Inclusive Design
Play is holistic, and every child, regardless of ability, deserves a place to enjoy the benefits of physical, social, and sensory enrichment.
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Inclusive Principals
Inclusive design is so much more than providing accessible play elements for children with disabilities: it’s about bringing children of all abilities together to interact, engage, and play without boundaries. It’s about designing a play area so that the coolest feature on the playground is accessible to everyone. Inclusive play design allows children of all abilities to use the same play features, at the same time, and create meaningful social interactions together.
Generational
Inclusion isn’t just limited to children, it’s about the entire family being able to engage in the play space, including parents, caretakers, and grandparents. Our goal is to provide your community with an innovative and engaging playground experience that gives everyone an opportunity to play, grow and learn together.
Inclusive Design Guide
The Inclusive Play Design Guide has been developed by a group of playground and child development experts as an inspirational and educational resource to help create outdoor play environments for all ages and abilities. The Design Guide outlines the 8 key design elements for an inclusive playground design.
Certified for Inclusion
Northwest Playground Equipment has a full-time Certified Inclusive Play Designer to help you build your future playground! We also partner with our highly trained manufacturers to explore novel inclusive designs and concepts to create unique solutions.
Inclusive Equipment
Inclusion has become a design principal that is incorporated into new products and materials for every manufacturer we work with. Feel free to browse our equipment options and we can help point you in the direction of our favorite inclusive pieces:
Accessible Surfacing
Need help deciding on what type of surfacing to utilize under your playground? Or maybe you want to convert an existing playground's surfacing from loose fill to unitary. At Northwest Playground Equipment we are the experts in safety surfacing and can help you understand the options, benefits, and budget expectations to ensure you achieve the perfect solution for your play area:
We help our customers find the funding they need.
We work with communities and organizations at every budget level. If you’re looking for a fundraising partner or grant program, we can help! Contact us to learn about our Ultimate List of Playground Grants and Fund Raisers.
How we support you during the Planning and Design Phase
Every project starts with a dream, and at Northwest Playground Equipment it's our calling to make that dream a reality.
Give us a call and let our expert Parks Consultants help be a resource to guide your project wherever you are in the process.
- Site Visits - The first step of almost any project is arranging a site visit with our local Parks Consultants. During our first meeting we'll discuss the project goals, understand any site specific conditions, and develop a scope of work to get us started on putting together designs and budget estimates.
- CAD + Renderings - After our initial site visit we'll take our understanding of your site and work with our in-house Designer to develop detailed CAD drawings and 3D renderings of initial concepts.
- Fundraising Support - Are you looking to raise money for a project? At Northwest Playground Equipment we keep up to date on the pulse of national and local funding opportunities to help supplement your project project budgets.
- And It's All Free! - Being a resource for park planning is a service we take pride in so much so that all of our front end planning efforts are a no-cost service that we provide to help make your project a success. It's as easy as giving us a call or e-mail to get started!
From park benches to splash pads and everything in between, we represent the highest quality manufacturers in outdoor park amenities.
- Exclusive Products - Most of our lines are exclusive across our territories meaning we are your one stop shop for all your park amenities!
- Leading Manufacturers - We represent more than a dozen leading manufacturers who share our passion for building community through their park solutions. Our catalog of manufacturers is made up of manyof the leading experts in their respective fields, and includes coveted award winners of the GOOD DESIGN Award and the Red Dot Award.
- Extraordinary Selection - Have an idea for an outdoor space but don't see an example on our website? We can help! Just give us a call to let our expert Park Consultants be a resource for helping to identify a solution to any problem.
We can help take your project all the way through from design to construction with full installation for all of our park equipment amenities. It doesn't stop there, need additional site work completed as part of the project? Just ask and we can oversee as much or as little of the project as you need.
Full installation and site work services are also available through our many Cooperative Purchasing Contracts for all of our public-sector customers.
- Certified Installation - Everything we install comes backed by our team of Certified Installers who ensure that each and every component is installed per Manucturer recommendations and we are compliant with all current safety standards.
- Site Work Management - Does you new Shelter need a concrete pad and walkway? Or would you like a vinyl-coated fence around your future play area? If you have a site work need associated with your park project let us know and we can help manage that portion of the project. Even available through our many Cooperative Purchasing Contracts!
- On-Site Supervision - It's always great to get the community involved in a project, and if that's your goal we can help provide an experienced on-site Supervisor for the duration of a weekend volunteer build.
Building Community Through Play isn't a short term mission, it means that each and every project we're a part of forms a relationship that lasts for the life of that park or amenity.
Our Team is here to support you through it all!
- Dedicated, Family-Run Business - We take pride in having a strong history as a local family owned and operated business since 1996. That history extends to each and every one of our customers who together become a part of the larger Northwest Playground Equipment family.
- Replacement Parts and Service - We're here to support you in good times and bad, and understand that sometimes there's nothing more frustrating than a broken or vandalized piece of equipment. If you're having an equipment issue just contact your local Parks Consultant who can help identify a solution to get your park back up and running in no time.
Our Partners
Unitary Surface. Cork.
Loose Fill. Cedar. IPEMA Certified.
Unitary Surface. Poured-in-Place.
Unitary Surface. Poured-in-Place.
Unique Wood Features.
Themed Play. Custom Solutions.
Fitness Equipment. Adventure Courses.
Park Quality Furnishings.
Hand Crafted Streetscapes.
Unitary Surface. Rubber Tile. Lifetime Warranty.
Natural Materials. Custom Solutions.
Leading Playground Manufacturer.
Beautifully Themed Concrete.
Interactives. Technology + Play.
Our Gallery: Inclusive Design
"I don't know if I shared the story with you with a parent from Hough. Her son has autism with challenges with anger management. Sensory overload is a huge challenge. She said the Hough playground is his favorite place.....they go every weekend. It is the one pace he feels safe. The diverse playground and gardens are his safe place.
Know that you make a huge difference to so many kids and their families!"
– Justin Patterson, CPRP, CPSI
Parks Consultant, NW Oregon/SW Washington