Swing (seat)
A swing is a hanging seat. It is usually found in a playground for children. Acrobats in a circus can also have swings which hang from the top of the tent. Sometimes chairs in gardens are made to swing gently.
The seat of a swing is suspended from chains or ropes. The child sits on the swing and kicks off from the ground with his feet. The swing then starts to swing to and fro. The child can make the swing go higher by pulling (as he goes forwards) and pushing (as he goes backwards) the rope and by making his legs straight as it goes up. Once a swing is in motion it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until something brings it to a halt.
In children's playgrounds some swings are made for very young children. They have safety bars with holes for the legs. Their parents can push them to help the swing. At the highest point on a swing, the person sitting on it is weightless.
Usually the ground is grassy, sandy, or padded with rubber so riders do not hurt themselves badly if they fall off, although this should not happen if they are being sensible. Sometimes several swings are hung from one long metal or wooden frame.
Many children have swings in their own gardens or back yards. A tyre (or tire) can be hung by a rope from the branch of a tree to make a swing.
Swing (seat) Media
Garden swing bench
Nestschaukel auf einem Kinderspielplatz in Eberswalde, Brandenburg
- Penelope Painter ARV 1301 7 satyr swinging a woman - satyr escorting the Basilinna (01).jpg
Attic red figure vessel with satyr pushing woman on swing
Woman sitting on a swing. Hagia Triada, Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete.
- Large swing set, City Park (Griffin).JPG
A modern swing set in the United States
- Kiiking.jpg
A swing rider approaches a full 360-degree rotation in the sport of kiiking
- Keswick Playground (Fitz Park).jpg
A swing and playground in Cumbria, United Kingdom.
- Woman swing Louvre F60.jpg
Woman on a swing. Ancient Greek Attic red-figure amphora, c. 525 BC. From Vulci, Italy.
- Swings-japan-march12-2017.webm
Two children swinging in Japan
