Remember what it was like as a kid to play on a huge play structure? Usually the bigger and more dangerous it seemed, the better. How much fun was it to get lost in a huge structure and pop up on the other side not knowing how you got there? Or to hide from your parents while they tried to search for you in vain, unable to maneuver through the play equipment swiftly enough to catch you?

Now things have changed. You are looking at play structures differently now that you are a Landscape Architect. You want to design something that is fun, but at the same time safe. You might be a parent, and searching through a play structure for your mischevious child is not exactly what you want to spend your free time doing.

Children with disabilities also need a place to play, so it needs to be accessible for kids of all abilities. The amount of usage and maintenance required for the structure is also a consideration, not just for the Landscape Architect, but for the people who service the areas where these structures are located.

Many play structures come about from the vision of one person. But, through the help of volunteers and dedicated designers and park workers, these large strcutures become a reality, meeting the various physical and cerebral needs of children of all ages.

Reed Park- Mesa, Arizona

With new regulations, many older play structures must get torn down and rebuilt to meet ADA requirements.

"New and current structures must now be handicap/wheelchair accessible," said Dave DeBoom, a trade worker at Reed Park. "The standards that they use are based on two publications, American Society for Testing Material and Consumer Products Safety for Public Playgrounds."

DeBoom added that the structure at Reed Park is inspected monthly, and vandalism and graffiti are two of the biggest concerns. He said that whether or not school is in session is one determining factor on how much of a problem this can be.

The structure at Reed Park has 12-inches of sand depth. This regulation involves critical height surface.

"If a child climbs to the top of a structure, what is it going to take for them to sustain the least amount of injury or even death," DeBoom said. "Sand surrounding a play structure must constantly be tended to since it often gets kicked out or stamped down by the kids who play on them."

DeBoom said when a structure goes up in a park, the one thing that he and his co-workers keep in mind when preparing to meet the safety concerns of the proposed structure is their own children.

"More often than not we just use common sense, but we think about our own kids when maintaining and building these structures," he said. "We think about what can they and what can't they get caught in, or how they may fall off a particular structure."

Under The Palms- Palm Beach City, Florida

Under the Palms Children Park in Panama Beach City, Florida is a 15,000-square-foot play area that includes four different accessible play areas, mini shelters, benches and trash receptacles. The play structures are set on rubber safety surfacing with 11 slides, five overhead events, 10 climbers, four crawl tunnels, six below deck panels and a theme play village.

When Frank Brown Park was being developed, Debbie Sasser, a Panama Beach City resident noticed that soccer fields and baseball and softball fields were being developed, and the park lacked a play structure.

"I decided that I would get one put in," Sasser said. "My sons don't play soccer or ball, they are into karate and other sports, so I figured if this affected me, it must affect other parents in the community."

She was right. A core group of seven women, including Strasser made the area, designed by Little Tykes a reality for their children. It took two years to make Sasser's dream into a reality. The community got involved, and through school fund raisers, car washes and the sale of personalized tiles that feature baby feet, animal paw prints and hand prints that are displayed on a wall at the park, raised $100,000. The state matched the amount with a grant, and the wheels were set in motion.

Under The Palms Childrens Park has one entrance and exit as well as a fence around the entire play area, giving parents peace of mind when their children are at play. No wood chips were specified for the surface of the structure allowing kids in wheelchairs a chance to play with equal access to the play area.

"I joined up with Kidie Halbert at Little Tykes, and told her what we wanted, and she came up with the whole concept," Sasser said. "We wanted something that would work for every child."

Under the Palms is handicap accessible and features a rubber safety surface that allows kids in wheel chairs to roll through with ease, and rails that they can grab on to and work out their arm muscles. Ramps are also attached to the structure that allows a child to wheel up and access every part of the edifice.

Members of the U.S. Navy Diving Salvage Team and the Navy Experimental Diving Unit installed the play unit in about four days.

Safety was a big concern for Sasser. The structure has one way in and one way out, with a fence around the area so parents don't have to follow their kids everywhere they go. The safety surfacing in the area is a thick rubber that will hold up under the strain of kids running, jumping and rolling along in wheel chairs, so wood chips or ground rubber was not specified.

"We wanted something that will last a long time and that kids in wheelchairs could go on," Sasser said. "We want kids here all the time."

Detroit Zoo

In 1995, the Zoo's Deputy Director Darrl McFadden began toying with the idea of developing a playscape with a conservation theme. He wanted to use a playscape to teach kids about animals. In late 1996, a playscape designed for 5-13-year-olds was started.

McFadden collaborated with Jonathan Dreyfuss of Fundamental Playscapes to come up with the design. The idea was to have an interperative play area where kids mimmick animal behaviors, and have a fun, safe time doing it.

