Everyone has their own memories of playing on their school’s playground. You’d dash to the spot where your friends usually gathered, thrilled to find they were already casting roles for today’s game of “house.” Mimicking your role models, you’d repeat lines your mom often told you: do your homework, eat your dinner, and yes, your socks matching does actually matter.

“House” is a great example of dramatic and social play. It’s a collaborative fantasy children create together, building on each other’s ideas as the narrative unfolds. For many children with autism, this imaginative framework makes peer interaction more predictable—and therefore less intimidating—while also giving them a fun, meaningful way to share their interests and feel understood.

Read on to discover how your school’s playground design can empower children with autism to build meaningful peer connections.

Dramatic play is a type of imaginative play where children take on different roles

The strongest argument for intentional school playground design is not theory. It is what happens when real schools build outdoor spaces that are designed to do real work. A recent Springfield case study shows the idea in motion. And when you line those stories up next to public school data, the case for designing school playgrounds on purpose gets a lot more concrete.

The Play On! Design Guide includes examples from Missouri and Mississippi that are worth paying attention to because they show a pattern. The winning formula is not just new school playground equipment. It is intentional design, active programming, teacher support, and a clearer idea of what the school playground is supposed to accomplish for students and the community.

That matters because schools do not need fairy tales. They need proof points. They need to see what intentional school playground design looks like on the ground, what it asks of educators, and what kinds of student outcomes it can help support over time.

More physical activity in childhood is associated with better cognition and academic success. The evidence is clear. That is why designing a school playground should never begin with a simple question like, “How many kids can fit out there?” It should begin with a better one: “What do we want this space to help students do?”

When schools approach school playground design through that lens, the conversation changes fast. The playground stops being a recess-only amenity and starts becoming a tool for movement, regulation, skill-building, and school-day readiness. That does not mean every school playground has to look the same. It does mean every school playground should be designed on purpose.

Play On! is one of the clearest frameworks available for doing exactly that. Developed by PlayCore in partnership with SHAPE America, it gives schools a research-based way to think about school playground equipment, physical activity, and standards-aligned programming as one connected system rather