Playground equipment designers today are more likely to be talking about the environmental impact of play equipment and understanding how children can be stimulated to learn through play, and how the imagination can be sparked within the child. This is a much better proposition than the aged idea of ‘just keeping them off the streets’.

Even school playground equipment has taken on board that to be creative, play is an integral part of a child’s development, school’s are even incorporating mathematical thinking into P.E lessons. The use of multi use games areas otherwise known as MUGA, has been an innovative step towards creating a more functional use of children’s outdoor playground equipment, the need for space decreases, as the multi activity of the area is designed to fit into the space available, thus negating a huge area for sports, however ideal this maybe.

Innovative play equipment is available to get children moving and enjoying play through all developmental stages of their growing years. The varied designs from climbing rocks to trail equipment is designed to give children confidence in their abilities and to encourage them to develop team building skills and keep them highly active.

A lot of playground designers are now incorporating the natural world into their designs, giving teachers and pupils the ability to interact with nature, from gardening to bird watching. The development of the sensory gardens is far removed from the cold hard metal framed play areas of the past. These sensory areas provide stimulation for children with health issues, encouraging touching of the various textures and listening for the sounds of various wind chimes.

Incorporating all age groups into playground design is required, however when children reach secondary level of schooling the needs for imaginative play reduces and more focus is placed upon the athletic ability and teamwork, the MUGA systems mentioned earlier are designed with this age group in mind also. These systems encourage all over body co-ordination for the use of football and other net sports, such as basketball.

As the teen age is difficult to keep interested, school play ground specialists also need to think about the technology this age group uses and school shelters are beginning to see the use of Bluetooth youth shelters making their way onto the playground.

For anybody seeking to have an overhaul of their school or communal playground there is funding for playgrounds and most reputable playground designers will be happy to supply information regarding sourcing funds for your new project.

About The Author

Written by Pete Tooley, a former teacher who now designs outdoor play areas for schools using eco-friendly school playground equipment. The use of outdoor classrooms can have amazing results and a opens up a whole a new way of teaching.

http://www.monsterplay.co.uk

If you are looking for the best acne spot treatment for your skin disorder, then you might be interested in the natural one because it is side effect free and can give us an acne-free skin through balancing our overall health. Looking on acne as part of the malfunctioning health, instead of a separate problem, can make us go a long way in treating it effectively. In order to do normalize your health and get your clear skin back again, there are three steps that you should follow from the beginning to the end. Specifically, they are finding out the root causes of your acne, pinpointing what works for your own condition, and enjoying your acne free skin.

Root Causes of Acne

Only when you understand what causes acne in the first place can you find out what works best for your case. For some, certain foods often cause acne breakouts and flare-ups on their face. For others, their acne problems are related to their personal hygiene habits. Therefore, the cure that works for some people will not necessarily work for you. If you want to find out what the root cause is then you need to do some filtering. For example, if you are not sure if dairy products cause acne breakouts for you, you might just steer clear of them for a while and see if the acne is gone. After that, finding the best acne spot treatment for you will become a breeze.

The Acne Spot Treatment That Works for You

After finding out what causes acne on your skin, it would become easy for you to pinpoint the best treatment for your case. It is recommended not to buy into any supplements or medications if you haven’t known the root cause yet. However, if you haven’t found out the cause, the best treatment would be a holistic one that benefits our overall health. It’s easy. Just take a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy and do exercises on a regular basis. And keep your skin clear all the time by washing it properly.

Enjoy Clear Skin

If you have done the above mentioned steps properly, then you will enjoy an acne free skin very soon and for a long time to go. By forming good habits, acne will never come up again because medications only deal with the symptoms temporarily. You will also save a lot of money on buying products and medications by using natural treatments because they will cost nothing other than adjusting what you have been doing everyday.

Ready to discover the most fanstic and best natural acne treatment available out there? Visit my website now at acneclearing.org to get the surefire tips that show you what the best acne treatments look like.

A very popular look recently is big hair, the bigger the better in fact. To get the look isn’t that hard but there is a process you need to follow to get it right. The hair style is based on getting the most volume possible out of your hair to get it as big as it can be. So that means combing and drying together with the right products.

