There were several challenges. First, the location of the existing (old) playground did not have an accessible route so we needed to find a new location on the property. We also needed to identify an ADA accessible playground structure for 5–12-year-olds that would fit in the 67’ x42’ space. Our mission was to create an area to ensure all kids, regardless of ability, can play together, fostering community and diverse experiences through accessible, sensory-rich, and barrier-free designs.

A new accessible playground route was found next to the classrooms and parking lot, connecting all accessible equipment and ensuring clear access to the ground-level play activities. Once the inclusive playground was completed, the old playground and old rubber tiles were removed to create a new area with two distinct surfaces: pour-in-place rubber surfacing for the playground equipment and asphalt for the pickle ball court. The principal selected a commercial playground with a custom electric blue/yellow color scheme to match the school colors. The playground has a capacity of 90 kids and features play elements like a triple slide, double slide, straight slide, multiple climbers and accessible ground level activities / sensory panels for children with special needs like the store-front panel, the spin-maze panel, and the half push panel.