How to Create a Playground For All Abilities?

Author: Austin Stanfel

Learning major life skills begin from the time when a kid starts playing in a playground. According to various studies, it is evident that recess time not only brings change to a child’s fitness , but is also crucial in terms of their academic performance, as well as social and emotional gains. When on a playground, a kid acquires life’s major rules. He learns to be nice to others along with the vitality of imagination that he uses when pretending during a play.

Sadly, most playgrounds are not accessible to kids of all kinds. The common grounds may restrict children with special needs when it comes to playing.

Here are a few helpful tips if you wish to learn how to make a playground friendly to children bearing different capabilities, for every kid has a right to access the pivotal rules of life on a playground.

Take a look at the current position of your play area:

This will give you a brief insight as to what changes are required in a particular area, and in what manner you can make it more mobility-friendly. Bear in mind the disabilities of all kinds such as blindness, inability to walk, inability to use hands, etc. Think from the child’s point of view as to how they would like to interact with toys or other kids.

Device easy pathways:

For your playground to be mobile-friendly, proper pathways must be oriented so that children with all sorts of needs can have access to the area. For example, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act, the approx. width of a thruway must be sixty inches, so to make it easier for wheelchairs to accommodate within. The point where the path ends and your playground begins, mark a delineation to enhance it. You can employ strips of bright colors or change the texture of the road to mark the prominence. In addition to this, the route material must be accessible, like concrete, asphalt, etc.

Playground necessities:

After the appropriate grounds have been laid, you can now equip your play area with the essential play articles. Thereafter, you make plans on how to adorn your playground with the necessary types of equipment to make it user-friendly for people with different capabilities.

• Children with special needs must remain in the sight of teachers or parents at all times. Hence, bring into use equipments made of see-through material. For example, the castle can have walls with normal-sized holes in them to make the kid visible to their caretaker when playing inside.

• Slides must be of varying heights, as well as of broader length to accommodate two people side-by-side. They must be static-free for those with cochlear implants and should have special seats for the ones on their wheelchairs.

• Your play area can have swings that work in different motions, for example, linear, circular, etc. Also, employ harnesses of different types. Various kinds of adaptive swings can also be used. They make it easier for kids with sensory integration issues.

• Rocking rides must have seats wide enough to allow an adult to sit with a child.
Be creative and imagine yourself in the shoes of a kid with special needs. This is how you can create a playground that welcomes children with varying abilities