The park is a basic part of a child’s early learning experience, yet kids with cerebral palsy, autism and other special needs often can’t enjoy parks, and sometimes don’t even feel welcome there.

At parks, other children may exclude kids who don’t walk or talk the same way, or simply not understand how to include them, says Liz Bullard, the driving force behind an ambitious attempt to address the problem: Seattle Children’s PlayGarden. In a South Seattle playfield, Bullard and a dedicated group are building a new type of park where all kids can play together, whether they are walking or riding in a wheelchair.

“I would not say they are not welcome. They are not necessarily understood,” the speech therapist said. “They also need a place to gather where they feel welcome,”

The Seattle Children’s PlayGarden is a bold step towards helping others understand that these children want to play like everybody else. When complete, the park will be a place for children with special needs or disabilities AND for typically developing children, and it will have Mount Jordan volcano, which is a structure all kids can climb, an amphitheater, a cutting-edge kitchen for classes inside the Garden House and a family play plaza. (Check out the PlayGarden Web site for architectural drawings of its many future features.)

"The lives of families of children with special needs are a constant struggle. Activities outside the home are centered in classrooms, therapy cubicles, physicians' offices, and hospital waiting rooms. I never hear the word fun mentioned,” Bullard says on the Web site.

Bullard said she believes the PlayGarden is a first-of-its-kind in the nation because it is a public-private partnership - in 2003, the Seattle Parks Department offered the south end of Colman Playfield for the development of the PlayGarden. After seven years of work, the PlayGarden is nearing completion, but organizers need to raise another $200,000 to cover the $2.1 million cost. 

Digging in the dirt, swinging in the sun, chasing butterflies. All kids deserve these simple pleasures.— Seattle Children’s PlayGarden Web site.