Last year, the City of Calgary did something amazing – they developed ten inclusive playgrounds across the city. You may be wondering what an inclusive playground is. Well, the City has already built many of these playgrounds and they are planning to build more. In Marda Loop, we are lucky to have access to one of these unique playgrounds at Sandy Beach Park.
One very chilly day last fall, I met with the Project Coordinator, Joan Macdonald. Joan, who is a certified CSA playground inspector, took me on a tour of the inclusive playground that was opened in the fall of 2021.
According to Joan, the equipment and designs of these inclusive playgrounds are the “best the industry has to offer at this time”, and they are premised on the fundamentals of ‘play’ and ‘accessibility’. This means that these parks provide a wide variety of play options, such as imaginative, interactive, and sensory play. Because play is such an important part of child development, the goal of the City is to create more play opportunities for children of all abilities.
The playground concept is based on the principle of accessibility and inclusion for everyone. According to Joan, the Sandy Beach playground helps to promote this by utilizing unique and novel play structures. This allows for accessibility and inclusivity in its truest form where spaces and form come together to create interesting spaces for everyone – from toddlers to seniors, from abled to differently-abled folks.
Joan explained that along with the Rick Hansen playground manual, the Sandy Beach design in particular is based on a set of standards from the Playcore group, the 7 Principles of Inclusive Play:
- Fair: Equitable opportunities for all abilities and all ages
- Inclusive: Designed with flexibility to ensure the user can interact with the structure in a variety of levels, movements, and needs
- Smart: Playgrounds should facilitate intuitive play and fun challenges through clear, simple designs that encourage longer play interactions
- Independent: Creating a space that encourages users to play either independently or as a group
- Safe: A playground must meet the required safety standards, including rest and observation points
- Active: Facilitating play with equipment and designs that meet a diverse set of physical needs to encourage cooperative play and socialization
- Comfortable: Incorporating complementary structures, like shade and seating, into an easy to access and simple design to create a comfortable space for users to stay for longer periods
Sometimes people think of accessible or inclusive playgrounds as boring. But, as in other playgrounds, an effort was also made to incorporate opportunities for challenges at the child’s comfort level. Research has shown the importance of ‘risky play’ in healthy child development.
Building these playgrounds did not come without its challenges. When the park was being built, there were many supply chain problems and delays. These led to shortages of many materials. It took a large team of committed Contractors and City people working hard to bring it all together.
Now that you’ve learned more about the amazing playground we have in our neighbourhood, please be sure to check out the park and enjoy the many play options that are available for everyone – of all ages and all abilities.
The City aims to have one inclusive play space or recreational opportunity within a 5 km radius of every Calgarian as part of the Council-approved Inclusive Play Spaces Implementation Plan.
To find out more about this inclusive playground and others visit the City web page at calgary.ca/inclusiveplay.
