Building a community inclusive playground takes a lot of people, knowledge and funds. The idea often starts with a group of dedicated volunteers and their first step is research. They want to know what is already out there, how to raise money, how to select a site, all of that before they even get to how to make it inclusive.

There is a lot of information out there on the internet but, you need to know what to look for and to determine what resources are worth your time. Today, I am going to narrow your search down by sharing with you some of my favorite sites and resources. Bookmark this page, so that you can come back to this list over and over again.

Getting Started

The best tool kit available for how to build a playground comes from KaBOOM!. KaBOOM provides you information on everything from testing soil, to keeping kids busy during a community build to public relations.

The best resource for inclusive playgrounds is the Inclusive Play Design Guide. To be transparent, I was involved in the development of this guide. However, I have not found anything else as comprehensive. It is published by Playworld, a playground manufacturer, but it is completely manufacturer neutral.

Fundraising

The best fundraising site I have found is Korkat Playground. You can download for free a 29 page book of national and state grant ideas. On their blog, they keep you updated on different grant opportunities and they have links to ideas for di
fferent fundraisers. They keep their information up-to-date and it is easy to read.

Other playground manufacturers also have lists of grants, including Playworld, Landscape Structures, and PlayCore.  All of these require that you sign up for their email list and/or contact a local representative to get the materials.

If you are a school, PTO Today has many good resources to help you plan fundraisers.

Understanding ADA

The Americans with Disability Act regulations for playgrounds are complicated; however, if you are building a playground with any of major playground ma
nufacturers they will make sure that your equipment will be compliant.

My favorite resource for ADA is an infographic from the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association called the Checklist for Access.

To get the information directly from the source, visit the United States Access Board.

Surfacing

Surfacing is the biggest decision a group will make when building a playground and it isn’t an easy decision.  Here are the best places to go and learn about your options.

The International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association has a document about surfacing that is easy to read and understand.

The National Center for Accessibility did a longitudinal research study on playground surfacing. Their final report is available to download. If you don’t want to read the entire study, the Access Board has used this research to put together, “Seven Things Every Playground Owner Should Know About the Accessibility of Their Playground Surfaces”,

SofSURFACES, a playground surfacing manufacturer, has many good articles about surfacing, just keep in mind that they are trying to sell you a product.

Getting Ideas from Existing Playgrounds

Looking at pictures is the best way to get interesting ideas for playgrounds and for pictures, Pinterest is a great resource.

Accessibleplaygrounds.net, which is my website, has a directory of close to a 1,000 playgrounds from around the world. We have tried to put at least one picture with each playground.  You can search for the ones nearest you to go and visit.

Other websites that have directories include, KaBOOM’s Map of Play,Playground Professionals, Calgary Playground Review, NJ Playgrounds,ParkGrades, and Playgrounds for Everyone.

Originally published on Playground Professionals March 2016.

The post Best Resources for Building an Inclusive Playground first appeared on Accessible Playgrounds.

National Center on Accessibility
National Center on Accessibility, Indiana University-Bloomington

Choosing products for use in a park or recreation facility can sometimes be challenging and overwhelming with the overload of information from manufacturers and accessibility guidelines to consider.   This monograph introduces the major considerations for purchasing products to improve access for people with disabilities in recreation environments including:

• Assessing the needs of your facility;
• Identifying specifications;
• Comparison shopping;
• Getting feedback from other customers; and
• Leveraging your purchasing power.

Before selecting a specific product, facility managers, program coordinators, maintenance staff, essentially all site personnel, should have a thorough understanding of the two types of access: physical access to the environment and program access benefitting the individual.

Read rest of the article from the National Center of Accessibility

National Center on Accessibility (August 2010). Choosing Products to Improve Access at Your Parks and Facilities.. Bloomington, IN: National Center on Accessibility, Indiana University-Bloomington.  Retrieved fromwww.ncaonline.org.

The post ADA Approved and Other Accessible Product Myths for your Park first appeared on Accessible Playgrounds.

It does not cost more to follow ADA

It is now the law that any new playground installed in a public space in the United States must be built to ADA standards.  Playgrounds built to these standards cost NO more than a playground built prior to 2012.  At this point in would be impossible to purchase playground equipment from a United States manufacturer without it meeting ADA.  However, there is a difference between a playground that is ADA compliant and one that is truly accessible.  Accessibleplayground.net’s playground directory only lists those playgrounds that exceed ADA.

There is a difference between ADA, Accessible and Inclusive

There is a difference between a playground that is ADA compliant, truly accessible and truly inclusive.  ADA, when it comes to playgrounds, is primarily concerned with people using mobility devises.  When a playground is built to ADA standards it lets a person who is using a wheelchair get in and around the playground.  It enables that person to get on a module structure.  It doesn’t necessarily enable that child to actually use any of the playground equipment.

