ti a metal gadget that seemed to rotate on a metal “ball” secured to the bottom of the wood by a metal cube shaped piece. The chains were secured at the bottom in what seemed to be a huge knot. We would sit on this knotted chain and twist in circles or have a friend push us in the same manner you would a typical swing, just less comfortable.

We also had metal “merry-go-rounds” also known as the “metal circle of death”. It was shaped like a merry-go-round, but it had metal hand rails that extended from the center to the edge. From above it would look like a pre-sliced pie. We would all grab a rail and run as fast as we could in one direction. Once we had enough momentum, we would begin jumping into the merry-go-round and ride until it began to slow down.

We had a lot of fun! Today’s playgrounds made me realize how dangerous some of our playgrounds were growing up. I wouldn’t change it, but I’m glad playgrounds are safer today.