Step 2: Design Day
Your dream begins with Design Day.
Expect a fun-filled day that energizes children and adults and stirs up excitement for your project. One of our designers will visit your community for a day of face-to-face meetings and creative planning and drawing sessions. The day is like a giant brainstorming session where members of your community gather to create a new design that is all your own. Community members of all ages share their visions with the designer.
The day begins with an early-morning evaluation of your site. Next, the designer will spend several hours interviewing children and committee members. He or she then creates a preliminary design that incorporates many of the features that people in your community have suggested. The designer will also meet with members of your core committee to discuss volunteer recruitment, fundraising, public relations, material options, timelines, tools and materials, childcare, food, and much more. He or she will also talk about short- and long-term goals as well as long-range plans for construction week.
Design Day concludes with a communitywide celebration, where we’ll unveil a schematic plan of the playground that the children have helped design. It’s your first chance to really get people involved, so make sure to invite key people from the community to gain their support early in the process. If you know when you’d like to build the playground, it’s a good idea to announce it during this celebration and begin recruiting volunteers on the spot. The celebration generates enthusiasm and support, and members of your community will leave with a vision of what they’re working toward, ready to make the project a success.
Specialized Components
Leathers has worked with zoos, science centers, Montessori schools, and state parks to create playgrounds that are not only entertaining but also teach children while they play.
Playgrounds can have science, math, or history themes. A few examples of educational components we’ve included in the past include a DNA climber, an echo tube, a friction slide, a dinosaur dig, a periscope, a sundial, and an abacus. Some projects include historical storefronts or play elements that reflect the area’s industry (i.e., coal mining, railroad depots, airplanes near an Air Force base). Many churches have chosen themes based on well-known Bible stories. We can also incorporate waterplay and shade structures. Our designers will explore the many options with you to determine what’s right for your community.
Accessibility
Leathers & Associates designs playgrounds that meet or exceed ASTM International and the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for public playgrounds. Our construction system is uniquely adaptable to a broad range of design strategies. We typically integrate accessible elements throughout the play structure to encourage shoulder-to-shoulder play experiences among children of all abilities. Keeping in mind that not all children with disabilities are wheelchairbound, we encourage communities to form special-needs committees so that we can address specific local needs. We have worked with a school for the hearing impaired, a school for blind children, and a home that cares for medically fragile disabled children.