To begin you will need to wash your hair. Use a shampoo that is proven to boost the volume of your hair. Once washed loosely tie it up while leaving the bottom layers hanging loose. Take a brush and use it on the bottom layers left hanging. As you are doing this dry the hair with a hair dryer from root to tip. There is a brand of shampoos called Sexy Hair which have a dedicated range called big sexy hair which has shampoos and conditioners dedicated to the big hair look.

As you are drying your hair add in Sexy hair root pump which will boost the volume of your hair. While you are drying the hair let your hair fall down and massage the roots at the same time to add more lift. Brush the hair and then when the brush has reached the bottom of the hair curl hold it there for fifteen seconds. Do this with all of your hair until it is all dried.

After you have done that take a handful of hair and curl it up. Do this with another few sections of your hair and spray them all with hairspray. To finish the big hair process hang your hair upside down and spray it all with lots of hairspray. Continue spraying all over once your hair is upright and you’re finished.

The ‘Rule Of 3′ Meets Pareto’s ’80/20′ And You Get Fit Faster As A Result!

Everybody likes simple lists.

Everybody likes Rules Of Thumb.

And as far as I can tell, everyone wants tighter abs and more energy.

So, naturally, we all look for the “best” diets and the “best” training routines to bring us closer to that six-pack…ideally, in the least amount of time possible.

…Oh yeah–and we don’t want to think too hard either!

The Old Way:
Counting calories? Fuh-ged-a-bow-dit!

Getting a bodyfat measurement each week? No way!

Calculating our new “estimated 1-rep max” for 27 different exercises? Puh-leeze.

So what’s the solution?
Well, if you don’t mind limiting our example to exercise for the moment, I think I have a few things that can help you in your endless search for the most efficient use of your fitness time.

(which is like, what? about 45 minutes a day 3-4 times a week if you’re lucky?) …It’s OK–you’re human! I do this stuff for a living, and I don’t spend much more time than that myself.

Introducing: “The Rule Of 3-80/20 (Principle)”

Any activity of importance (like exercise) can be broken down into three, and only three Critical Success Factors. Furthermore, one of these critical success factors should account for 80% of your efforts. And the other two, on average, just 10% of your time, energy, and effort (that is, of course, if you actually want to get anything done).

Thus sayeth The Fitness Sage (that’s me).

And you should listen to me when it comes to getting things done, because I have a Masters Degree *and* ADD (attention deficit disorder). Without principles like the above, I would be hocking blackmarket Pi-Tae-Boga-Lates tapes to out-of-work actors in LA.

Yeah, so I’m ripping off the Pareto Principle and the Rule Of 3, but you’ll forgive me real quick when you see how this applies to your exercise routine.

Now that I’ve circumnavigated my point a few times, here it is real simple, in 3 (surprise, surprise) easy steps:

The Three Critical Exercise Routine Success Factors
1. Consistent Progression: Needs 80% of your time and attention.
2. Sufficient Intensity: Needs 15% of your time and attention.
3. Intelligent Evolution: Needs 5% of your time and attention.

Simple huh?

But maybe you need some clarification, so here goes.

Consistent Progression Explained:
There are really just 3-4 workout parameters that even matter to the average Jane or Joe who wants a good body and excellent health: Rest Period, Load, Reps-Per-Set, and Total Number Of Sets.

So your job is to simply pick one of these, hold all the rest constant, and improve your chosen workout parameter from week-to-week, workout-to-workout until you can no longer do so (just remember to hold everything else constant! especially total workout duration).

When you can’t improve on your chosen parameter, pick a different one and repeat.

That’s it. It really is that simple. Tools needed: 1 pocket-sized notebook and a stopwatch.

Of course, you might want some proven, superior methods to “improve on your chosen parameter.” At the bottom of this article, you’ll get your wish! But first…

Sufficient Intensity Explained:
Make sure you’re doing resistance training folks. Not aerobics. Not LSD (long slow distance cardio). Or any other fitness fad that makes your lungs burn more than your muscles. If you’re consistently getting 20+ reps on all your exercises, then you need to choose more difficult exercises. Period.

Cardio and aerobics have health benefits no doubt, but if you’re really looking for “bang-for-your-fitness-buck”, and you’re short on time, then stick with resistance training. It’s the only kind of exercise that builds muscle and boosts your metabolism permanently–not just during your workout.

