Sustainable Playground

The Developmental Disabilities Association provides a number of child and youth services throughout Vancouver and Richmond at their different Child Development Centres. We strive to provide the best services, facilities and equipments for the children and our staff; however, with ongoing government cuts in the midst of a global economic recession, it often becomes difficult to provide the necessary playground equipment for young children to enjoy and develop motor skills on.

Kids in General (a Child Development Centre operated by the Developmental Disabilities Association), is seeking to redesign their outdoor play areas into “Natural Playgrounds” – sustainable and environmentally friendly playgrounds exposing children to the beauty and wonder of nature. The playground at Kids in General would be the first prototype of a series of other redesigns, to encourage children to experience and understand the physical challenges that indigenous landscaping offers. Studies show that children bore quickly of playground equipment, and would rather dig in the sand, climb trees, play in the tall grass, or other activities involving nature. A sustainable Natural Playground would supplement those wants.

Some of the benefits for Natural Playgrounds are listed below:

Sustainable: Natural Playgrounds last anywhere from 10-25 years, compared to regular equipment-based playgrounds, which require repairs or replacements every 5 years. This also helps to mitigate many safety concerns from old and weathered play equipment.

Environmentally Friendly: Natural Playgrounds are mostly built out of natural equipment or built off of an existing areas landscape. Additionally, Natural Playgrounds have low carbon footprint, as materials used for them are generally available locally and not custom manufactured.

Economic: Regular equipment-based playgrounds typically cost close to 30% more than a Natural Playground and offer significantly less play value. Furthermore, Natural Playgrounds offer inexpensive solutions to drainage issues.

We intend to take the following actions with the Aviva Community Fund:

1) Remove the existing concrete flooring on play areas and replace it with sustainable and safe grass (or similar floor type).

2) Replace the existing sand pits with a log-enclosed sand pit play area with a drainage bed below to remove stagnant water from the sand.

3) Replace the current slides with a hill slide. Hill slides are environmentally friendly, and eliminate the fall height for children while giving them all the enjoyment of a regular slide.

4) Add stools, chairs and tables made from cut fallen logs that will offer a place for children to sit and play together.

5) Build wooden forts as a shaded area for children to gather, draw, or read together.

6) Install climbing walls. Height and shape of the climbing wall will be made to CSA standards to provide both appropriate challenge and safe playing for children.