Enhance your school playground with the High Contrast School Playground Communication Board from Smarty Symbols. Optimized for outdoor environments, this durable and visually striking communication tool features 58 crucial vocabulary words tailored to engage K-5 students effectively. Crafted from robust materials such as UV-protected plastic and eco-friendly aluminum, each option offers a lifespan of over 5 years, ensuring enduring utility in diverse settings.
Aluminum Boards: Constructed from 3mm aluminum sheets with a polyethylene core, our aluminum options are especially suited for areas near water activities. They feature an optional extra UV protection glossy layer to enhance durability against environmental elements.
Text on the Boards: For Teachers: Encourage the normalization of these communication boards in your classroom. This tool helps children learn new words, form phrases, and engage more effectively with peers and educators. For Students: Use this board to enhance communication with your friends. Simply point to the pictures to express yourself or read aloud the responses to foster interaction.
Get creative and explore different ways of using symbols to enhance communication. This board is not only a tool but a bridge to more inclusive social interactions on the playground.
Available in both English and bilingual (English/Spanish) versions, the High-Contrast Preschool Playground Communication Board supports diverse linguistic needs, making it an indispensable resource for any educational environment focused on fostering communication skills and inclusivity.
Why High Contrast?
High contrast designs are essential for enhancing visual learning and communication, especially in dynamic environments like school playgrounds. Our High Contrast School Playground Communication Board is designed with this principle in mind, offering several key advantages:
- Increased Visibility and Attention: High contrast colors stand out more distinctly against varied backgrounds, ensuring that the communication symbols are easily noticeable and engaging for all children, including those with visual impairments.
- Enhanced Readability: The stark contrast between the background and the text/icons makes it easier for young learners to discern and understand the symbols, fostering better comprehension and quicker learning.
- Supports Visual Learning: High contrast visuals can help stimulate visual development in younger children and support the cognitive development of visual processing skills.
- Inclusivity: By catering to the needs of students with visual challenges, high contrast boards ensure that every child, regardless of their visual capabilities, can participate in and benefit from the communication opportunities these boards provide.
Combining Full Color and High Contrast Designs
At Smarty Symbols, we understand that different environments and situations might require different visual approaches. That’s why we offer the innovative option to combine both full color and high contrast designs into a single communication board. Here’s how this works:
- Dual-Sided Design: One side of the board features vibrant, full-color imagery suitable for engaging all children and brightening up any playground space. The reverse side uses a high contrast color scheme optimized for visibility and accessibility.
- Versatile Usage: This dual-sided approach allows educators and students to access the two designs based on their specific needs.
This dual-sided design not only maximizes the board’s usability but also ensures that every student can access communication tools in a way that best supports their learning and interaction. By integrating both full color and high contrast sides, Smarty Symbols continues to lead in creating inclusive educational tools that adapt to meet the diverse needs of students across different learning environments.
Features of the Preschool Playground Communication Board – High Contrast Edition:
- High Contrast Visuals: Utilizes a dynamic high contrast color scheme designed to enhance visual perception and engagement, making each of the 58 words, letters, and numbers stand out for all children, including those with visual impairments.
- Age-Appropriate Design: Specifically crafted for children in Preschool through Kindergarten, ensuring the content is suitable and engaging for young learners.
- User-Friendly Instructions: Features clear and concise instructions that are easy for both students and educators to follow, enhancing the usability of the communication tool.
- Inclusive Communication: Fosters an inclusive playground environment by promoting communication and social interaction among a diverse student population.
- Multilingual Options: Available in both English and bilingual versions (including Spanish, Portuguese, and French), addressing the diverse linguistic needs of any school community.
- Language Development: Encourages the acquisition and development of essential communication skills through interactive learning and play.
- Customizable Features: Offers customization options to perfectly align with your school’s specific needs and preferences, ensuring a more personalized experience.
- Robust Construction: Built from durable, weather-resistant materials to withstand various outdoor elements, ensuring long-lasting performance and minimal maintenance.
- Flexible Installation: Designed for easy mounting on a variety of surfaces including walls, fences, or posts, allowing for versatile placement throughout the school playground.
- Visually Striking Design: The high contrast theme not only serves a practical visual function but also adds a visually appealing element to the playground, complementing any school setting while drawing attention and interest from the students.
These enhanced features ensure that the High Contrast Edition of the Preschool Playground Communication Board is an essential tool for facilitating effective communication and enriching the educational experience in any inclusive playground setting.
