Kids Aid for Playground Design

Kids Aid for Playground Design
Their drawings, pipe-cleaner and popsicle-stick sculptures and Lego creations had plenty of slides, swings, monkey bars, race tracks and sand pits. YWCA staff will take their drawings into consideration as they design the center's new playground.

But this playground was a little more than the replacement of the 15-year-old playground behind the YWCA building on Glen Street. It will be a Boundless Playground. The play equipment is specifically designed by the Boundless Playground company to be accessible for children with physical disabilities.

This new playground will be the first Boundless Playground in the city, something parents of children with special needs have been advocating for a long time.

"When playgrounds were built in the 1980s, they were not designed for children who are wheelchair bound," said Tracey Madden-Hennessey, director of programs and child-care operations at the YW.

Boundless Playgrounds have equipment such as ramps, elevated sand boxes, musical themes, or even Braille all incorporated into the design.

The YW also plans to make the playground open for residents after child-care hours so as many people in the community as possible can take advantage of it.