"We didn't want to build a playscape for playscapes sake," McFadden said. "We wanted to create an environment where kids could play safe, and learn about conservation and animal behavior. That is why every apparatus mimics some sort of animal behavior."

The playscape, provided by Kompan is broken up into four geographic areas: Africa, Asia, and North & South America. Within each of these areas, animals native to those regions are represented with an apparatus that mimics their behavior. Signage describes the animal behavior, and instructs the children what to do.

For instance, the Gibbon Ring Swing challenges kids to move across a ring swing like a gibbon, using the rings as branches to swing through a Southeast Asian rainforest.

The play area is named The Gerry Rissman PlayVenture. Rissman was a volunteer at the Zoo and the Rissman's were the donor family that made this area possible.

Phase II of the PlayVenture area was completed in 1999. Phase II was desinged as an area where 2-4-year-olds could play in an area all to themselves, without having to worry about the bigger kids.

This was more of a custom design and was themed around amphibians. The Detroit Zoo houses the National Amphibian Conservation Center, the only one in the United States, and because of the close proximity of the play area and the Center, amphibians was a natural choice.

Debbie Sasser's vision of a play area for children of all abilities was realized when the citizens of Palm Beach City, Florida teamed to raise $100,000 towards the project. The state matched the amount raised by Palm Beach City allowing the 15,000-square-foot structure to be built.

Because of the age of the kids using phase II, the interperative aspects are much more visual. There is a large red boat that can serve as a research vessel, or kids can hop along lilly pads and look at pictures of amphibious creatures that they are mimicing.

"It was a very challenging project," Dreyfuss said. "Some places just want a piece of equipment and the truck shows up and it falls off the back and there it is.

"This one went on for a long time, there was a lot of meetings and a lot of careful planning in terms of what was going to be involved and to make sure that it really made sense. It was a much more intensive project."

Safety is a big concern for a park that more than 400,000 kids visit every year. McFadden estimates that between 200,000-250,000 kids use the play area each year.

"In bringing in the signage component, we had to make sure that none of the signs were going to create a problem in terms of safety issues," Dreyfuss said. "We had to use standard fastening systems on the columns. All the fastening systems match architecturally. That was done from an aesthetic perspective and for a safety perspective."

He added that the whole site has been designed for line of sight supervision.

The Zoo had to make sure that there were no sharp edges, that poles were cushioned, the plastic was sanded and rounded and that the ground cover was soft. To aid in the safety of the kids, the Zoo has personnel stationed throughout the play area to assist with the use of the interpretive equipment and to make sure they are playing safely.

"With kids being kids, we wanted a safe place where they could learn," McFadden said. "We also wanted a playscape that was large enough so that a lot of kids could play on it."

Lake Minnetonka Play Area

The concept for the Lake Minnetonka play area is that of a floor plan for a two-level sunken ship. The primary play components are located on an elevated surface, which provides users an opportunity to slide into and climb out of a cargo hold.

At a cost of $625,000, play area construction on the GameTime structure began in 1998 and took one year to complete at Lake Minnetonka Regional Park in Minnetrista, Minnesota. The 292 acre park is owned by the Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District, and state funding helped to pay for the park.

Over 200,000 kids visit The Gerry Rissman PlayVenture at the Detroit Zoo each year. To make sure all the kids play safe and use the apparatus correctly, Zoo personnel are stationed throughout the area assisting youngsters as they move through the interpretive area. Kids can mimic specific animal behaviors throughout the play structure.

The 20,000-square-foot play area drew approximately 30,000 the year that it opened, and has been a success since.

The "ship" contains five separated clusters of play components, which provide various challenge levels for users. The site also contains undulating ground forms represented by waves and rocks, which provide another form of play activity. Accessibility to one of the play components is provided by one of the rolling ground forms with the use of poured in place rubber resilient surfacing.

An adjacent turf picnic area has been finished graded with "rolling waves" breaking into the bow of the ship. Shaded seating and observation areas are located throughout the play area enabling parents, supervisors and adults to be close to the children.

Hannah's Dream- New Haven, Conn.

Twelve-year-old Hannah Kristan of New Haven, Connecticut, was born with spina bifida and paralyzed from the waist down. Although she accepted the fact that she would be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, she couldn't handle being unable to play at her local playground like the other kids her age.

Four years ago, inspired by an integrated playground in Hartford, Conn., she began selling homemade jewelry and holding bake sales to raise money to build something similar near her home in New Haven. When Easter Seals Goodwill Industries found out about Kristan's efforts, they took on the task of making her dream come true.

Along with the help of the New Haven mayoral staff, fire department, Evergreen Release Program, area unions and trade groups, the Coast Guard and citizens, the 11,000-square-foot Hannah's Dream opened Sept. 7, 2000 at East Shore Park in New Haven.