Shoot for exercises that are so difficult, you can only perform between 1 and 15 reps. This could be weightlifting (if you lack the creativity and sophistication of a “Tao Of Functional Fitness” devotee who relies solely on portable exercise equipment–like Fitness Bands–and their own bodyweight), but it doesn’t have to be. If you know how to manipulate leverage, even bodyweight only exercises can be made difficult enough.

Why just 15% of your time worrying about this? Because all you have to do is make sure most of your exercise (excluding a proper warmup of course) falls within this rep range. Not exactly rocket-science. Nuff said.

Intelligent Evolution:
This is just another term for “periodization” or “cyclic training.” Basically it means that you need a strategy for changing your exercise routine over the long haul as you get stronger and closer to realizing your goals. Most of the time the Consistent Progression rule takes care of this, hence the paltry 5% of your noggin that’s required to intelligently evolve.

But over the long haul, you sometimes need to dramatically change your workout protocol. There’s not space here to explore all the ins-and-outs of doing this, but a simplified recommendation would be to cycle between phases where you focus on increasing the Average Load you handle during your workouts, and phases where you’re more concerned with the Amount Of Work Per Unit Time you perform (i.e. “Strength” vs. “Density”).

Conclusion
Consistent Progression (80%) + Sufficient Intensity (15%) + Intelligent Evolution (5%).

Find an exercise routine that gives you that, and you’re on to something!

Author Bio
Jeremy Markum (The Fitness Sage) is an author and fitness consultant based in San Diego, California. He can help you incinerate fat, & sculpt lean, sexy muscle… *without* going to the gym, and *without* calorie counting or endless cardio! Get your FREE tips about this profound new approach to fitness right now at: www.JeremyMarkum.com

If you are busy, not able to get up early morning or have no time for gym just follow this 20 minute home workout to stay healthy and fit.

1) Jog : in one place for 3 minutes

2) Jumping jacks: 25 repeats
When landing, bend your knees slightly to reduce the impact on knee joints.

3) Crunches : 15 repeats
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands behind your head with elbows pointing outwards. Support your neck with your hands. Keep your neck in a straight line with your spine. Flex your waist to raise the upper torso from the mat. Lower yourself until the back of your shoulders touches the mat.
Muscle worked: rectos abdominis

4) Hip Bridges : 10 repeats
Lie on your back. With your hands at a 90 degree angle to the floor, lift your body off the floor to form a straight line, a sort of a bridge, from the shoulders to the knee. The position should resemble a table. Your hands and legs as the legs of the table and your upper body to your knees as the surface. Hold this position for two seconds. Squeeze your gluteus (butt muscles) and then lower yourself.
Muscle worked: Lower back, hamstrings and gluteus.

5) Step – up’s : 1 minute
You will need a stepper for this.
Muscle worked: hamstrings, gluteus, quards.

6) Reverse crunches: 15 repeats
Lie on your back with your hands on your sides. Keep you knees bent. Bring your knees towards your head, till your hips come slightly off the floor. Hold this position for a second, and then lower your knees.
Muscle worked: lower abs and obliques.

7) Mountain climbers : 1 minute
Get your hands and knees and raise your knees like a starting block sprinter. Run in that position, supporting your upper body with the palms of your hands. Keep your back straight.
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoid muscle, gluteus, quards, hamstrings, calves.

Push – ups : 15 repeats
Muscle worked: triceps, deltoids, pectorals.

9) Squat thrusts: 1 minute
Stand straight. Now, drop to a crouch position. Immediately thrust your legs out straight behind on your toes, in push up position, now jump to pull legs back to the chest, in crouching position , then stand up straight,
Muscle worked: arms, legs, chest, and lower back.

Cool down by walking around, till your heart rate starts getting back to normal, stretch.

A minutes rest is needed in between exercise. Proper form is important. Do not hold breath. Sip water during the workout. This workout targets the whole body, improves cardiovascular efficiency and tones and strengthens the body.

Author Bio
Diana for http://www.health-care-information.org Offers information on various health topics such as diseases, injuries, and medical tests.

