Eight Steps to Playground Planning in Hawaii

I just got an email from Michelle and it inspired me to write this. Michelle is a dedicated mom who has taken on the task of planning a playground project for her child's preschool on Maui. One of the perks of what I do for a living is meeting and working with people like Michelle. I regularly run across people so dedicated to their children (or sometimes not even their own children) that they are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to improve the lives of those children.

Extraordinary lengths you say? You said Michelle was planning a playground, right? All I have to do is call up some playground companies and collect a bunch of catalogs and look through them. I'll quickly find something my kids like, I'll place an order, and it will be done. Well, I suppose this it depends on your expectations of the finished project and the depth of your treasure chest. You'll certainly find playground companies in Hawaii that would like to make it that easy. I like to remind people that they are making decisions today that will impact children 15-20 years from now.

The reality is that building a playground is more like a construction project than a trip to the toy store. The end result is going to be an environment in which children are going to play, take risks, and interact... sometimes off the ground. It requires considerable thought and planning to do it correctly.

We like to break this process down into eight steps.

1. Defining your objective
2. Accessing your needs
3. Analyze your site
4. Select your equipment
5. Choose your surface
6. Prepare your plan
7. Install your equipment and surfacing
8. Maintain your playground

For more detail on the eight steps, here's a guide:

http://www.islandrecreation.net/downloads/8StepsPlanning.pdf

You'll find some information about each one of these steps in this blog based on my experience designing and building playgrounds here in Hawaii. I have decided to dedicate an entire post to the great questions that Michelle's committee asked.