Phase II of the Rissman PlayVenture was designed for younger kids, under the age of 5. This phase was more visually oriented because of the age of the children participating in activities in the play area. Kids can hop along lilly pads and act the amphibians that are in the nearby National Amphibian Conservation Center.

The city set aside land, and knocked down an inadequate wooden playscape that was originally there.

Landscape Structures' representative Fred Balet of O'Brien and Sons, Inc. in Medfield, Mass., worked with Boundless Playgrounds, Malcolm Gill of Easter Seals Goodwill Industries and the City of New Haven Park & Recreation Department to make the playground project a reality. Easter Seals facilitated the fund raising and the City donated land for the project, as well as providing site preparation and a drainage package. Safety surfacing in the park is pour in place from Surface America.

"There was a great sense of 'yes we can,'" Balet said. "There were all of these boxes and pieces of parts everywhere, and by the end of the day it was up. It was a great undertaking."

This playground is fully integrated and universally accessible, allowing children of all abilities to play together at their own level of ability according to the following standards:

At least 70 percent of the elevated play surfaces are accessible by children using their typical means of mobility at Hannah's Dream in New Haven, Connecticut. The play area became a reality because of Hannah Kristan's efforts. Kristan, who suffers from spina bifida noticed an integrated playground in Hartford, and wanted one put up near her home. Several community groups pitched in to make the 11,000-square-foot play structure a reality. The design of Hannah's Dream is sensory rich and provides a variety of sensory and movement experiences.

• At least 70 percent of the elevated play surfaces are accessible by children using their typical means of mobility.

• The design is developmentally appropriate so that it addresses children's intellectual, physical, emotional and social needs.

• The design is sensory-rich and provides a variety of movement and sensory experiences.

• The playground design is developmentally-appropriate, designed in zones based on children's age and their levels of development. Play activities for 2-5-year-olds are separated from play activities for 5-12-year-olds.

• Each playground addresses foreseeable hazards that may arise when children of diverse abilities play together.

The play area includes five main play areas: a PlaySharper® for 2-5-year-olds; a PlayBooster® for 5-12-year-olds, a PlayBooster® sand area for 5-12-year-olds and two swings areas-one for ages 2-5 and the other for ages 5-12.

Jean Schappet, Director of Design for Boundless Playgrounds, designed Hannah's Dream.

"The most compelling aspect of the design is that children of all abilities, whether they are in wheelchairs or walkers have equal access at the playground," she said. "The sand areas are linked for this purpose.

"There aren't any transfer steps in a Boundless Playground to different platform heights that a wheelchair can access directly."

Schappet added that this is because it prevents children in a wheelchair from falling of the structure.

Children in wheelcahirs that visit Hannah's Dream can get out of their chairs, and participate in the sliding activities that are provided for them throughout the structure. Making it a play place for everyone.

McDonough Park - Lighthouse Point, Florida

The play structure in McDonough Park was designed for kids older than 5-years-old. The design is very health oriented allowing children to work many of their upper body muscles through a loop ladder, climbing wall and chin-up bar among other things.

The climbing wall which is only about seven-feet high is a popular obstacle with the kids that visit the park.

"It is a very 'healthy' structure," said Chris Landers who designed the play area for Park Structures. "It caters to older children and it allows both parents and children to get some physical activity."

When Landers designed the structure she had to take into consideration the existing landscape when planning for safety. Existing trees, park benches and waste receptacles as well as a tennis court were all considered in the design.

"For the fall zones we had to look at the area space," Landers said. "We had to build in a certain area so we had to make sure there was less excavation taking place, and we had to make sure the tennis court and the benches were not in the fall zone."

A choice was made by the city of Lighthouse Point to use sand around the structure instead of a rubber safety surface. The cost to put the rubber surfacing in was too much, as two other parks in the city had just put new surfacing in, so sand was the next best option for the park.

Aside from a good time, children of all abilities can get a good work out, using their upper bodies to move across various areas of a play structure via hand rails (top), or horizontal bars (above).

"If we were to put rubber surfacing in, it would have cost more than the entire playground," said John Trudel with the Parks Department of Lighthouse Point. "We put in No. 70 Trap Sand that is used in golf course bunkers. It is really soft and it's been working great."

Landers added that although rubber is the preferred choice for a safety surface, sand is a viable alternative, especially the sand that is used at McDonough Park because of how soft it is.

"Kids will find the slides and the difficult and most dangerous parts of a play structure and find 20 different ways to use it," Landers siad. "We try to keep their imaginations at a high level, while keeping their safety at a high level as well."

Play structures are built for a variety of reasons. The design ideas and themes of these play areas are limitless. When specifying a play structure it is important to become a kid again. Put yourself back at the playground and remember how fun it was. LASN