TRAINING TO RUN:

Everything depends on your level of fitness. Lance Armstrong said running a marathon was the hardest thing he ever did, I’m just happy to finish one. His sub 3 hour marathon equate to my 1/2 marathon time give or take some minutes. The Basics of running are simple, efficiency of stride, lactic acid treshold, base training, patience and determination.

Training plan: If your just starting out, I would suggest running 3 times a week. I would also run a 3 week cycle.The first week of the cycle you train at a specific level. The second week you increase by 10-20%. The third week you scale back to lower than first week’s level. This give’s your body time to recuperate and prevents injuries. The first week of your next cycle should be increased by 10-15%. After 3 cycles, reduce you first week pace by 10%. This will work – you just need to be patient.
For example : Distance of every run in the week.

Cycle 1: wk1:1km – wk2:1.2km – wk3:0.9km

Cycle 2 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 3 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 4 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 5 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 6 : wk1:1.6km – wk2:1.8km – wk3:1.4km

I think you get the picture.

Beginner:
The best method to ease into running is the run walk method. Your body should adjust to running more easily using this method. The time you spend running and the time you spend walking depends again on your fitness level. If you need to walk longer or are able to run more, just do it. You run for 30-60 seconds, depending , you walk for 30 seconds. You do this for a week. The next week you increment you run by 10 seconds, but keep the walk to 30 seconds. As the weeks progress you should be able to gain substancial increase you capacity of running. The ideal for the run walk method is to get up to 10 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, but it all depends on how you feel. Once you are able to keep a pace of 10-1 for 30 minutes you can start to increase the 10 minute run by 10-20% every week.

The pace you should be in is a Zone 1 pace. Zones are calculated by the hearth rate that is attained with physical activity. Zone 1 pace is (220 – your age) X 60 or 70% – I’m 36 , (220bpm – 36) X 70% = 130 bpm. This is a foundation building pace. This pace is used on long runs because it enables your body to manage lactic acid. A friendly fuel when absorbed properly lactic acid becomes running enemy when it is out of control. The longer you can run at this pace, the more your body will improve his capability to absorb the acid. This is endurance building, and it is the first step to having a great run.

Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles’ Foe, It’s Fuel – New York Times
The notion that lactic acid was bad took hold more than a century ago, but more recent research suggests that it is actually a fuel, not a caustic waste …

If you need to do more sports during the week, cross training should be your choice. Gym work to strenghten the abs are a plus. Cycling or spinning also get your heart going without the impact on your knees.

If you are able to run for 30 minutes, my suggestion to you is to get out there and find a nice friendly 5k. This is a celebration of life , a celebration of your new found passion: Running. Turkey trot your way to the end.

Intermediate:
You’ve acheived your first goal and that first 5k is now behind you. You’ve adapted your body to running and now can run 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time and can even push this a bit further.

You now are able to move to the next level. First thing to do is add another running day to your week. This will help you put on the miles and will help you adjust even more to a runner’s regiment. Second thing to do is start mixing up your running workouts. 1 slow long run (zone 1), 2 normal half hour runs (zone 1 maximized- bottom zone 2), and 1 run that is totally different from the other types of runs that your body is accustomed to do. My suggestion is either Hill running or intervals.

Hill running is simple: Find a hill – run it to the top (if you can get up there fine – if not – stop where your about to collapse) – once up there – walk back down. Do this 10 times and make sure you keep a pace that you can accomplish it 10 times. If you cannot run it – walk up the hill. This will put pressure on your big leg muscles and should bring your body close to lactic acid threshold, walking back down will help your body manage that load and will push it farther and farther as the workouts progress.

Interval: Warm up with a 15 minute turkey trot. Once you are warmed up – bolt it for 100 meters – as fast as you canb without collapsing before you done that 100 meters (85% of your max speed) – just before blowing up – walk for 1 minutes. Repeat this for at least 1000 meters (10 X 100 meters). If your body is not too broken, turkey trot your way back home for another 15 minutes … this is great for pushing your lactic acid treshold even farther.

The point of pushing your body this way is to enable you to start picking up speed and finding a way to sustain it. Also – this is a good thing for your running body as it is called upon to adjust and find new ways of coping. Doing the same thing week after week can cause your body to adapt to it and migth inder your progression.

