Many manufacturers of playground equipment supply the playground owner with a maintenance kit to help preserve the aesthetics, usefulness, and safety of the equipment. These maintenance kits range from a maintenance record-keeping document to extra tools and hardware (nuts and bolts).

A proper maintenance kit will include a playground equipment manual, which will have a top view and 3-D drawings of the playground. It will also include the individual components’ installation instructions, parts list, and parts numbers. This gives the owner the ability to order new parts for worn or damaged pieces of equipment.

Marbles are small perfectly round objects that have been played with by children down through the ages. There is evidence of marble games being played by the ancient Egyptians, Aztecs, Romans, and Greeks. Although some early games may have been played with stones and nuts, there have also been small clay balls found in many prehistoric ruins.1

• 1. “History of Marbles.” iMarbles.com. < http://imarbles.com/historyofmarbles.php > 3 Dec. 2010.

Stephen Tyng Mather was the founding Director of the National Park Service and an early supporter of state parks. It was said that he “sacrificed his money, his health, his time, his opportunities for wealth, in order that he might promote that which will mean so much to the people of this country in the future.”1

• 1. “Stephen Tyng Mather, Cornelius Amory Pugsley Gold Medal Award, 1928.” AAPRA. < http://www.aapra.org/Pugsley/MatherStephen.html > 20 Sep. 2012.

Middleball is a new sport created by Scott Loetman in 2009. A relatively simple ball game to play, Middleball utilizes indoor courts, nets, and a beach ball to offer a fun activity for people of all ages and abilities.

Scott, who has worked with sports organizers to facilitate their leagues and tournaments for indoor court play, realized that the thousands of indoor racquetball, Wallyball, and squash courts are only used by a small percentage of the population – athletic men and women. These courts are expensive to maintain and are often underutilized during off hours causing many facilities to close their doors.

In 1997, Coach Eddie Bagwell of the Rockdale Youth Baseball Association (RYBA) Conyers, Georgia invited a 7 year old child confined to a wheelchair to participate in the game. Michael had attended every game and practice while cheering on his 5 year old brother. The next year, the RYBA gave other children with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball within their complex of typical baseball diamonds. Participants expressed a desire for uniforms, to make plays in the field, and to round the bases like other players. That year their league began with 35 players on 4 teams.

Since there were no established programs for offering baseball to children with disabilities, they decided on the following guidelines for the players and games:

The Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) is committed to the development of life skills in children through their involvement in the performing arts.1 Communication, self-discipline, and team work skills are fostered through MCT's local children's theatre, international traveling theatre, performing arts camps, and their Next Step Prep summer high school performance arts program.

• 1. “Mission Statement.” Missoula Children's Theatre. < http://www.mctinc.org/About_MCT/Mission_Statement > 13 April 2012.

Mold can frequently be found on playgrounds with wood surfaces and in wood mulch. The mold that most commonly grows on wood playground surfaces is called a slime mold. This mold is irregular in shape and grows in various colors such as brown, yellow, pink, or white. Slime molds are a temporary nuisance and are generally confined to small areas.1 They do not pose health hazards to humans unless eaten, but they may appear unpleasant.2

• 1. “Slime Molds.” Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Westchester County, Fact Sheet.
• 2. “What is Growing in my Landscape Mulch?” Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension, 1997.

Robin C. Moore earned his diploma in Architecture from the London University in 1962. For two years after that Robin worked on a research hospital design team for the architects Llewelyn-Davies, Weeks and Partners in London. In 1966, Robin moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to earn a master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was at MIT that Robin began his lifelong interest in combining environmental design, child development, and play spaces as evidenced by his master’s thesis, which was on the Lenox-Camden Playground. He directed community projects for Boston Redevelopment Authority concerning residential rehabilitation and the development of local open space.

Motor skills refer to the development of motor control, precision, and accuracy in the performance of both fundamental and more complex movements.1 They involve the movement of the muscles in the body, which are divided into two groups: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills use the larger movements of the arms, legs, feet, or the entire body when performing activities, such as crawling, running, and jumping.

• 1. Gallahue, David L. and Frances Cleland Donnelly. Developmental Physical Education for All Children. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 2003. pp. 14-15.