A playground that allows all kids to have fun
This morning, July 31st, on the Today Show (nbc), I watched a story about a playground that invites kids with and without disabilities to come play. This building of this particular playground in Cleveland, was initiated by two mothers; one mother of a child with muscular dystrophy and another mother of a child with no disability. The two children are friends, but have never had a place where they could play together. One mother had heard about such a playground in LA and wanted to have one built in her hometown. They began fundraising and contacted the organization, Boundless Playgrounds, to start plans to build a playground in Cleveland.
This organization receives funding through both general fund appropriations and state bond funds. The They have built over 100 “boundless playgrounds” in 22 states and parts of Canada.
These playgrounds are designed to allow children in wheel chairs to slide, swing, put-put, and have access to two story play houses. The designers ask children with physical disabilities to help them with the design process. The key requests the children make are to feel movement and to get up high.
In Cleveland, they named the playground, “Preston’s Hope”, Preston being the young boy with muscular dystrophy and HOPE serving as the acronym for Helping Others Play and Enjoy. That is the hope of all of these playgrounds, to create an opportunity for children with and without disabilities to interact so that the kids without disabilities “won’t stare so much”. Teaching tolerance and acceptance and the importance of respect at such an early age is a very valuable practice.
This page was added by Susan Oliver.
Bibliography:
Morales, Natalie. (2007) A playground that lets all kids have fun. The Today Show, 31 July 2007. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/