A Sneak Peek at Some of the Play Features at the New Cranberry Kids Castle Playground

Here comes spring and the New Cranberry Kids Castle Playground...

As I am writing this the sun is shining so brightly one can almost trick themselves into thinking spring is right around the corner! Of course, by the time people are reading this the skies will be cloudy again and more fresh snow will be on the ground!

But, truthfully, spring is right around the corner and with that comes the excavation of the new playground site and the closure (on April 20) of the old and much loved Playtime Palace.

I thought I would take some time to explain some of the features of our soon-to-be-new Cranberry Kids Castle Playground!

One of the items I fought REALLY hard to get included in the design is an EVOS play structure. These structures are more geared to children ages 5-12, but there will be elements that children of all ages can enjoy. 

I actually think this play structure will be great for adults as well and provide a pretty good workout! Click on the photos above for a sneak peek.

I like the EVOS play systems because they are new and hardly anyone else around here has them!

Besides that, I think they will offer amazing opportunities to work those core muscles, strengthen balance skills and provide kids with that adrenaline rush they seek. It’s like our very own obstacle course.

Plus, it doesn’t have just one way to be played with. The ways to use, re-imagine and create are endless. Each child will see something different and use it in a unique manor. 

When we set forth to design the playground we aimed to provide something “abstract,” and by that I mean that it’s not a big red barn that you can only imagine and play as one would with a big red barn. 

This is just a cool playground structure that can be imagined endless ways by all those thousands of children who will use it over the next 25 years. The EVOS play structure will be very large and will sit in the “Future” section of the playground.

I also wanted to touch upon some of the smaller features in the playground.

In one of the previous blogs I mentioned how this playground will be much more ADA (and stroller) accessible becasue we will have a concrete walkway running through the space. 

A cool feature we added to this concrete walkway is a little concrete trough running along next to it. This trough will be graded and slope like the walking path and it will be the perfect size for kids to roll cars or balls down it. 

Why is this important? Well, again, it is another abstract play structure. Not all kids will use it in the same way. 

Also, it will teach children the elementary features of science such as physics, gravity and velocity. No really! 

They will be able to test whether smaller balls roll faster than larger balls, test whether heavier objects pick up more speed than light objects and make their own conclusions. 

This may seem silly, but this is how children learn, simply by doing! And, of course, they don’t know they are learning scientific theories–they just think they are having fun. Items such as these are the beginnings of math and science for little folk.

I hope you can begin to understand the amount of brain power than went into the design of this playground. From the new, exciting and different EVOS play structures to the small, well-thought out inclusions such as the trough, this playground has opportunities for children of all ages and physical condition to use gross motor and fine motor skills. 

It will provide for imaginative play, elements of math and science into play, appreciation of nature and so much more. Sometimes a playground is A LOT more than meets the eye.

I hope that everyone is getting excited about the Kids Castle and that some more of you out there will step up and help out! We have just a few short weeks (about six) before the Playtime Palace closes FOREVER!