Playground design that gets everyone in on the fun
By Louise Kinross
Imagine taking your child to the playground, but their power wheelchair can't get over the step at the entrance. So your kid looks in while the children having fun look out.
"You can't just plunk a playground down and say it's accessible," says Tim Ross, a scientist and urban planner in the Bloorview Research Institute's EPIC Lab. "When you make it hard to get to the playground because there's no easy parking or the pathway is not accessible, or a family has to cut a visit short because there's no accessible washroom, you give the message that kids and adults with disabilities don't belong there."
Tim is the lead author of Creating Inclusive Playgrounds, a comprehensive playbook for planning and designing a playground that fully includes disabled children and adults. It's based on an international scan of 125 reports on accessible playground design, inclusive play studies, and collaboration with the universities of Toronto and Alberta and an American inclusive designer.
"We know that play has remarkable social, emotional and physical health benefits for kids," Tim says. "It gives them opportunities to engage in social interactions, to take risks, to make independent decisions and to have fun. It's also imperative that families be able to enjoy play together as a way to strengthen relationships. It's upsetting that we still produce playgrounds that exclude some kids and that has to change. Every child deserves access to the benefits of play."
Creating Inclusive Playgrounds is divided into four sections. Each tackles a key design question.
The first is How do we start? "This speaks to the importance of community engagement at the front end of the project," Tim says. "Designers may not be familiar with the experiences of children with disabilities at a playground. We suggest forums and workshops where you can offer child-friendly activities to get children's input. Kids with disabilities have expertise on what they want and need from a playground. We explain how to develop a community engagement strategy; the types of policy, regulations and standards to consider; and options for funding."
Can I get there? covers the surrounding environment. "It's not just about focusing on what's within the boundaries of the playground," Tim says. "Families who use a playground don't magically show up there. Is getting to and from the playground accessible and welcoming?
"Accessible parking is key. Oftentimes the minimum parking ratio is one accessible space for 25 typical spaces, but that ratio needs to be exceeded. We also need to think critically about the pathways to get there. Do they have the right widths, slopes and surfaces? Pathways can be used to support different kinds of quiet play. You may have a play component off to the side for a child who gets overwhelmed and wants to calm down away from the crowd. But that component has to be set back far enough from the pathway that it doesn't get in the way of pedestrian traffic."
Parents need timely information about what to expect at the playground. "Communicate through social media, a web page, onsite messaging boards and wayfinding signage," Tim says. "Let's say an autistic child likes a certain piece of play equipment but it's broken. It's helpful to communicate that in advance so families know what's available and what's not."
The third section of the playbook is Can I play? "We start off by talking about the surface, which is often the most costly piece of the playground," Tim says. "We want people to think about what is safe, easily maintained and accessible. Then we get into what equipment to choose and how to configure it to support different kinds of play. Physical play might include rocking and gliding equipment, things that spin and rotate, and swings. Play that engages the senses could include textures that are smooth, bumpy, hard or soft; water play; and different noises you get by pushing a button or pulling a lever."
Equipment can be adapted so kids with mobility devices can use it. For example, a slide can start from an elevated structure that can be accessed via ramps rather than by climbing a ladder. A transfer bench at the bottom of the slide is handy for a child to move to before a parent helps them back into a wheelchair or walker.
A slide made of individual rollers gives kids a full-body tactile experience as they glide down the rollers. An added benefit is kids who use cochlear implants or other electronic devices don't have to worry about static build-up damaging their devices.
Children who don't speak benefit from on-site communication boards with symbols they can point to to make choices like taking a break, going on a swing, or using a slide.
The final section of the playbook is called Can I stay? "Are there accessible washrooms and change rooms, especially if the playground has water play?" Tim asks. "Are there picnic areas with accessible seating and clear wayfinding signage so it's not challenging to navigate the site? Is there safety fencing? What about water refill stations and shaded structures and emergency call boxes?" No parent wants to unnecessarily cut a play visit short because a child is thirsty or can't use the non-accessible bathroom.
Tim says his interest in accessibility began after high school when he spent five summers working at a camp for children with disabilities in Pennsylvania. "It was meaningful, challenging, eye-opening work. My last year there I ran a travel program where we took 18- to 20-year-olds to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Las Vegas and Los Angeles."
Tim and his team are working on a communications strategy to get Creating Inclusive Playgrounds into the hands of landscape architects, urban planners and designers, developers, builders and community groups. The project was funded by Canadian Tire Jumpstart.
"Playgrounds are such important spaces and we want kids with and without disabilities to be able to play together and benefit from diversity," Tim says. "Perhaps they'll grow up expecting the presence of people with disabilities and, in turn, challenge ableist attitudes and arrangements."
Creating Inclusive Playgrounds was developed with Dr. Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos at the University of Toronto; Dr. Jennifer Leo at the University of Alberta; and Ingrid Kanics, an inclusive designer in North Carolina.
Check out this video of Holland Bloorview's fully accessible playground. Like this story? Sign up for our monthly BLOOM e-letter. You'll get family stories and expert advice on raising children with disabilities; interviews with activists, clinicians and researchers; and disability news.