The goal you might have with these exercises is to improve you PR for your 5K or 10K time, enabling you to get faster and faster. Being faster and enabling your body to cope with it will help you out on your long slow runs. Your lactic acid overload might not be as great as it was before and your threshold of pain and endurance will be hightened.

Once you mastered these techniques and can now run for an hour or more on your slow long runs, a 10K or a half marathon is well within your reach.

Experts:
Elite runners are a breed on their own. They usually have a running stride that looks like a work of art and also have a cardio that can sustain 15-20 km/hour run tempo. Not everybody can acheive this type of running pace and keep it for 2 hours or more.

If your at this level and are reading this, you’ve humored me enough to keep going and could potentially write an article on this web site about how you go about your training. Since Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi are not here to add some advice, I will risk myself and add my two cents to this level of running fitness.

First thing, and expert runner should be able to run in the zone 1 range all day long, barely breaking a sweat. These athletes are fine tuned running machines and have close to the same body fat as an average model on a cat walk. That said, the muscle mass is fine tuned and the heart is usually as big as a football :0).

I have one friend who’s an ultrafit retired cyclist (retired from all out competition but still competes at the fun level) – I put him on my treadmill with a heart monitor and asked him to start running. When he reached my top speed that I could sustain for more than 5 minutes (11 km/h) – his heart rate was barely beating. He could run at this pace for hours, I could barely do it for 5 minutes.

That’s the difference between joe runner and Meb Keflezighi, the ability to acheive a speed and endurance that boggles the mind, strains the body, and pounds the heart.

These people usually have trained since they were kids and benefit from coaches and proper climate atmospheres (high altitude training) to enable them to reach the next level. They also have a very strict meal regiment and cannot afford to indulge in life’s simple pleasures (Beer – wine – cheese cake …) without paying a hefty price performancew wise.

If you are an elite runner and would like to submit and article – please do so right here. I will be happy to put a link back to your website.

Anyways, I Got To Run.

Author Bio
Remy-Marc Beauregard is a seasonned runner that gives advice on running, training and nutrition. www.gottorun.info

Just in recent years designer handbags have made a major comeback from being for the more mature crowd to being a brand that young girls and women of all ages enjoy wearing.

I see more of the colorfully designed handbags more than ever. These have become especially popular with the young and hip crowd. You’ll see mostly the high school and college level girls wearing the colorful designs. Not to say that the mature crowd doesn’t like this look. It’s playful and fun and who doesn’t like to have fun every once in awhile.

The subtle and earthy toned bags look more sophisticated. Now it seems these handbags are bringing the younger crowd towards developing a liking to them as well. I remember when I was a girl I didn’t like my mother’s handbag because it was brown all over. It didn’t have any color to it. Now, browns and cremes are all I wear in the fall and winter. Funny how things change.

Designer handbags have become some of the most popular around. The handbags that were once not so popular, like the leather handbags, are now being made with a more fashionable look. They look younger and more stylish.

Even the crocodile prints with eccentric colors have the designer handbag scene blowing up with popularity. I don’t particularly care for this style, but I see them more often being carried by women over forty.

Prices range from $100 to $300 for most styles. The more expensive handbags are still fairly priced, ranging from $300 to $500. You can find cute DB handbags and many other handbags in high-end department stores such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor or Nordstrom. Here’s a little secret…look for coupons from these stores in the newspapers around the holidays to get 15%-20% off most items. That is when I get to shop for my goodies. My husband gets excited when he sees the savings, too!

Speaking of saving money…did you know that you can buy designer label products online? There are online stores that sell the top of the line handbags and offer discount prices for new items. Ebay is an online store that offers a vast selection of designer handbags and other products, all discounted. They also have live online auctions where you can bid on a new or slightly used handbag and walk away with the bag of your choice for just a fraction of what you planned to pay. That handbag that you would pay $300 for in the stores, you could end up only paying $150 for online. It’s no joke!

So, the next time you are window shopping online, like a lot of people like to do, when you decide to buy, try buying it online and see for yourself the huge savings. You’ll be glad you did.

