Imaginative Role Play Playforce New Tunnel Train
A tunnel train complete with a passenger carriage and sand pit carriage has been devised by Playforce for school playgrounds.
Purchased either as a complete unit, or as three individual component parts, the train is appropriate for children up to the age of 11.
We wanted to develop a product that encourages imaginative role play and social interaction in a safe, fun way explains product designer Andrew Whittles. The engine provides a shelter where as many as four children at a time can pretend to operate the levers and dials and feed the boiler. Other children can clamber on the roof which is 1.4m high and there is also seating around the outside.
The Passenger carriage has been designed as a gathering space for social and role play. Up to ten children can fit into it, and because it is covered by a roof, it also doubles as a very useful sun shelter or perhaps a place for story telling.
The sandpit carriage comprises two sand pits, designed to look like the rest of the train, which are linked by an anti-slip surface and can be removed when necessary. The sand pits are sold as a pair and come complete with water resistant locable lids to keep the sand as dry as possible.
