You can be a part of the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden

Wanna play?

As a little kid, this was always the first after-school question.  And while I will probably carbon date myself, I must add that video games, touch-screen phones, and malls played no part in this proposal.  We went outside.  We made forts, dug holes, pinched herbs from the neighbor’s garden to create “delicious meals”, carved trails in the blackberry underbrush and generally wrecked a fair amount of damage on the landscape.  Cotoneaster ticker-tape parade anyone?

That kid world is still out there despite the aforementioned video games, obsessive phones and other techy distractions.  And the good folks behind the creation of the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden are working hard to see to it that the wide, wonderful, always-changing, muddy, splashy, tasty, green outdoors is available to kids of all abilities together with their families and friends.

I first wrote about the PlayGarden here and here.  I’m so excited to support this effort and promise to bring you reports and updates over the next several months as the PlayGarden approaches its Grand Opening on June 19th.  (See below for how you can be a permanent part of the adventure and support the play, I mean work, of this indomitable organization)

The Seattle Children’s PlayGarden is a nonprofit organization providing children of all abilities full access to outdoor recreation space and offering inclusive programs that encourage every child’s potential. The PlayGarden provides a well-designed, safe, and supportive environment to interact with nature, to learn, to explore, and to create. Here children will enhance their cognitive, motor, and social skills—and develop their sense of wonder and independence.

Until now, children with physical limitations, such as cerebral palsy, or developmental delays, such as autism, have been largely excluded from participation in local outdoor activity areas. Parents of children with special needs have had few options of enjoyable yet safe and supported outdoor learning experiences for their fragile children. The PlayGarden offers options for these families that will accommodate not only the children with special needs in the family, but the typically developing children as well.

Admirable?  Heck yes!  Ambitious?  Without a doubt.  Lot’s of work…you have NO idea.

But who knew it could be so MUCH FUN!!!  Well, they did; that’s the whole point now isn’t it?  Get outside – have a blast – let loose – engage…regardless of limitations or ability, physical, mental, financial or otherwise.

I stopped by the work site for a quick visit yesterday.  The industrious crew was intent on potting up components and installing the new living roof on the Garden House.   This will be the heart and soul of the project and a hub for PlayGarden activities with it’s retractable garage door-like glass walls/windows that open up onto raised beds to be filled with yummy fruits and vegetables.

Indoors, the kid-friendly kitchen will host delicious and nutritious fun, and kids being kids – probably a few food fights – as families work together to prepare fresh meals from the garden.  No better way to get a kid to eat what’s good for them than to involve them in the process of growing and preparing it.

This is only the tip of the volcano-themed climbing mount!  I was there for the ceremonial turning on of the way-cool elevated wandering stream-like water feature.  The late winter sun sparkled on the gushing water and spattered my boots and pant legs; do we ever get over the desire to play in water?  I think not!!!

So again, I ask you:  Wanna Play?

There are several ways you can support the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden.  March is Purchase-a-Paver month; go here to download a form and secure your permanent spot on the inspirational Whimsical Walkway.  Know what my paver is going to say?

Plant the world…grow yourself!

Tagged as: Seattle Childrens PlayGarden