Sona Brings Interactive Games to School Playgrounds

Sona, the interactive playground developed by the Dutch active play leader Yalp, has introduced active games to school playgrounds.

The Sona interactive playground is an innovative active play platform that uses an interactive game arch, a motion camera, a colourful floor and energising music to encourage physical activity through play. The motion camera tracks the players as they move around on the specially designed floor, and the platform gives them feedback in the form of music and sounds. To keep playing, the players must keep moving. The Sona playground is used in schools, children's playgrounds, day care centres and senior homes across Europe to encourage physical activity and develop a wide range of skills in players of all ages.

The Sona is particularly well suited to schools as it uses children's growing familiarity with video games and technology to engage them in free ourdoor play. Schools use the interactive playground to make vigorous exercise more appealing to children and make it part of their everyday activities.

The Sona platform comes with eight different games, including dance games, reaction and speed games, and tactics and concentration games. The games are suitable for players of all abilities, including wheelchair users. The playground offers a fun way for both children and adults to stay fit and healthy while playing together or competing against each other in an exciting, vibrant interactive setting. In terms of workout intensity, the Sona games DanceBattle and ReactionRace are comparable to running or going up the stairs, which makes them an effective tool for fighting inactivity and preventing childhood obesity and all the health risks associated with it.

The Sona was developed for use in public spaces and designed to encourage children to play outside. In addition to offering a vigorous workout, the games available with the interactive playground help children develop cognitive, creative, emotional, intellectual and social skills, ultimately providing them with a solid base for a strong, positive self-image.