Welcome to The Playground Post
This is your biweekly dose of playground knowledge from someone who's spent 20 years inspecting them.
In this issue, I’ll talk about how two simple tools, pen and paper, can help keep your playground safe.
I’ll also dive into a couple of stories of how communities helped make playground projects happen.
All that and more lies ahead in The Playground Post.
Monitoring Minute
The hidden cost of relying on memory instead of systems
When I go to the grocery store, I typically bring a list with me of everything I need. This way, I can check items off as I go and keep unneeded purchases to a minimum. Last week, however, I went to the store not with a list, but with a rough idea of what I needed to buy. Bread, milk, eggs, and…what else? I wasn’t sure. As a result, I ended up spending $50 more than usual.
Were bananas on the list? Can’t remember.
Point is, over-reliance on recall memory will rarely lead to good outcomes. If you base your playground maintenance schedule on what you remember seeing in your weekly spot-check inspections (as opposed to written records of what you actually saw), important items will inevitably slip through the cracks.
Say you’re taking your kids to a playground, and they mention that a slide they tried to go down has a jagged edge near the bottom that nearly cut them. You bring this concern to the park director, and they insist they’ll address the issue. Now, what would you rather they do? Store that issue in their mind, or write it down so as not to forget about it? I know which I’d prefer.
This is what systems are in place for: ensuring that every issue is addressed as it comes in so they don’t fall by the wayside.
So, when it comes to playground maintenance, start with a list. A good place to start is page 26 of the CPSC Public Playground Safety Handbook. On it, you’ll find a detailed outline of what should be checked and how frequently, arming you with all you’ll need to keep an organized accounting of your playground’s needs.
One Thing to Check on Your Playground This Week
Years ago, I helped deliver a playground to a small town in Kansas whose playground had been devastated by a tornado. This wasn’t a rich area, so a local bank pitched in to fund the new playground equipment. I remember being in awe of the sense of community on display when I showed up to the jobsite and dozens of community members were eager to help install the new equipment. It was a bit of trial-and-error, as I was the only one who’d ever installed a playground before, but in the end, our efforts were rewarded with the opening of a brand new playground.
I tell this story because when it comes to making a playground come to life, it truly takes a village. Whether you’re looking at purchasing new equipment to replace older pieces or building a new playground from the ground up, reach out to your community members for help.
Local businesses will love the positive PR that comes with helping build a new playground, and individuals will often take time out of their day to help ensure it’s installed. People gravitate towards spaces they helped build, and your community will become more tight-knit as a result.
Which brings me to my next story…
The Case File
Harriman, Tennessee: An Inclusive Playground for a Community that Needs It
Nestled deep in the foothills of eastern Tennessee, Harriman is a small town about 45 minutes west of Knoxville. It sits near three rivers, including the Emory River, which bisects the town, and as a result, fishing is a local pastime for kids and adults alike.
The Harriman playground features multiple accessible amenities, including wheelchair ramps and ground-level panel activities.
As a rural town, Harriman doesn’t have access to the sort of amenities common in bigger cities, and, until recently, this included a fully accessible playground. Luckily, a local nonprofit swooped in to help.
The Michael Dunn Center serves Roane County in assisting individuals with developmental disabilities, connecting them with resources to make their lives easier. The Dunn Center identified a need for a truly connected outdoor space, and an accessible playground proved exactly what they were looking for.
The City of Harriman ultimately came aboard the project, and, together, they and the Dunn Center were able to take advantage of the Connected Community Facilities Grant from the Tennessee Economic and Community Development Department, and, slowly but surely, the project came to fruition.
In the end, any playground project is the sum of various parts. Each stakeholder has something to contribute, and, in this case, all of them worked together to build the only accessible playground for miles.
Read the full story here to learn more about Roane County, Tennessee’s newest playground.
That's it for this issue.
If you’re looking to purchase a playground, ask yourself:
Where can I save money?
Am I able to drive to pick up my equipment?
Can I recruit some handy parents or parishioners to help install the playground?
Are there crowdfunding or grant options I can take advantage of?
These are the sorts of questions that sometimes prove necessary to make playground plans come to life.
If you have any questions on how to get your playground to the finish line, reply to this email and I’ll give you my take.
A playground is a big purchase, and when it comes to completing a project, there’s no such thing as a dumb question.
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Talk soon,
Nic Breedlove
Certified Playground Safety Inspector
20 years in the game. Still learning.