Extend the Communication Experience Anywhere
Speech Generating App for Inclusive Communication On-the-Go
Every communication board from Smarty Symbols comes paired with a complimentary speech-generating app, ensuring that students and staff across all communication abilities have equal access to expressive tools. This thoughtful integration normalizes and enhances communication access within educational settings, breaking down barriers and fostering an inclusive environment for everyone.
Whether used in conjunction with our physical communication boards or as a standalone digital solution, the free app empowers users to communicate confidently and effectively, aligning with our mission to make communication a universal, accessible experience for every member of the school community. This comprehensive approach not only supports those who are non-speaking or have limited verbal abilities but also educates and equips the entire school population with the tools to engage inclusively.
Imagine a school where every educator can easily download an AAC app on their personal device that perfectly matches the playground communication board, making it simple to support and engage every student.
Specifications and Materials
Thickness:
3mm (roughly 30 sheets of copy paper).
Weight:
- Medium (29″ x 19″): 2.3 lbs
- Large (39″ x 25″): 4.06 lbs
- X-Large (48″ x 31″): 6.2 lbs
Material:
3mm aluminum with two .008" aluminum sheets and a solid polyethylene core. Printed with eco-friendly, weather-resistant UV ink.
Durability:
Built to withstand outdoor conditions with an estimated lifespan of 5+ years when properly cared for.
Frame Options:
Frame not included
Frequently Asked Questions
Find the answers to your most common questions about our communication boards and services, helping you create a more inclusive and supportive environment from the start.
We offer a wide range of customization options, including:
- Add your school or district name (free of charge)
- Add your school or organization’s logo
- Make the board bilingual in any language (free of charge)
- Change icons or vocabulary from our collection of 30,000 images in the Smarty Symbols image library
- Create 100% custom icons to match specific playground structures or needs
Our team can even create a 100% custom board with your own design. Read out for more details.
You can order the board directly from our website or contact our sales team for a custom quote. After you provide your school’s details, we’ll send you a design proof for approval before production begins. Once the design is finalized, the board will be produced and shipped to you.
Our outdoor playground communication boards are made from durable, weather-resistant materials, including 3mm aluminum with a polyethylene core and printed with eco-friendly, fade-resistant UV ink. To keep your board in excellent condition:
- Regular Cleaning: Wipe the board with a soft, damp cloth to remove dirt, dust, or debris. Avoid using harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners, as they may damage the UV protective coating.
- Inspect for Damage: Regularly check the board for any signs of wear, especially around the mounting points. If necessary, tighten any loose hardware to ensure the board stays securely in place.
- UV Protection: Our boards come with an extra UV protection layer, ensuring they resist fading and maintain their vibrant colors for up to 5+ years, even in outdoor conditions.
- Long-Term Care: Depending on the local climate, you may want to inspect the board seasonally to ensure it continues to look and function its best.
With proper care, your outdoor communication board will last many years, providing an inclusive and engaging experience for children.
The communication board uses the Fitzgerald Key color-coding system, a widely recognized method in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). This system categorizes symbols by color to represent different parts of speech, making it easier for students to find and use the correct words. For example, verbs might be in green, nouns in orange, and descriptors in purple. This intuitive system simplifies communication, especially for students with special education needs, by helping them quickly locate the symbols they need to express their thoughts and feelings.
The High Contrast Edition is designed to improve communication for children, especially those with visual impairments or processing difficulties. Its high contrast visuals make symbols easier to distinguish, fostering clearer communication and greater engagement during outdoor play.
Yes, we offer bilingual boards! We currently have boards available in English/Spanish and English/Portuguese. However, our team is able to design bilingual boards in any language combination at no additional cost. Simply let us know your preferred languages when placing your order, and we will customize the board to meet your needs.
Our communication boards are designed for long-lasting durability, made from 3mm aluminum with a solid polyethylene core. They are printed with eco-friendly, UV-resistant ink and coated with an additional UV-protective glossy layer to withstand harsh outdoor elements. Whether used indoors or outdoors, these boards are resistant to fading, abrasion, and weather damage. With proper installation and care, the board can last for 5+ years outdoors.
The typical timeline is:
- Design approval: 3-5 business days (once customization details are finalized)
- Production: 7-10 business days
- Shipping: 5-7 business days, depending on your location Overall, you can expect to receive your custom board within 3-4 weeks from the order date.