An accessible playground goes beyond ADA compliance.  A truly accessible playground will enable a person using a wheelchair to use the equipment.  An accessible playground will have better surfacing enabling a person using a wheelchair to maneuver through the playground easier.  It may have playground pieces that children with autism enjoy—things that move and/or make music.  There may be quiet places for children to go and calm down.  There may be pieces like an accessible swing seat and back to see-saws to enable a child with limited body support to enjoy this type of movement.

An inclusive playground goes beyond an accessible one in that it is designed to encourage children of all abilities to play with one another. This playground is one where every child who goes to the playground is challenged at their level.  It is a playground that may have pieces like an accessible glider which enables a person using a wheelchair to experience movement, along with all of their typically developing peers.

It is all about the surfacing

It is the surfacing that can increase the cost of a playground.  Safety regulations require that every playground have a safety surface.  That surface can by loose fill or synthetic.  Wood chips, (called Engineered Wood fiber by the industry), is the least expensive surfacing that provides safety and meets ADA.  Here are the problems with wood chips:

• If the wood chips get deplenished, it is no longer safe.
• If the wood chips are not raked on a regular basis, they no longer meet ADA
• It is difficult, if not impossible, to push a wheelchair or stroller through wood chips
• Young children and some children with developmental disabilities will pick up the chips and mouth it
• It gets tracked everywhere including into the nearby buildings (like a school) and drives the maintenance staff crazy.

So there issues beyond accessibility to consider when looking to purchase the more expensive surfacing.  Everyone agrees that synthetic surfaces are easier for a person in a wheelchair to maneuver.  There are basically three types of synthetic surfaces, Pour-in-Place (which is what is described in the NPR articles), tiles and turf.  There are advantages and disadvantages for all.  When a community or school is making a decision about surfacing they should ask tons of questions about ADA compliance, HIC ratings (safety), freezing, and more.  Here are some places to read more:

• Sofsurfaces (a tile manufacture) has a lot of good information on their site
• Religious Product News wrote a good article on surfacing
• Northwest Playground explains surfacing in an easy to understand manner.
• Accessibleplayground.net has many articles that address the issue of surfacing

All Inclusive Playground DO NOT need to be 15,000 sq. ft and $250,000+

I love Leathers and Associate playgrounds like Brooklyn’s Playground which was highlighted on NPR.  They are creative, fun and challenging.  They are big destination playgrounds.  They make a great community asset.  However, they are not appropriate for every community and every park.

You can make any playground more inclusive by laying out the equipment in a more effective way and selecting the equipment with an eye to inclusive.  The Inclusive Play Design Guide gives you many different ways to increase inclusion.

To do it right, you do need to spend the extra money on surfacing; but again, any size playground can have this surfacing.  Adding more ground level activities such as spinners, musical instruments, see-saws makes the playground more exciting for all kids and makes it more usable by children with a disability. Water and sand play can also be added in a small area and are fun for all ages and abilities.

Inclusive Playgrounds DO NOT need to be boring

I have seen plenty of boring accessible playgrounds; playgrounds with a lot of ramps and not a lot of challenge.  But is not what it should be like.  A good inclusive playground has activities that challenge 5-year-olds and 12-year-olds; has activities that are usable by children who use mobility devises and those who do not.  A good inclusive playground is rich in sensory activities, social experiences and physical play.  Here are just a few pictures of exciting inclusive playgrounds.

See more pictures on our Pinterest Page

Accessibleplayground.net will still be offering its detailed directory

Accessibleplayground.net has been offering a directory of inclusive and accessible playgrounds for 5 years.  In fact, a majority of the playgrounds listed on the NPR app were generated by accessibleplayground.net. In our directory there are over 800 entries from 8 different countries.  We continue to add more every day.  (We add over a dozen this weekend).

The difference between our directory and the new NPR directory is that we provide as much detail as we can find about the playground.  If we can determine it, from the resources we can find, we will tell you what else is in the park, whether there is a restroom, what type of equipment is on the playground.  We provide links for you to find more information.

Just like NPR’s app, you can add a playground that you know about to our directory.  The difference is we will review the entry to make sure the information is correct prior to going live on the site.  We hope that you will help us keep the directory as up-to-date as possible by providing us with new playgrounds and additional information about the playgrounds already listed.

Want to learn more  Visit these sites:

• Let Kids Play
• Accessibleplayground.net
• Inclusive Play Design Guide

The post A Response to NPR: Accessible Playgrounds first appeared on Accessible Playgrounds.