"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." - Shel Silverstein

Friday, May 28, 2010

Swing High!

Today, Marissa and I went out to our city's newest playground, Swing High. It is a universally-accessible playground that accommodates children of all different abilities.

I was impressed. The structure has ramps that go all the way to the top, so kids in wheelchairs can feel like a part of the action. There are about 7 or 8 different slides (Marissa's favorite) and the majority of the ground surface is rubberized. There is a big boat type structure that rocks back and forth and is wheelchair accessible. There is a big sand pit (underneath the big flower) that has lots of different, cool toys for digging and playing. Hopefully we can take Marissa in the sand by the end of the Summer.

Very cool! I give it two thumbs up!

Marissa had a blast on all the different types of swings. She didn't want to leave but we had to after about an hour. I, of course, slathered Rissa up with SPF 50 but forgot some for myself. The 85 degree sun was beating down on us (at 10:00 am!!) and I didn't want to burn to a crisp. But I assured her that we will be back as many times as we can this Summer. I do believe this is our new favorite park!












I am so glad this playground was built. Even though Marissa is not in a wheelchair, she is a little slower in learning how to negotiate playground equipment. She seemed more comfortable running around on the rubberized surface and climbing up on the equipment that was wider, lower to the ground, and had better hand grips.

I can really see kids in wheelchairs loving this park. I pulled this quote from the Swing High website. It is from a child who has played on "less than accessible" playgrounds in the past. This quote sums up exactly why every town should have a park like Swing High.
“At most playgrounds, I have to crawl out of my wheelchair if I want to play. It makes me feel like an ant, with all these giant kids running around me. My wheelchair is my legs. Would you want to take your legs off to play?”

10 comments:

Sherry C said...

what a great place, we want to come!!!

Colleen said...

I love it! Those swings are super cool! We just got our first universal playground built in our city this week. I want to take mr. Isaac there this weekend if the weather is good.

John and Jenna Gensic said...

Wow! This place looks amazing. We don't have anything like that around us that we know of. I'm glad you have one. Mikan is jealous.

Lacey said...

Wow, what a great playground! I love that big flower! We have a handicap school by my moms that we go to play on the playground!

Candace said...

Alicia, I am jealous, too! LOL! That place looks so cool Faith would love it! She has never been to an accessible playground. Don't know what she would think! Glad Marissa had fun!

Nana and PaPa said...

Kudos to Colorado Springs for being and thinking so pro-active! I love it! I think every samll town and big city should have at least one universally acceptable playground...heck! I even might want to go play there!!!
Love,
Nana & PaPa

Shauna Quintero said...

I wanna go play there! I wish we had something like that here! Marissa looks like she was having fun!

Glad you guys got some good weather to play in!

Michelle said...

totally awesome!!

The VW's said...

That is great!!! We have an accessible playground right by us, but yours looks way cooler than ours! I see a Summer filled with fun for you and Marissa! Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend! HUGS!!!

ANewKindOfPerfect said...

What a fabulous playground! There is one like that near here, but the swings don't have straps. They tell you to bring your own? As though we just have swing straps laying around ... boo!

There is another one but it's almost an hour away.

I imagine that Marissa will have a lot of fun in the playground this summer! Don't forget to sunscreen yourself up too mama! hehe