In my opinion, pimples on forehead tend to sprout out in groups but in smaller sizes. They are relatively easy to be removed quickly as long as you do the three things that I am going to share with you in the following paragraphs, specifically, knowing about the forehead, restricting yourself and having a good internal environment. After reading this article, you are going to be able to get started right way with getting your forehead cleared again in no time.

What is forehead when it comes to pimples?

Forehead is the part of the face which occupies a big proportion. It is also defined as the top of the T-zone which is the zone of our face where much oil comes out. When the dead skin cells accumulate, the follicles are clogged. And when more sebum or oil is produced by the glands within them, they will be prevented from coming out. As the oil grows, an environment is then constructed for bacteria. Thus, pimples come into being. Once you suffer pimple breakouts, you need to not trouble them.

Restricting yourself

When pimples occur on your forehead, there are three things that you should never do. The first is washing the pimple affected area hard. It is recommended that you take a mild face wash or soap, wash your face gently and dab dry, twice a day. The second thing that you should not do is covering your forehead with a hat. Otherwise, it will make things worse because the forehead area will sweat more and be susceptible to scratching. The third thing that you should prevent yourself from doing is worrying too much about it. You should know that the pimples will go away soon and there’s nothing to worry about. Otherwise, you will give yourself too much pressure which is bad for the skin problem.

Creating a healthy internal environment

Personally, keeping yourself pressure free is laying a big brick on the foundation of a healthy internal environment which is not only beneficial to the health of skin, but also good for the overall health. In addition, what you eat everyday is also very important. Eating healthy will detoxify our body, which will go a long way in treating skin conditions such as pimple breakouts.

In conclusion, you may have made up your mind to treat the forehead scientifically after understanding how it works, prevent yourself from doing things that are bad for the cure of pimples and build a healthy environment inside your body. Only in this way can you be confident enough to say your skin, including that on the forehead, is free of pimples.

If you want to see instant result in your acne removing effort, then you might want to check benzoyl peroxide acne out. However, you also need to understand the effects as well as benzoyl peroxide risks in order to use it correctly for your good.

Separation is a challenging time for many parents because it is an adjustment to a new way of life. There are both positive and negative factors to separation and the corresponding changes, but one of the issues that can arise is the differences that parents may have in the ways that they parent the children. The key point or focus that parents need to address is that they must put the best interests of the children first, and that their role is to continue to be the best possible parents to their children, even though they no longer live in the same home.

In order to put the interests of the children first parents that are separated need to consider the following issues, and determine how they can accomplish the goal of putting their kids first and provide love, safety and security for their children.

Communication

Maintaining the lines of communication is critical to continue successfully parenting the children. Many incorrect assumptions are made that the other parent is aware of scheduling changes, school events, outings or other issues affecting the child. Often parents expect children to be the messengers between them, and this is a very difficult and emotionally harmful role for you child to have to play. Parents should discuss and determine a method that will allow them to continue to communicate about the children and to work together to make decisions in the best interests of the kids. This communication may be done by fax, email, voicemail, phone calls or
face-to-face meetings, depending on the level of comfort or conflict.

Flexibility

No matter how carefully you plan or schedule your life there are always things that come up out of your control. As parents it is important to realize that this can happen for you, your ex-spouse and your children. Try to be as flexible as possible and allow the other parent and the children to have time together whenever possible.

Joint decision making

If you are able to communicate as coparents it is important to keep in mind that joint decision-making is usually in the best interests of the children. For difficult or major decisions it is helpful to get the other parent’s input and opinion to prevent further conflict down the line. Most parents want to be a part of their children’s lives even if they don’t live in the same home as the children, and using a joint decision making process helps them stay connected to the children and helps to provide a sense of security for the children.

Stay positive about the other parent

It is important to allow the children to have the most positive relationship that they possibly can with both of their parents. The more positive, respectful and civil that Mom and Dad can stay with each other the more comfortable, secure and stable the children will view their new lives. Children need to understand that separated parents are still Mom and Dad, and will still continue to be a part of their lives, even thought they live in different homes or even in different communities.

Keep explanations to children as simple as possible, and avoid any negative comments about the other parent. As separated parents stay flexible, communicate openly about the children and allow maximum contact between your children and the other parent.

Author Bio
Jonathan Brown recommends Divorce Ontario for more information about successsful parenting after separation.